About Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist and poet, the author of Treasure Island, Kidnapped and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Alongside his fiction he wrote travel books and several volumes of essays, including Virginibus Puerisque and Memories and Portraits.
Robert Louis Stevenson’s writing style
Stevenson paid close attention to rhythm and sound, and wrote about it directly in his essay "On Some Technical Elements of Style in Literature." His sentences vary in length and often balance one clause against another. In "A College Magazine" he describes teaching himself to write by imitating Hazlitt, Lamb, Wordsworth, Sir Thomas Browne, Defoe, Hawthorne, Montaigne and others, playing "the sedulous ape."
Practice Robert Louis Stevenson’s essays
1 essay
How to write like Robert Louis Stevenson
Pick one of Robert Louis Stevenson’s essays and retype it word for word. Copying slows you down enough to notice how each sentence is built: where it starts, how long it runs and which words carry the weight. Keep the style notes above in mind as you type, then write a paragraph of your own in the same voice. New to this? Read what copywork is and how to do it.