The Imaginary Mentorship

Unlock writing secrets from literary titans to inspire and boost your work.

- BY MICHAEL LA RONN

Every once in a while, I encounter an author whose writing style vibes with my own, and I feel a deep, almost spiritual connection with that author.

A few years ago, I was reading a novel by Michael Crichton and found myself really connecting with his writing style. One night while writing my novel, I came to a tricky cliffhanger. I wondered what Crichton would have thought about it and how he would've handled it.

Later that night, while reading, I encountered a similar cliffhanger in his novel that was almost identical to the one in my novel, and it answered my question! Crichton handled the situation gracefully, with a technique that I wouldn't have thought to use.

That got me thinking—what else could he teach me? I would have loved to have coffee with him and talk writing shop.

There were only two problems. First, he is one of the top selling authors in history. Authors at his level don’t have time to be mentors. Second, he passed away in 2008. So much for coffee!

However, Crichton left nearly 30 novels (such as Jurassic Park, Congo, and The Andromeda Strain) and many interviews about his life and his writing, all easily available on the internet. I realized that there were still so many things about him that I could explore even though he is no longer with us.

So, I decided to make Michael Crichton my mentor anyway—my imaginary mentor!

The Imaginary Mentor

First, let’s define “mentorship.” It is an arrangement where a more experienced person (the mentor) provides guidance to a less experienced person (the mentee). Usually, the mentor is farther down the path the mentee wishes to walk themselves. Other times, the mentor might hail from a different life path entirely, and the mentor exposes the mentee to new areas of thought that the mentee wouldn't have otherwise considered. Mentorships are often regular touch-bases either in person or virtually.