Momus recently spent some time at Click Opera chewing on an idea that really bothers me. He calls it “runner-up-ization,” and it refers to a situation where people or cultures, instead of succeeding at being themselves, rate as runners-up at being someone else. As examples, Momus points to Indian fashion magazines that feature western-looking models and styles more prominently than local ones, and to the novelist Tao Lin, whose distinctive style inspires readers to wish they could write like him.

Runner-up-ization is real and frightening to me, as a relatively inexperienced writer with hopes of contributing something compelling, original or fun to the world. I spend a lot of my time, energy and passion digesting the creative output of people I see as first-place versions of themselves. I try to figure out how they do what they do, and how I can do it, too. When you admire people for their uniqueness, though, emulating them too precisely just misses the point.

And yet, there’s something there that’s worth emulating. Figuring out what lessons my heroes might teach me about myself keeps me up nights. It’s tempting to muddle everything together into a derivative recipe, to strive to be “one part” this guy, or “the next” that guy. That would sure be easier than working out what resonates with me about, for example, Matt Fraction’s writing on Casanova, and how I can use my limited ability to make something of my own that leaves me with that same kind of feeling.
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