Pastiche Guide: 4 Tips for Writing a Pastiche

Pastiche is a stylistic imitation of another work of art—be it literature, music, theater, or architecture. Pastiche is a form of intertextuality in which an artist takes the central idea or theme of a work, and uses that to create an original piece. Pastiche can also be a composite of various sources, forming a hodgepodge of different works mixed together. Not to be confused with parody, which is a new work that mocks an original work, pastiche is used as an homage to its source material.

The purpose of pastiche is to celebrate an original work from which the creator appropriates or uses various elements. Pastiche can also help create variety within a work by borrowing elements from an existing work of art, in some cases creating new or mixed genres. Pastiche can also be useful for brand new writers, artists, or filmmakers by providing inspirational groundwork to inform the style or point of view of their work.

There are many examples of pastiche that exist within the literary world, such as:

1. 1. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard (1990): Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead is an absurdist play that expands upon two side characters in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. This tragicomedy explores the lives, activities, and perspectives of these two minor characters as they interweave with the plot of the original play.
2. 2. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire (1995): Though closely associated with literary parody, this novel by Gregory Maguire was written as a prequel to the classic 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. The story is a biography of the misunderstood, green-skinned girl named Elphaba, who would come to be known as the villainous Wicked Witch of the West. This novel was famously adapted into the Tony Award-winning musical Wicked in 2003.
3. 3. Mrs. Osmond by John Banville (2017): Modern author John Banville wrote the novel Mrs. Osmond in the style of Henry James’ seminal Victorian novel, Portrait of a Lady. In the story, Banville extends the life of James’ protagonist Isabel Archer in a darkly humorous way.
4. 4. The Final Solution by Michael Chabon (2003): Like many other works of pastiche, Michael Chabon’s novella The Final Solution is inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s iconic detective Sherlock Holmes. The 89-year-old main character thought to be Holmes—who is only referred to as “the old man”—seeks out a missing parrot, who is the best friend of a young boy.

Below are some steps on how to write your own pastiche.

1. 1. Study the original work. Before you attempt a pastiche that is inspired by another artist’s work, you want to know the original work’s messages, characters, and literary conventions inside and out. Once you have a firm grasp of what inspires you about this work or works, you can get a firm grasp of what elements will be interesting to experiment with in your piece.
2. 2. Restructure the original work. You can write a pastiche by altering the different elements of an existing work—including genre, character point of view, or tone. Make a popular romantic work of literature into a work of modern minimalism, replete with ennui. Alter the gender of the main character, and see how this alters their experience in the world of your piece. Make an ancillary character the main character to play with the point of view in the piece.
3. 3. Infuse your own meaning. In order to make your pastiche stand out from the original work, you’ll want to apply your fresh point of view. Make sure to use the elements that you borrow from the source material in an innovative way, to avoid a piece that comes across as too derivative or stolen.
4. 4. Combine different works. There is no limit to the number of stories and characters you can incorporate into your pastiche. You might be inspired by a common theme in three or so works, or by three main characters from different stories who have similar character flaws. Combining elements from different works and genres gives you lots of room to be creative.

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