For a blog about analyzing writing, lately, its become slightly personal. I don't know where the last entry came from, except I didn't have anywhere else to put it. I need to update this more -- figure out where its actually going and coming from. But anyways, I'll do that later.
There was a facebook meme going around where you put down 15 authors who have influenced you. I think it was more about thoughts and ideas then about writing, but I think its applicable. I didn't post it on facebook, but I'll post it here along with commentary. They are listed in no particular order, just who I thought of first.
1. Douglas Adams
Comedy has never been a strong suit of mine. If I do anything comedic, it is always sarcastic and dry; very British as my friends would say, though to be honest, I don't know if its true that British humor is so clear cut. I will, however, admit to the fact that Douglas Adams always makes me want to write comedic stuff. I once attempted it by emulating his voice -- putting the preposterous into a statement that appears to make sense -- and it was awful, just awful.
That being said, Douglas has influenced the way I view writing about space. My NaNo, which changed dramatically this year, was in space, and I often found myself borrowing from some of the more ridiculous things that Douglas does -- the names, and on occasion, the creatures. There was a lot of creative energy, imagination and plan interest in all of Douglas's work, and that is something I aspire to.
2. Neil Gaiman
Its funny, I was reading
The Sandman at the desk the other day and someone asked me what else Neil had written that I had read. I got kind of stuck because despite the fact that I feel like there is a lot of Neil Gaiman out there, I haven't read all of it. I've done
Stardust and
American Gods. I've read
The Graveyard Book and some of his short stories, but when it comes down to it, I am always at a loss as to what to say when someone asks that question.
Neil's influence on me has not been writing style -- I will admit I found some of
American Gods hard to read because of the writing style -- but rather on ideas. In
Stardust, Fairy is constantly changing, growing as people dream it, and it came from seeing a wall while driving. In
American Gods, a war is coming, but it is between the old gods, and technology itself, a fascinating mixing of layers and intrigues.
I don't want to write like Neil, I want to
think like Neil -- finding a story where ever you look.
3. Clive Barker
Abarat is the only book I have read by Clive (plus its sequel) and if you've never read it, I hope you do. When you do, I suggest you get the color version with his artwork. Its beautiful.
That being said, Clive has actually influenced me in other ways then me thinking about writing a story with images (though after reading
Abarat I thought about trying it. Its an in progress project that will take forever to finish because its all on my mother's computer and I would need a wacom tablet to really do it). Similar to Neil, Clive has amazing ideas. The idea of twenty four islands that exist as times of day is interesting and provides a fantastical and fantastic backdrop for the story, which is surprising and rich.
Abarat was the most original story I had read at the time and when I was done I sat still, wondering how I would ever write something so different from what you expect.
4. Diane Duane
Young Wizards and the world that it inhabits is probably my favorite series apart from
Harry Potter. In some ways, Diane's world outclasses J. K.'s, but really I would like to keep them as separate as possible, despite them both being about wizards working behind the scenes of our own world. Now that's out of the way...
I don't remember reading the first book in this series clearly.
So You Want to be a Wizard was good, but a little distant to me at the time, but the idea of magic being controlled by words -- the Speech -- a basic language for the universe was so interesting to me.
Young Wizards remains completely technologically based with the Speech being a programming language. The concept of the world as such is extremely pleasing to my world view -- everything based on logic in terms of magic, making the twists that the characters manage to pull out all the better because you don't see it coming but it makes so much sense.
But its not just the internal rules making so much sense (despite the shifting time period, though I appreciate that as who would want to read a book that was still in the eighties when there are so many opportunities in modern life to play with for Diane), its also about the character's themselves. Nita especially.
I am so glad I read these books as a teenager (and again as a young adult, they are still coming out). There is something so relatable about the characters and you love them and sometimes you hate them, but you always understand where they are coming from.
Wizard's Dilemma never fails to make me cry -- hard and most of the way through the book --
Wizards at War never fails to make my heart skip a beat in the middle, and at the end my heart breaks over and over again.
A Wizard of Mars had me cheering at the end, despite my disinclination towards Nita and Kit being together. These are characters that I love and I want to keep reading about them. And that is the main influence I have gotten from Diane.
The last thing I got from her is the fact that you can have serial novels -- there is no limit to the number of
Young Wizard novels she can write because the premise is solid. Saving the world is Nita and Kit's job -- but its also Dairine's and Carmela's -- and all the characters you never get to meet. They aren't the only ones saving the world, we just get to watch their part, and that is really interesting to me.
5. William Styron
Whenever I get asked what my favorite book is, I feel an onrush of panic. What to say? I love
Harry Potter a lot, but what about
Young Wizards? And what if its just one book that I have to decide on -- my favorite book from a series? I don't generally, read books that are stand alone making it difficult to decide. So I say "What? That's like
Sophie's Choice! Deciding on ONE book as my favorite? Luckily, I really like
Sophie's Choice so let's say that."
Of all the authors I have read, William Styron (who I can't call by his first name), has influenced my writing style. I read
Sophie's Choice in high school in the best English class I've ever been in (AP English with DePeter) and we looked at the language carefully and it was then that I decided -- I want to write like this.
Styron introduced me to the dash, to beautiful language, to self referential writing, to discussion of mental illness without really talking about it. There is so much about this book that I want to emulate. If I were to ever write a novel that wasn't fantasy/sci fi, I would want to write a novel like
Sophie's Choice.
6. Louisa May Alcott
There's a
FRIENDS episode where Rachel says she has re-read
Little Women a lot, a classic, and I know exactly what she means. I have re-read
Little Women so many times since I first opened it in third grade. Each time I come away with something new -- a different association, and point of interest.
Little Women still makes me cry when Beth dies, still makes me incredibly happy when Laurie comes for Amy in Vevey, and remains one of my favorite books of all time.
Sometimes I think about how the book is set up -- a group of stories about a family that loves one another. There is a moral -- all books at that time had to have one -- but if you ignore the moral, then you get a lovely portrait of people -- and that is the important message about writing. Character's always drive my interest in reading, and in writing.
7. L. M. Montgomery
Similar to Ms. Alcott, Mrs. Montgomery has a childhood appeal to her. I read
Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, and
Anne of the Island before stopping. I like thinking of these three books as a trio and ignoring the rest because I never got into the rest. However the appeal is partly Anne -- again a character based story surprisingly -- but also the kind of childhood scrapes people get into, the childlike delight Anne takes in everything which allows a nostalgic feeling and that is something I enjoy and use today in my own writing.
8. J. K. Rowling
While I don't remember reading
So You Want to be a Wizard for the first time, I remember
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone clearly. I was in England in fifth grade for a month, and I was in my aunt's house, which was a converted barn at the time. My cousin Josh gave me the book, and said he liked it, and I had already received
Chamber of Secrets from my grandmother for Christmas, so I thought
Why not?
I didn't stop reading until I got to the end. This is the first book I read cover to cover. And I still remember how freaked out I was by the end, how I kept making funny noises and shaking with how awesome this book was/is.
There is no way that J. K. couldn't have influenced me. The subtle influence, of word choice and character creation is something that comes from other places, but for me the reason
J. K. continues to be a major influence in my writing is the world building she did.
9. C. S. Lewis
After the last post you might be confused as to why I would put down a clearly Christian writer, but L. M. Montgomery and Louisa May Alcott were more preachy about religion then these books in my opinion. Well except
The Magician's Nephew, but lets move on.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was certainly among the first books that I remember reading. I re-read them every now and then (and with the new movie, which I still have not seen, so no spoilers please) I probably will read them again. There is something incredibly nostalgic and endearing about them that I love. This from a series that was published around the time of
Lord of the Rings and with just as rich a background story, but with language that was easy to understand, and a story that takes a lot of the ancient and makes it modern.
10. Phillip Pullman
As soon as I put down C. S. Lewis, I knew I had to put down Phillip. I ran through
The Golden Compass, was obsessed with
The Subtle Knife and got
The Amber Spyglass the day it came out (I was sick, but my dad picked it up for me... also was in sixth grade so I wasn't able to go at midnight to wait for it). Again, as with J. K. I was subtly influenced by Phillip. His writing is interesting and nuanced. It laces science with religion and creates a world that is almost, but not quite, like our own in such a way that you believe it -- deeply and seriously.
I read other things by Phillip -- though I can't remember them clearly as Sally Darling did not stay in my head the way Lyra did -- but what I do remember is the complexity of character, the way it was definitely the characters that drew me in. And, would you look at that, I love characters.
11. Tamora Pierce
Without a doubt Tamora Pierce has influenced the way I write the most seriously. My first attempt at a chaptered work was a cheap Tammy knock off. There is a lot to be said about what Tammy did for my sense of fantasy writing. Large scale battles, and women with swords and magical fire that burst from their fingertips had never occurred to me until I read her work.
Tammy's worlds are typically fantastical, but they are rooted in reality. There are gods and goddesses that regularly visit and talk with characters. Magic is common, and possessed by those born to it. The thing about Tammy's work is not that she breaks boundaries in her worlds, but in that she empowers her female characters while maintaining their femininity. They are people and it wasn't until I got into broader fantasy that I realized this was not common.
12. Garth Nix
If you have never read
Sabriel I suggest you do. The world Garth created in this work is endlessly fascinating with a deep and rich background history. And he does it over and over again. I have only read the Old Kingdom series and The Keys to the Kingdom, but both of them have wonderful worlds and a definite sense of time and space.
The attention to real detail is something that I have picked up from Garth. He is specific in many of his descriptions, lending them the aspects of the objects or things in question. Scenes are better done when there is an exact quality to the descriptions, ideas of time and space and clearer when you are given measurements (though not too many). I have never read anything else quite like it, but I find the level of detail in Garth's work something to live up to.
13. David Sedaris
Moving out of my childhood books, we get to David. Ah David, you funny, funny man. I have already said that humor has never been my strong suit, but I do find that reading and listening to it to be the best way to learn how it is done. Whether it is through the comedy of performance (which David does) or the way he states things with clarity, he is able to provoke a laugh.
Sometimes a turn of phrase, or a way of saying something that is so thoroughly different and bizarre, but perfectly right, will come out of me and I know it has come from reading him.
14. Malcolm Gladwell
Moving out of fiction all together we get to Malcolm and Mary. Malcolm Gladwell has influenced the way I think in many respects, not because I agree with him all the time, but because every time he says something I think about whether or not I do agree with him based on his arguments.
Writing fiction might not be trying to make you agree that communication is the best, but it certainly is about trying to get people to believe in what you are writing. Malcolm has shown some obvious flaws in logic in some of his writing, but the interesting thing is not that he does so, but that it can show you flaws in your own logic. There have been times when I have found myself backpedalling, attempting to find the edge of my "argument" because I can sense such a hole appearing. I'd like to give some of that credit to Malcolm.
15. Mary Roach
Dealing with horrible situations with dry witticisms, Mary Roach has convinced me that it is always important to have a sense of humor. Death seems to attract Mary a little, but I don't mind, it does me too -- and for Mary its always a little different. However, the tendency, that I believe is mostly human, to add humor to situations that are grime is very telling.
All death, mayhem and horror is not something you read. Gallows humor on the other hand -- you can read and laugh.
So there it is. My 15 influences. Who's influenced you, people who are starting to comment on here to my shock. :)
