Thar Shaddin

So, I'm sure somebody's broached this topic but since I'm still a relative newcomer, here's another topic for us other newbs to partake and argue and whatever else we want to discuss- What books and which authors have influenced how and who you write? Not limited to epics or Newbury Award winners, also can include, "I hated this book and it taught me that I never want to write like him " and "OMG, this kid book was my fav and I always wanted to emulate her". I'm curious as to who people like to read, and I'm sure we have some common favorites, or maybe even some disagreements in who we like or hate.

Of course I'll give you all an example, this series is what I was thinking of- However poorly this may reflect on me, one of my earliest experiences with the fantasy realm was Weis and Hickman's DragonLance Chronicles (Dragons of Autumn Twilight, Winter Night, Spring Dawning). I had never Table-topped RP before, but the story of a group of mishmash companions, thrown into a random quest, and put through both triumph and tragedy... These books might not be A+ writing and may stink of all things fantasy cliche, but I think I will always enjoy the depth and the character interaction and I think these books have me striving to make great characters.

Stylistically, I think Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite authors. I'm not sure if I can ever emulate his prose, his effortless, seamless sentence structure, or the depth of his storylines (particularly his graphic novel series, Sandman) but I would like to someday, maybe, even just brush his level of writing.

I'll probably write more as I think of them. Meanwhile, the floor is open.

Ironically, for someone that writes quite a bit of fantasy, I don't really have any fantasy authors that have inspired me. HP Lovecraft is a big one, but that's more cosmic horror than fantasy. Stephen King is a bit more fantasy-ish, sometimes. But still. Um, what else...Silent Hill, despite being a video game, has actually been a source of inspiration for writing, up to the point that I will listen to its more ghoulish tracks during my bloodier scenes. YOU know the scenes I'm talking about, I assume wildly.

I'm trying to think of a straight-up fantasy author that inspired me, but to be honest, I'm of the opinion that most fantasy nowadays is trash, and by most, I mean I haven't found ONE good fantasy book lately. NOT ONE. Honestly, the lack of any respectable fantasy works probably inspires my writing more than any one fantasy work, because (as far as I can tell, and keep in my introspection is not my strong point) I don't use flashy magic or exceptionally skilled swordsmen or what-have-you in my stories. Well here, anyway. Back at my old board I used more flashy magic, but it was more of the Cosmic Horror variety. There was one fantasy story I read a while ago that I forget the name of-it was about a wizard, and then he did something stupid, and then his shadow came to life or something, and then his shadow followed him all over the place trying to kill him....I forget what it was called but I kind of liked that story.

Honestly, it's kind of hard to think of a good story that might have inspired me, because casting about most of the books I have now are social/economic/political analysis/commentary. Jesus Christ. Look at this. I haven't read purely for fun in way too long.

There are a lot of authors that I like to read. Too many to list, really. So I'll focus on ones that I think have had a direct influence on my own writing.

I will state categorically that Tolkien has influenced my work. I can't necessarily pinpoint the exact ways in detail, but his stories have been part of my mental "world" since I was about four years old, and there is no doubt it affects my writing. Not necessarily in characters, plot, or setting, but in how I learned about the construction of a fantasy world.

When it comes to my RP-related writing, I've definitely been influenced by George R. R. Martin. I don't really necessarily see an influence in plots per se, but in sort of imagining a background in which fantasy is melded with medieval-style political intrigue, and where combat is a gritty and brutal affair. His writing provides an example that has helped me with character events... the exact same events don't happen, but he's influenced the mood and feel of my stories, particularly backstories. I don't see that influence in other things I write, really, because the settings and subject matter are usually totally different, but I do for RP.

While my subject matter is very different from J. K. Rowling's, I've learned things from her about pacing and foreshadowing. While I don't do either of these things in exactly the same way she does, she's really gotten me thinking about how to do it, so I do count her as an influence.

I'm influenced a lot by folklore in everything I write. I studied folklore as my advanced degree program, and the reason I chose that was that I was already very drawn to the field. In my RP-related writing I've drawn a lot of fairy lore and not done a lot beyond that (though I hope to in the future,) but in my writing in general, folklore-- especially folk tales-- have a strong and visible effect on my work.

Even when I'm not writing comedy, I find stylistically my wording, phrasing, sentence structure, and delivery are influenced by both Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. My mood, tone, and setting preferences are influenced by William Butler Yeats and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. And yes, I'm aware that's a weird, weird combination.

Are there others? Yeah, no doubt. Whenever I read, I'm consciously or subconsciously evaluating style and learning about writing. I'm sure I've been influenced in ways I could never dig out of the tangle that is my mind. But those are the ones that come up most readily to answer your question.

Well, I didn't mean to restrict the genre of books to fantasy... even though everyone here writes a fantastical type of story, it by no means is the only genre that people read. I just happen to be a huge fantasy buff, and I will have to agree with Allen- its been a long time since I've read new fantasy that inspires or impresses me. Still... converse away!

Anyone who's known me well over the past couple of years already knows my position and probably the names on this. I don't read very much, so this list is practically a list of what I have read.
I'm picky and there have been a few books I just won't get through. If it doesn't keep hold of me, I quit soon.

Growing Up
The first big fantasy series I read that I remember best, and that I liked at the time was the Dark Elf Trilogy (which became a 9 book series... which is up to like 12 now?) by R.A. Salvatore. For those who don't know this already, this is a D&D "Forgotten Realms" setting and is where the character Drizzt is from - the single most abused and recylced D&D based character ever and I hate it. It's fantasy pulp, it's generic, the first 3 books he wrote (The Icewind Dale Trilogy, to which the Dark Elf Trilogy is a sequel) are actually pretty badly written, but it's classic stuff and it hooked me as a young reader. Did it influence me? I dunno. Probably.
I also liked Jane Yolen's Pit Dragon Trilogy and, actually, this probably influenced me more, although its 1/6th the length and not nearly as well known. It had its share of grit and gore and cheesy romance which I still love.

Fantasy
I have to say that I can't read Tolkein. Don't like his writing style or his focus on the epic world, and it's a struggle for me to get through. Any influence he's had is indirect. Probably I should have tried when I was younger, but I didn't, and now it's not what I look for. I respect what he did and respect him as a linguist and a writer and all that, but that's a classic that looks good on the shelf I won't read. On this I'm usually alone.
A series I love and am still reading is the Black Company series by Glen Cook. It's fantasy pulp with its fair share of cliches, but Cook's a gifted storyteller. What I love about him is that he has great skill as a writer, but he hides it. He is extremely terse and to the point - the books are purposefully written in that style - and as a literary exercise I think its unique and well executed. He switches narrators, who are the authors of journals, and in doing so he changes the whole voice and tone of the writing. Alas, it gets slow after 6 books because nobody writes like Croaker did.

Sci Fi
Alastair Reynolds' Revelation Space was epic, different, and totally awesome. We don't write sci fi so I don't know about influence, but this is gold. Prior to that I was much into cyberpunk, and for that there's William Gibson. His writing is about average, but his vision was brilliant.

Modern/Other
One name. Neil Stephenson. Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon. He re-writes history into a believable, fictional setting that's well researched, his characters are vivid, his writing is top notch, and I have nothing but praise for the man and those two books. I think he's a genius.

Finally there's Heroes Die and Blade of Tyshalle by Matthew Stover. This stands alone as the most influential stuff on me for writing here. It's a cross between sci fi, fantasy, and philosophy. Blade of Tyshalle goes past the story into a more metaphysical commentary that I haven't seen from other fantasy writers. A lot of my characters are tempered by the grayness of his. Bela isn't mwahaha evil because Ma'el Koth showed me it's so much cooler not to be. I play on how Chrishton's age cause Stover opened my eyes to that plight which affects us all eventually.

On my to-read list is stuff by Neil Gaiman. So many inspired people I know love him, and I like the tidbits I've seen here and there.

The person who most effected me and made me want to write about... Tricky.

If I had to sa anyone I would say David Gemmell. he wrote his first book as a way to take his mind off being diagnosed with terminal cancer. The book was called Legend, and it is about two men trying to survive a seige. A basic plot summery is, two men, one a deserter and one a legend, join foces to defend the greatest fortress in the world aginst the greatest army the world has ever seen. If they can keep the fortress from falling for six months an army may be raised, support the defenders.

It was the first book I read in the fantasy genre and it still effects how i write today. He wrote over 30 books and i'm proud to say i have read them all. His whole style of writing was based on the legend of Willam Wallace, a famous leader that led people to revolt. Willam Wallace started as an average man that turned into a warrior, a leader, a martry, a Legend.

David Gemmell style of writing was based on the whole idea that the average man can become a hero.

I have other Aurthors, but I've just realised that i've wrote quite a bit already, so I'll add others maybe another time.

I've read my fair share of fantasy stuff, but I don't know how much of it has influenced me.

I read some Tolkien -- The Hobbit, LotR and Silmarillion. I much preferred Silmarillion over the others. I had to read the Hobbit for school, and I read LotR just because I wanted to know how the story ended, but it was a real uphill struggle. Silmarillion was much more to my taste because it just has a lot of beautiful prose. Other than that, I think I've gone through the entire Harry Potter series in one language or another... I know I read the first three, but I am not sure with the later books, as stuff seemed really disjointed for me. Those books were entertaining, but I think their main appeal for me was all of the whizzlesnops and grobbledygorps.. just the imagination of everything more than the writing style. I also read the His Dark Materials trilogy, which I really enjoyed. Oh, and the Dark Tower series was a guilty pleasure (... addiction) for awhile.

That said, all of it is a bit epic, somehow detached from the characters, and plot-driven, and there isn't really the focus on writing style that I see in stuff I revere. Nowadays, I just like stories to wallow in their own words.

Chastise me all you want for picking an Oprah's Book Club book for this, but The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I can't say I write like him, and I can't say I ever will, but I was absolutely in awe of some of the sentences in there, and every once and awhile I fantasize that I've written something as expansive, specific and troubling as one of them.

you should check out CS Lewis' original The Dark Tower, it's one of his unfinished books. really twisted shit.

George R.R. Martin is a great author, but one that I like even more, and try to emulate as much as possible is Patrick Rothfuss.

His writing style is sheer wonderful-ness. Go read. I've only read his first book, The Name of the Wind, and it was so wonderful. Read it. It's a hero (or is he a villian, I dunno yet) telling his story to a chronicler, but it's really really good.

So that's my current favorite and author I wish to write like.

I know there are others... but Rothfuss is the greatest.

At first I wasn't going to share, but eh, I'm bored.

I've always wanted to write a high fantasy epic like Lord of the Rings and the Sword of Truth series so I would say Tolkien and Terry Goodkind have influenced my ideas quite a bit. Still, I try to come up with original things, so I would say all the books I've read have told me what NOT to do.

The way I write, however, I think has been influenced by fellow roleplayers more than anything else. I've basically grown up writing in a roleplay setting more than my own individual work, and my skill was surely lacking quite a bit in middle school. I aspired to be like the writers I saw here on Thar Shaddin (at the time it was Terre Haute) and other boards before that. I'm sure the many fiction books I've read have influenced me, too.

David Gemmell, who I've read quite a bit of, I think has influenced me more recently, like the last couple of years. He writes clearly but doesn't muddle up the story with improper details, which allows you to get into the story without worrying about all the little things that just take away from the story in the end. It also allows you to imagine the scene like you want to when it doesn't matter how it's supposed to appear. I thought that was wonderful, so I've been trying that in my writing. Same thing with Rowling's Harry Potter series, it is written rather simply (especially compared to Tolkien ) but it absorbs you in nonetheless.

I'm also influenced by horror books with their twists and suspense. I think that's very important in writing. I would also say manga, with the same reasons. Manga loves to throw surprises at you and it's always exciting. Manga and movies (and regular books, but not so much) have also shown me how important it is to have unique, engaging characters, which I somehow always struggle with.

Summary: I pull from everything around me.

I'm not much of a fantasy reader. I'm right with Daq on the McCarthy. That man is a totally talented writer in a very full market. I feel as if he stands out as a writer of classics--books people will remember for more than ten years. I enjoy his gritty style, and I think I've been somewhat inspired by him--The Road, No Country for Old Men--to stretch the bounds of my style. I don't know any other author who can describe a list of guns and ammunition in such an unaffected yet starkly poetic way. He's really got something.

Oh, Hemingway. Love him. He's the kind of writer I try to compare contemporary authors to, so I can picture in my mind whether contemporary authors are really worth their salt, or just entertaining on a short-term basis. I try to use a combination of dryness and succinct description when I write, and I'm sure that's because of my wanting to emulate him.

Also: Gregory Maguire. He's the guy who wrote Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, Wicked, etc . . . those twisted fairy tales, you know. He's got a way with words, to be sure, but I feel that's a pretty common talent so I won't dwell on it too much. What I really love is his characterization of the land of Oz: he manages to combine a realistic sort of political story with elements of mundanity and absurdity. I DO love an author with a good grasp of the absurd. Another reason I'm drawn to him is that he seems to incorporate motifs of mental retardation and possibly incest frequently. Those are two of the motifs I use in my RP writing to the point of them being practically a calling card.

Pag, have you ready any of Thomas Pynchon?

Gravity's Rainbow has quite a bit of interesting absurdity.

Not to mention that it involves coprophagia and sex slaves. I think those are two motifs you might like as well.

Aw man, why do I seem like I'd like those motifs? First of all, sex slaves=cliche, hackneyed, lame. And while I'm NOT into incest OR coprophagia in any actual sense, I do find the motif of incest interesting. Poo-munching isn't interesting to me . . . as much interest as I have in my own regularity, this obsession does not extend to snack time.

Seriously though, sex slaves are lame.

Oh, and I like Vonnegut.

Aw man, why do I seem like I'd like those motifs?

I dunno. Must have been all of that talk about munging [sic?] in chat.

Does it help that the sex slaves are made to pretend that they are brother and sister?