#emulating

NOUNS

Are the nouns specific or more generalized? (Ex: Shoes vs Air Force 1′s)

If some nouns are specific and others aren’t what topic do specific nouns tend to fall under? (fashion, scholarly, combat, magic, food, etc)

Are nouns the main focus of sentences or are they there purely because sentences needs them to be?

NAMES/PRONOUNS

If characters are named, are they usually referred to by nicknames, first name, last name, or full name?

Are characters referred to with epithets (ex: “the shorter one” “the blonde”)? If so, have the character’s names already been introduced?

Referencing characters, is the author heavier on using names/epithets, or are they more likely to refer to them with pronouns? Is it fairly even?

ADJECTIVES

Is the piece heavy with adjectives or are they used sparingly?

How many adjectives often accompany any given noun in a single phrase (ex: “the tall black chair” vs “the chair”)?

Are adjectives usually related to a specific topic? If so, which topic?

Are adjectives usually simple or are they more flowery? (ex: pretty vs exquisite vs splendiferous - apparently that’s a real word)

ORGANIZATION

PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE/BREAKS

Do paragraphs have a tendancy to run long, are they mixed, or do they tend to be shorter (and possibly choppier)?

Are paragraph breaks structured conventially, or is there a more creative element to them (such as breaking in the middle of a sentence for emphasis)?

Similarly, is the writing style conventional, or are there visual artistic elements such as words crossed or blacked out, or words in different fonts?

How does the author pull attention to certain words? Italics? Punctuation? Placement in paragraphs?

Does the author focus on the funny parts of what’s happening? The serious stuff? What parts of the situation get the most attention? 

SENTENCE STRUCTURE

Do sentences veer toward longer structures with multiple clauses, or are they choppier - prose stripped down to its bare essentials?

Does the author use a lot of a specific type of punctuation (em-dashes, commas, semicolons, colons, parentheses, etc)?

Are there parts of speech that are used more often in various parts of sentences (do sentences frequently start with verbs? end with nouns? etc)

Are there any sentence constructions the author seems to favor (order of parts of speech, punctuation, which clauses are dependant or not)?

LITERARY DEVICES

Is the text heavier with similies, metaphors, an even mix, or neither?

Are there allusions (references, sort of) to other ideas or pieces of media (ex: power structures similar to Robin Hood, or a character described as being like Goldilocks)?

Are there frequent uses of alliteration (several words in a row with similar sounds, especially as the first letter)?

Is there repetition, whether with phrases, words, or ideas?