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Who Have Been the Most Influential People in Your Writing Life?

June 16, 2010 by Nathan Bransford 203 Comments

Writing a book is a serious commitment. It’s something that just about everyone thinks about doing at one time or another, but actually sitting down to devote hundreds of hours to one task takes a big dream and lots of elbow grease.

Whether we came to it early in life or late in life, chances are there was someone along the way who crystallized that feeling of, “Hey, I want to do this” or, better yet, “Hey, I can do this.”

Who is the most influential person (or people) who set you on this path? Was it an author, a mentor, a loved one?

My most influential writing personages have been Roald Dahl, who made me want to be a writer when I was a kid (I subsequently moved onto other dreams), and my wife, whose support was there whenever I battled the Am I Crazies.

How about you?

Filed Under: The Writing Life Tagged With: Life of a Writer, Roald Dahl, Staying Sane While Writing, You Tell Me

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Tori says

    June 25, 2010 at 8:12 pm

    Mrs. Smith, my sixth grade english teacher. She was the first person to tell me that my writing was good and she encouraged me to write fiction. I'd planned to take my first finished manuscript to her and thank her, but she died before I was done. I hope she somehow knew how grateful I was.

    Reply
  2. Carrie says

    June 27, 2010 at 2:59 am

    Ted Tally. He did the adaptation that brought Silence of the Lambs to the screen. I didn't know screenwriting existed until I happened to notice his name in the credits. (I did see the movie 3 times in 3 days, so, it cut down the odds.) That set me on my journey.

    Reply
  3. Anonymous says

    July 26, 2010 at 6:58 pm

    Amelia Atwater-Rhodes. An amazing author who wrote her first book at 13 and had it published the next year at only 14.

    Reply
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Hi, I’m Nathan. I’m the author of How to Write a Novel and the Jacob Wonderbar series, which was published by Penguin. I used to be a literary agent at Curtis Brown Ltd. and I’m dedicated to helping authors achieve their dreams. Let me help you with your book!

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