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McAnally's (The Community Pub) => Author Craft => Topic started by: meg_evonne on January 21, 2012, 03:26:05 PM
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If this is correct, then I read my 1st completely-love book at age 8? That can't be right. (And yes, I am that old---waiting for the 'age' snark to begin.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0374386161/ref=pe_143810_22391430_snp_dp
L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. And it is science fiction. It was her death that drove me to pick up those, years and years of writing for myself, books and head out into the real world. I am a far better writer now. So once more, thank you to the author of my favorite book.
SO the challenge is to list your single writer who most influenced your writing and your life. Please do not list Jim, obviously he has had a huge impact on all of us or we wouldn't be here.
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Terry Pratchett.
Whenever I write something I feel is particularly good, I have to Google it to make sure I haven't inadvertently plajarized it from him.
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Terry Pratchett.
Whenever I write something I feel is particularly good, I have to Google it to make sure I haven't inadvertently plajarized it from him.
LOL
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Well, this is a complicated one.
I decided I wanted to write after meeting Pat Rothfuss. He taught at the university I graduated from, but I could never take any of his classes. I tried several times but could never get a story going. Pat told me about his favorite series; The Dresden Files. I read those.
They showed me a pacing style I was far more comfortable with. I like stories that take a few days, and every bit is important. It's a style I can think in better. I'm almost 120000k into my first novel and going strong.
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Andre Norton. AKA Alice Mary Norton. First sci-fi I read was Sargasso Of Space. Free traders, exploration, and the odd shifty deal. Which of course made Han Solo that much cooler when I met him. (Space trader games like Elite are still my all time favorite genre.) After making friends with Dane Thorson and the rest of the Solar Queen's crew, I read everything by her I could find, which led me to Witch World and fantasy in general.
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I don't have one, because I've read too many books over the years. Started reading when I was very young and never stopped. There are series I hag onto, but I don't have a single author that is my favorate, just a bunch of ones who I enjoy....
Craig
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Anne McCaffrey. Found the Ship that Sang at a local drugstore when I was in High School.
Got me into reading Science Fiction. People like Andre Norton. The Beast Master was one of my favorites.
Then Star Trek came on the air.
Reading and watching S.F. got me into going to the conventions and, shudder, working on conventions.
I became interested in S.F. art and in writing from there.
The rest, as they say, is history.
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*tag* (thinking)
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Anne McCaffrey. Found the Ship that Sang at a local drugstore when I was in High School.
this one made me weep. I love it!
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Isaac Asimov. My first brother introduced me to him about a year after the divorce from my first husband. Asimov opened new doors for me in terms of living my life. I can't really say he has influenced my writing, which is pretty scant. I'm gradually trying to get over the bureaucratic style imposed by over 20+ years in a Federal job.
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The single greatest impact by a series was Tom Swift, which solidified my belief that today's Science Fiction is tomorrow's Science Fact. But thats not a single author, and part of its impact is seeing the development of things over several generations. My dad used to read a little of Tom Swift and the bible to us each night when I was a wee lad.
As a single author, for me its The Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay, which shaped quite a bit of my views on Free Will, Choice, Sacrifice, and Nobility.
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---Snip---
SO the challenge is to list your single writer who most influenced your writing and your life. Please do not list Jim, obviously he has had a huge impact on all of us or we wouldn't be here.
Well I'd like to say whoever wrote the Legend of Huma (possibly the first fantasy book I ever read) or Flint the King (one of the best I've ever read). Or how about David Weber, my all time favorite author for many years. But honestly? Those people inspired me to a be a voracious 'reader'.
If I'm going to talk about the writers who've most influenced my 'writing'. (Can't think of any who've influenced my life, unless we're talking scriptures here) Then I'm down to three names.
I'll list them in order.
1) John Ringo: who once posted that he often wrote between 5-10k per day, and once had a day when he wrote 20k in a sitting. That single post opened my mind to the possibilities of word production, and quality production at that, an author could reasonably be expected to put out there in a single day.
2) Ilona Andrews: who once (or twice) posted on her site that you have to give yourself the permission to write poorly (the crud, the crap, etc), just get it out there, then come back and fix it all up all nice and pretty later.
3) B.V. Larson: who opened my eyes to the incredible earning potential of the Amazon indie self-publishing market in a short u-tube video I watched on amazon, and who continues to put out 3-4 books per year while holding down a full time job teaching at a University.
Without the information I received from all three of these authors I might never have gotten the gumption to sit down and actually crank out my first book. As it is, my second book is being sent through the first editing pass right now and I made a $120 last week on Admiral Who?. As things stand I'm on pace to do the same or better this week!
For me I needed the information I received from those three authors to push me over the edge. Then one day in January I took a story start that had roughly 25k on it. And three weeks later, on the very last day of January, my self imposed completion date, held in my flash drive the very first draft of what would eventually be my first 142k novel.
The Deposed King
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DK, I love that your writers provided advise that supported what was doable. It gives me heart as well. And congrats. :-)
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I'm tied between either Isaac Asimov or Oscar Wilde, they both influenced my writing greatly just on different aspects of my writing.
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DK, I love that your writers provided advise that supported what was doable. It gives me heart as well. And congrats. :-)
They inspired me. If I can help inspire others even a fraction as much then my work here will be done.
I'm glad it helps give you heart, never give up and never surrender.
Always follow the Dream,
The Deposed King
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For inspiring me to write, I'd have to say Louis L'Amour. I ate his Westerns up when I was a kid. I wrote my first (Plan 9 From Outer Space-bad) short story at the age of 10, a short Western.
For inspiring and shaping my writing and how I think about writing over the years, I'd say the biggest props go to Wilbur Smith, and more specifically to his novels about the Courtneys in Africa in the 1600ish timeframe.
For authors that have shaped my thoughts about the craft and have given me numerous ideas that I've relied on in my attempts at writing over the past 15 years, I'd add Tolkein, David Drake, Harry Turtledove, Ilona Andrews, and Brandon Sanderson.
Still, the first two authors I'd name would be L'Amour and Smith.
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Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, and Arthur C. Clarke.