Emulate the Style 

Octavia Butler uses a variety of different themes throughout her books, but they all tend to stay pretty consistent on the central topic. Butler often uses topics like power and hierarchy, survival through adaptability, and strong emphasis on strength in numbers.

Throughout most of Butler’s writing the struggle with power and hierarchy is the backbone. She commonly uses shifting of power and how it is used to illustrate how virtuous and corrupt governments both reshape human behavior.

 Another theme that is seen rather inherently amongst her writing is survival through adaptability. Within nearly every single one of Octavia Butler’s writings the main character is not the strongest, rather they survive because of their ability to adapt. Take, for example, within her novel Parable of the Sower. Lauren survives not because she is some big bouldering human; she is just willing to do whatever it takes to survive. This is first illustrated when her walled community gets destroyed and she cross-dresses to protect herself. 

Adaptability is very important in shaping survival, so is community. Amongst all of her writing strength in number appears to be prevalent in most , if not all of her writing. Butler places it in her writing to emphasize the importance of collective survival over one singular hero.

Reluctant Leaders, emotionally intelligent narrators, and character’s moral complexity all play a vital role in what makes Butler’s writing so distinctive. Butler makes it apparent in all of her stories that the characters who end up leading rarely have the same traits that are seen in a conventional leader-- they often don’t want to lead at all. Instead, she aligns the stars so that characters that would never lead under normal circumstances are forced into a position of responsibility.

 These ideas further shape her writing to be immensely distinguishable. The observance and emotional intelligence often portrayed in her writing further sets it apart from any other science fiction author. Consistently, the main characters in her book have to be highly observant and deeply emotionally connected to be able to succeed.

 Another trend amongst the characters in Butler’s writing is blurred morals each have; her characters are never directly correct or incorrect. This significantly adds to the depth of her writing and can be seen within the majority of her books.

Butler’s word choice and imagery are essential -- direct diction, bodily imagery, and symbolic repetition. Butler always avoids flowery language. Within this avoidance is what makes her Books so well written. Without the unnecessary words, the actual horror and tension within the journey hits harder. Within doing so she invokes an emotional response from the readers that make it as if they were in the story themselves. 

Another way Butler evokes an emotional response is through the bodily imagery she portrays. Often, she uses visceral, physical sensations like pain, hunger, and heat. Beyond the reaction that this expression brings forth, the imagery acts as an anchor for the stakes of what the characters were currently experiencing. 

Repeated symbols are also an immense part of Octavia Butler as an Author. She often repeats images that are crucial to the story and emotions she is pushing. Fire, seeds, and wounds have all been seen as repeated images in her story. They recur throughout to further reinforce the theme that Butler wants to instill in the reader.

Within my emulation, with Dave Strone, I tried to mirror Butler's habit of grounding a story in physical actions rather than any niche descriptions. I tried to add as many visceral functions and images as possible, just as Butler would have. Take, for example, “his legs shaked,” or “he forced his breath steady,” using these I was able to ground the story in action rather than just an outline of what the world appears to be. 

Furthermore, I tried to show the theme of adaptation for survival, which is found in nearly every Butler book, by including the gravity shift, the eye movement, and the resistance of the hatch. This shows the physical cost of survival perfectly by  vividly illustrating what Dave is experiencing. Also I attempted to follow Butler’s footsteps by adding sensory overload with the brightness and other tactile inclusions. This reflects Butler’s style perfectly, and makes the alien environment actually have a feeling associated with it. 

Like Butler, I tried to bring a threat forward subtle through small anomalies. Also, I used the planet's behavior to shift the expectation to something odd and off putting. This is done to try to make a slow moving dread that is typical of Butler’s settings. 

I also tried to mimic Butler’s tendency to make her setting feel as if it is alive and morally ambiguous by using heartbeat like quakes and the heat the soil was emitting. I tried to involve some of the psychological tension that Butler uses in her works as well by trying to make it feel like the planet is examining Dave. 

Additionally, I incorporated the life signal dot to introduce uncertainty towards the end of my emulation. This is similar to what Butler tends to do, and it ends the scene with a question instead of a resolution. This will have the reader hooked, even though they will never actually know what happens. 

My emulation continues to emulate Butler by including Dave’s thirteen years without human contact. It does by mirroring Butler’s focus on a character shaped by loneliness. Additionally Dave’s fear of uncertainty and hesitation prior to every step reflect the internal battles and moral ambiguity Butler’s protagonists often face as they navigate new worlds. 

Also, I wrote in the contrast between the planet’s beauty and the burden Dave has been carrying emotionally. This created the kind of duality that Butler has throughout her writing.  

Now on to the internal conflict. Like Butler, I added his instinctive reactions. This is seen by him checking the devices as well as him doubting his sense. All of this combined shows how stressed and how conflicting his head actually is.