Every writer has people in real life and authors they’ve never met who put them on the path to scribe-dom, whether it was an encouraging teacher or a writer who revealed what was possible with the written word.
Who influenced you along the way? Who helped make you the writer you are today?
Though blessed with a number of excellent teachers in high school and college, Pat Avery (later McCoy) taught me sophomore and junior English at Broadmoor High School in Baton Rouge and made literature alive and fun for me for the first time. I suppose everyone has one teacher cool enough to hold class under the trees on nice days, and she was mine. Dorothy Tooke taught me both senior English and journalism the next year. I learned more about writing from her than any other person I have ever known, most importantly how to make the written word interesting. There is no doubt that feisty little lady would spank my wordy self for straying from the journalistic economy she stressed if she was still with us today.
Though not personal acquaintances like my mentors, three others put their stamp on me by using the Deep South as the canvas for the stories their words paint. They are Greg Iles, John Grisham, and Pat Conroy. Finally, no writer’s domain is complete without a copy of On Writing by Stephen King.
My first comment! This blog is great, I’ll try to get more involved and leave comments when I can’t stand doing any more revisions.
As far as authors go, I grew up loving Jack London and read every Hardy Boys book ever written (might go back and read a few again just for fun). I’m a total sucker for adventure, and me and my brother ran around the neighborhood pretending to do it all. As I got older I found that my taste for adventure matured, loving Lord of the Flies in middle school and Heart of Darkness in high school.
My AP English teacher and my mother influenced me to start writing by challenging me; that’s usually when I do things best. The whole “you’re wasting talent, you slacker!” arguement worked wonders on me. One of these days soon maybe I’ll start sending queries out; my first novel is done, just applying some polish, as Nathan says.
What a fantastic question! I’ve loved reading and writing since I was a young child, but really fell in love with it when I was in high school – both through an English Literature course that included the poetry of Blake, Keats, Byron and Shelley, and through a wonderful Creative Writing course. I started writing poetry then, had some published in a local newspaper, and was offered my own column in three local newspapers. I started college as an English Literature major, later switched to Psychology and went on to get my Masters in Clinical Psychology, but continued to love writing.
There have been many writers whose work I’ve loved, beginning with Dr. Seuss, the authors of the Nancy Drew series, moving on later to the English Romantic poets, John Steinbeck, T.S. Eliot, Albert Camus, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Hermann Hesse, Kurt Vonnegut, Anne Rice, Ray Bradbury, Amy Tan, Barbara Kingsolver, Mark Z. Danielewski (love House of Leaves!), Paulo Coelho, Margaret Atwood, Rohinton Mistry, Cormac McCarthy, so many others! I love well-written books, not only for great stories but for the beauty of well-crafted language.
Writing novels and short stories always feels to me like stepping into brand new realms, looking around and transcribing scenes into words. Winning awards for my writing, hearing from readers and reviewers that they like my works are additional thrills. My goal now is to improve with each and every piece I write, to become the best writer I can possibly be.
Garrison Keillor – now there’s a man who knows how to tell a story; both verbally and written.
My Mom, she is a librarian and can read at the speed of light. She gives me a book and I read it. 100% accurate on my taste. She has yet to give me a book that makes me say… meh.
My little sister Becca helped me write a 74,000 word book by simply texting me the word “more” or “nom nom nom” everytime I would send her finished chapters.
It all started with my grandfather, who told the most wonderful stories about growing up, working in the coalmines, and courting my grandmother. My over-active imagination. I wrote my first book when I was 8-years-old, after my grandmother gave me a typewriter and taught me how to type. When I reached high school, it was Poe and Stephen King who held me in captivity with their stories. My mother, who is an avid reader, and my biggest fan (but not much help in the editing department because she gets too involved). My husband, who constantly keeps me going when I start to lose momentum or faith in my work, and who doesn’t hold it against me when I sit and write for hours and ignore the rest of the world while I create my own worlds. My writer friends, who encourage, edit, and demand the next chapter. My high school senior English teacher, Mrs. Christensen, who told me one day to keep writing, and who gave me a handmade vest (which I still have) because she thought I would like it. Various college professors, but most recently my criticism professor, and oh… the voices in my head.
Author-wise, it’s the Romantic poets (especially Keats, Shelley, and Wordsworth), plus fantasy authros like Tolkien and actually the Grimms Brothers.
As for personal influence? Probably my friends…They support me when I need it, and put up with my sometimes crazy rambling.
Yeah. That’s me.
ManiacScribbler =^..^=
First, my personality influenced me as a writer. Shy as a kid, unable to make friends, being a loner. My head being a preferable, more controllable place to be than my real surroundings. Being able to have such tiny handwriting that I could fit 30 lines on a 2 x 3 notepad and therefore could write stories undetected in most of my high school classes.
I had 2 self help books published in 4 years and although I’m proud of them, writing them was more like a job and I’d stopped writing fiction. Until I discovered Nanowrimo. It changed me as a writer forever. It stopped the shaming critical voice that told me what I was writing should never be shown to anyone, that I should feel embarrassed or ashamed of the kinds of things I wrote about. I fell in love with writing like never before.
I’m drawn to permission giving voices and outsiders. Re books on writing: Anne Lamott and Chris Batty for their humor, not taking themselves too seriously.
As a child, “National Velvet” showed me a horse story could be more than a kid’s book,could be gritty and real. As an adult Mary Gaitskill’s “Bad Behavior” proved that the frightening stuff can and should get said. “Wuthering Heights” showed me deeply flawed people were fascinating and their portrayal shouldn’t be sugar coated.
And now, of course, my influences are people I’ve never met, never laid eyes on, like the people on this blog. And our very good host. Just wish I could get a decent glass of wine in here;-)
Whoa! Asked a loaded question!
My parents got us hooked. We had books everywhere, starting with monthly installments of Dr. Seuss, bedtime stories from Winnie the Pooh [can you say hell, hell, hell, heffalump!] without laughing till you cry?
It was such a naughty word, and my Dad laughed as hard as we did. Two encylopedias, which we read for fun. Heck. We read cereal boxes!
Mum had oceans of books delivered each month. National Geographic, Scientific American and magazines everywhere. We were reading *junkies* & got a weekly fix at the library, accompanied by sugar-loaded pastries. 5th grade teacher [enabler] offered a prize if we read a book and handed in a report. I won. The prize? A new book! Yay! The problem is, if you read a lot, you start to write and people notice. School teachers, Sunday school teachers, and Lawd help us, it moves right along to 'college and beyond!' [Think Buzz Light year.]
Problem? No one noticed I was rotten at arithmetic. [Makes me sick!] Singing: "I can't Math, don't ask me!"
Great thing is I've never had to triangulate the anything of an anything but made reasonable money as a journalist.
Fiction lures a writing junkie down a dangerous road. It's hard not to follow. Scrap that. Impossible! Gotta get the next 'fix.' Rehab is for quitters.
Great minds…
I just blogged about this very subject:
https://cleanwriter.livejournal.com/
Kai
Gerald Durrell, whom you posthumously represent if your list of client books is truthful.
But it is him, hands down. What I love is that he didn’t even want to write; he did it to finance his zoos. His brother Lawrence (whom you also apparently posthumously represent, to my continued puzzlement) was quite jealous of this.
Gerald Durrell was one of the most gorgeous authors I ever read. I was given his Corfu books when I was a kid of similar age living in Greece also as an ex-pat. I’ve read everything of his since. Droll, descriptive without being annoying, and clever.
My family did nothing to encourage writing. In fact they did the opposite. And yet my brother and I wrote.
He became published and let the family find out when his name appeared in a magazine my Dad subscribed to. (Sweet.)
Honestly, the first thing that came to mind, for me, was Kahlil Gibran, at age fifteen.
Then later, my husband influenced me. I finally decided to come out of the closet with writing to him. He is very well read and he encouraged me and I found out I affected people with my writing. Wow.esoejwtu
That would be Daffy Duck, my friend.
First, my father, who taught me to love reading and how to write.
Stephenie Meyer. I haven’t read a word she has written, but her success inspires me. In many ways she reminds me of myself: 30-something mother, three children, little prior writing experience. If she can do it, why can’t I?
When I was younger, Gabaldon, King and Poe.
Now, Rowling and my children. I’ve always written or made up stories for them. Now, I want to read to them from my own books 😉
I’ve always written, here and there, but I did NaNo last year and actually got down to the butt in chair every (almost) day since then.
Love NaNo.
Ian McEwan’s ‘Atonement’ was a big revelation to me because of the deceptive simplicity of the prose.
Other inspirations have been people writing/talking about their work.
My husband suggested I start writing again. It seems to be a common theme. Do you think its about wives finding something to do that keeps them happy at home and near the kitchen sink?
What’s NaNo?
I enjoyed your post about exclusives and literary agents very much. It was very enlightening like the majority of your blogs!! I was wondering Nathan, because your writing is so genuine and intriguing, have you written anything yourself, story-wise that is? (If that is a word!) I do have a novella that I have completed and I realize that the sure-footed marketplace for novellas ended ages ago, but I must admit in today’s fast paced society that novella compilations are what I am interested in reading and as an aspiring author, writing! So, question, as an agent are you interested in authors who enjoy writing the shorter storylines? I am also surprised and saddened that no one knows or acknowledges who Methuselah is/was!!! Shall I also comment that I shall wait as long as Mahalalel lived to see the novella rise again!!! Oh yeah, life and my father influenced me the most, other than my preacher’s kid background of how I view and write about everything in the world.
Alfred Bester. I read _The Demolished Man_, and fell for a trick he played on his readers. I stopped being a passive, trusting reader after that, and it made me a much, much better writer. I also appreciated the tremendous power a writer can have.
Along a similar line, a favorite quote from William Burroughs: “If I really knew how to write, I would write something, and someone would read it, and it would kill them.”
I enjoyed reading everyone’s posts on this topic.
But I’m too tired to delve into it very deeply – I will mention the 6th grade history teacher who would bring in Agatha Christie books for me to read – he’d make a big deal out of presenting them to me, one at a time, for me to keep.
And a creative writing 101 teacher as an undergrad – severe, strict, did not mince words when it came to what she thought of your writing. So her encouraging words (hey, whole paragraphs of encouragement!) at the end of class have kept me going, still keep me going.
Literary influences: Too numerous to mention. I liked “The Velvet Room” as a kid…etc etc etc and so on to infinity.
I was fortunate to attend an extremely small high school (though I definitely didn’t think so at the time).
I had a literature teacher who decided to write a fantasy series the year after my graduation, and he invited me and a couple other former students to participate in the planning process.
Being involved in the process from beginning to end was really inspiring for me. I wrote my first (real) short story soon after and haven’t been able to stop since.
Byron, Tolstoy, C.S. Lewis, H.G. Wells, two irascible grad school profs, and a wonderful circle of fledgling and professional romance writers(though I don’t write romance).
On the other hand,there are many contemp writers who have indirectly taught me how NOT to write…
Hunter S Thompson
I would have to say my mother. Although we had a very iffy relationship, she influenced me as to my writing. She won a couple of contests and, I think, could have been published, but she didn’t believe in herself and would not submit. Every time I think of giving up,I think of her and keep trying.
Barack Obama. He’s dreamy and full of positivityness.
Too many to list, but–like others here, I see–Stephen King’s On Writing, and Joseph Campbell’s Power of Myth. Both are shaping my current writing.
My Dad. He gave up any hope of a writing career to become a businessman and raise a family. But I think he always lamented leaving his writing behind. (Yet I couldn’t ask for a better champion for my own writing.) Whenever I get stuck I think of him and keep writing.
My writing heroes are Stephen King and Neil Gaiman. Their advice and encouragement to all burgeoning writers is stellar. Reading them is always an inspiration for me.
Hemingway, Harper Lee, Flannery O’Conner, Stephen King, Raymond Chandler…
Several teachers encouraged me along the way, and my grandmother read some fairly sophisticated prose to me starting at a very young age.
Believe it or not: I write because I had kids. Before having my girls, I lead a busy professional life. That said, my down time was mine. No one demanded anything of me, least of all myself.
The almost ceaseless demands of motherhood unearthed in me a desperate desire to hear my own voice, alone, without interruption. I began to write when they slept. Now I can’t seem to stop.
A high school English teacher once warned me that if I stopped writing it would be extremely hard to get back to it. (I was dropping her course to take advanced physics– a HUGE mistake.) She was right. It took a cataclysmic event like motherhood to get me back in the chair. But, damn it, it worked.
Kathleen Adams: I told a secret, she was kind.
My current favorite is Tanith Lee, closely followed by Scott Westerfeld. Early icons were Gary Paulsen and Avi. Childhood loves were JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis.
Hesse, Marquez, and Vonnegut.
After those two I have to go with a number of columnists where I grew up; John Keasler, Leonard Pitts, and Carl Hiaasen.
One of you guys from the anonymous clan mentioned Garrison Keillor having the golden touch with a story. My wholehearted endorsement of that comment won’t even by you a cup of coffee, but I offer it anyway.
In my earlier comment, I mentioned Stephen King’s On Writing as an invaluable possession for any and every writer. I should go on to say that, even though his subject matter is often not my cup of tea, I believe Mr. King is perhaps the best storyteller of our time. No further commentary is possible for me in this window, as I have shot my legal limit of caffeine beverages here.
The first person to come to mind when reading this question was Linda Jenkins, 12th grade Creative Writing teacher who was the first teacher to make writing fun for me. After her there are countless others but she put me on the path. As for authors, I write because of people like Maugham and Hugo, Roth and Holleran. They inspire me to write beyond the best-seller’s list.
Let’s see. As always, my family. Mrs. Flickinger and Mrs. Downes, two of my high school English teachers. Cruce Stark, my creative writing professor in college. My good friends Nick for always listening to my ideas, Jenn for critiquing and sharing her writing with me, and my sister for finding little grammar mistakes.
As for authors, the list is huge! Aside from classics, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman for Dragons of Autumn Twilight when I was in middle school and fueling my love for fantasy. Most recently, Jacqueline Carey and her Kushiel’s series has been an amazing inspiration.
Khalil Gibran
What influnced me was the fact that a lot of kids don’t like to read. I always wanted to make reading fun for those who didn’t like it (and even more fun for those like me who do!) so, 11 years ago, at the tender age of 6, I picked up my pencil and started writing. I can’t stop I just love it so much!
My college journalism professor who actually thought I had talent….deeply hidden talent, but talent none the less.
J.K. Rowling inspired me. Yes, lame, I know, but she’s just so ordinary, and she simply had a good idea for a story and went for it. The rest, as they say, is history.
Of course, I wouldn’t expect to achieve even a fraction of her success with my own writing – I know my limitations – but if it ever happens I hope I get the chance to tell her, “Thank you, if it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be here now.”
It just occurred to me that in an earlier post I mentioned my early mentors and some authors whose books I’ve read. On an everyday basis, though, it would be a flagrant oversight to fail to mention Nathan and you guys, Nathan’s army, so to speak. Reading, absorbing, and commenting here and at the all of the participants’ pages I visit from time to time could definitely result in a citation for WUI. I can’t imagine there is a fine or penalty for that. Merci beaucoup.
I started writing stories in 1st grade, but it was my 6th/7th grade religion teacher, Brother Stephen Capelle who really got me going. He wrote his own book and I wanted to write one too.
Tad Williams is the author that sunk his teeth so deep into me that I knew I had to write fantasy.
Anon 10:45
I would say you have both good taste and good sense in reading. Keep it up.
I’m sorry about your friends. What nonsense.
Good point, Red Stick Writer.
Sheesh . . . well, I guess it all started with A.A. Milne and Winnie-the-Pooh; then it was Bram’s Stoker’s “Dracula” . . . and here I am, forty years later with “Count Winnie, or: The World of the Vam-bear!”
Wow, I’m pretty much surprised and impressed by all these people who were inspired by family and school teachers. In my case family was all up about being in a “steady profession” and pushing Law on to me. And I went to a poncy private school so all my teachers were heavily career orientated. In fact the only people who ever supported my writings were my friends and people who had read my works online and demanded I write more.
My inspiration has always been the people who I read when I was younger. Which was probably Michael Chrichton and his fantastic science fiction when I was an ickle tyke at the age of 8 or so. And then fantastic authors like Virginia Woolf who just BREAK MY MIND with their captivating and unique (yet flawless) writing styles.
Prince. Or maybe I just wish Prince.
Salinger (that bastard).
Jane Campion.
Wes Anderson. And that other Anderson (P.T.)
Yes, music and movies are inspiring, too. And pervy old men who for some reason write beautiful things but lead hateful lives. oh the humanity. Life makes me want to nap. And watch BBC movies about English people living in other centuries.
Jane Austen, above all others.
Then, many, many other talented authors…from Shakespeare to that guy who wrote Sex, Drugs & Cocoa Puffs :).
Young Adult author, Anna Myers.
Anna judged a conference contest that I had entered. I didn’t know who she was, but one morning she invited me to join her for breakfast. Over coffee, she asked if I had entered any of the contests. So,I told her all about my wonderful children’s book. Anna said she judged that contest and remembered manuscript. She could have stopped there, but she went on to tell me it didn’t have any “sparkle.” Of course, I was crushed, but I spent the next few years working on my writing and I’ve sold seven books. Somewhere along the line, I found sparkle (Anna’s term for voice). Now I’m revising that old manuscript for an editor. If Anna hadn’t explained the problem and encouraged me to learn how to fix it, I might still be wandering around conferences sparkle-less.
Rex Stout/Archie Goodwin, Margaret Mitchell, Frances Parkinson Keyes, Rudolph Flesch and my brother-in-law (who used to read my letters to my sister when they were stationed overseas, and told me “You ought to try writing; you turn a good phrase….”)
Mary Stewart. Years and years ago I was reading one of her novels (again) when I was seized by the overwhelming to write my own books. And I wanted to write like her.
I eventually developed my own voice, but she was the catalyst that propelled me onto the path.
The good nuns in grade school and high school who taught me–not only grammar, punctuation, and how to diagram sentences–but also to love the written word.