4 Ways To Write Like Harper Lee
How to write like the author of “To Kill a Mockingbird”…
If I could steal someone’s artistry, it would be Harper Lee’s.
Her colorful language and top-notch storytelling are her most robust caliber.
No doubt even Oprah Winfrey herself has chosen “To Kill a Mockingbird” as her favorite novel growing up.
No two writers are identical. Harper Lee’s mastery of storytelling is beyond comparable.
But after reading her novel more than 3 times, here are her artistic nuances that anyone can emulate:
Use of vivid imagery.
Harper Lee’s writing never fails to reach the senses of her readers. Part of her strong narrative style is painting settings and scenes with incredible precision.
You can notice this in how she described Maycomb County through the observation of an innocent child. As a smart girl who grew up in an old-town neighborhood, Harper Lee perfectly embodied Scout’s character.
Personally, the part of the novel where she portrayed vivid description the strongest is when she pictured the image of The Radley House.
“The Radley place jutted into a sharp curve beyond our house. Walking south, one faced its porch; the sidewalk turned and ran beside the lot. The house was low, was once white with a deep front porch and green shutters, but had long ago darkened to the color of the slate-gray yard around it. Rain-rotted shingles drooped over the eaves of the veranda; oak trees kept the sun away. The remains of a picket drunkenly guarded the front yard — a ‘swept’ yard that was never swept — where johnson grass and rabbit tobacco grew in abundance.”
Lee, H. (1960). To Kill a Mockingbird. J.B. Lippincott & Co.
This passage speaks so much more about the entire setting, not just Boo Radley’s enigmatic household. Based on her imagery, you can feel the period, atmosphere, and horror lurking behind its walls.
It mirrors the aspects of a day to day life during the most challenging American era. Not through the lens of industrialism, but from the perspective of a normal toddler. A child who might not yet have the depth to understand The Great Depression, but smart enough to notice its ripple in her neighborhood.
I wasn’t even born during the Great Depression but every time Scout illustrates the Radley Place, a part of this era comes alive to me. Times when acts of oppression are normally happening behind closed doors.
Emotive Style.
A clean-cut example of this was when Scout had a deep conversation with Atticus where the best line in the novel was born:
“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… Until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”
In the beginning, Atticus’ cold personality is prominent — a trait you can find in most fathers with professional backgrounds.
But during this scene, his gravitas began to materialize, and it deeply resonated with me.
I started seeing my father to Atticus. My dad never talks much. But when he does, it’s always full of substance. He’s more of a one-liner kind of person. He never spoke long, only when he needed to.
Harper Lee’s emotive storytelling is different. It isn’t injected in the words, it’s embedded in the characters.
Every character holds a distinctive persona, that if bent, can even stand an entirely different storyline.
Atticus has a completely different story to tell. Just as Scout, Jem Finch, Dill, Boo Radley, Miss Maudie, Calpurnia, and other characters have.
Culture-centered writing.
“To Kill a Mockingbird” navigated around a specific point in time in an old town in Alabama. A place with a culture that is unconventional for people new to Maycomb.
Do you remember the chapter where Scout put her wrong foot on Miss Caroline a couple of times?
It was a provocative encounter, yet a highlight in the novel.
Harper Lee’s attention to societal norms is a thing that makes her storytelling both intriguing and inviting.
After reading this part, I knew it wasn’t just a typical feud between a teacher and a student. It was more of an introduction to the town’s culture that even readers like us can hardly understand.
- Why the Cunninghams are tolerated to run wild?
- Why does Scout almost want to quit school?
- Why it was considered shameful to defend Negros in court?
The culture-centric plot adds another layer of suspense to the novel. It’s one of the reasons why “To Kill a Mockingbird” is considered a social commentary at its core.
Effective Dialogue.
Next to Scout’s deep talk with Atticus, Scout’s dialogue with Miss Maudie was also one of my favorites.
It’s when Scout asks Miss Maudie why Atticus ordered them to never aim their air rifles at mockingbirds.
The novel’s title began to make sense.
Their dialogue precisely explains why it’s always a sin to kill a mockingbird. Although both are thriving to live, why bluejays are at least more reasonable to be aimed at.
I admired how Miss Maudie laid it out:
“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”
Lee, H. (1960). To Kill a Mockingbird. J.B. Lippincott & Co.
Best concepts are introduced in dialogues like these.
My childhood curiosities somehow resurrected. I’d like to believe being surrounded by people like Miss Maudie is a gift. Not every lady living across the street is kind enough to talk to children sensibly. Much more if she is even substantial enough to share anything of value.
Every so often, I found myself in the shoes of Scout — young and naive.
Thanks to Harper Lee’s thought-provoking dialogues.
That’s a wrap!
When I was a campus journalist, my mentor taught me one or two about storytelling. All the insights I learned, I wrote them in a 5500-word 17-page mini-workbook.
If you want to learn how to:
1. Write long-form articles every day without burning out.
2. Be an effective storyteller.
3. Produce quality content every day.
4. Build a healthy writing system.
You can grab my mini-workbook for free here.
