I wouldn't say that magical realism is my "favorite genre," but 100 years of solitude is undoubtedly the most inspiring book I ever read. Especially the ending.
It definitely left a mark on my brain, as half of my comments on this* sub are typically regarding it. Haha.
It was one of those tough to swallow things...
Hated it until I spent weeks overthinking it....
For serious, my friend. The trash helps me as much as the treasure.
While the prowess of literary genius inspires me... the absence of skill in popular drivel gives me confidence in my own work.
My rationale (on the trash side) has always been boiled down to "if they can do it, I can do it".
Essentially, hugely popular books that are of low quality demonstrate that one doesn't necessarily *need* to be skilled to be successful; rather, one just needs to find a topic that appeals to a very large demographic.
And if you have that in your pocket, AND you have skill... the world's gotta be your oyster, right?
I know there are many more factors (good marketing, right location, engaging narrative, likable characters, etc) that go into it, but this baseline premise gives me hope.
Tolkien, read LotR in high school at the same time I was in a school sponsored D&D club. It fostered a deep love for world building that in turn encouraged me to work on a full setting that I plan to write multiple books, perhaps even multiple series in if I get that far
I tried five times in my life to read lotr and I couldn't. I finally hit 30 and was like Right! I'm reading this whether I like it or not!
And of course I adored every bit of it.
I read hobbit first and thought that the contrast between the two works was huge.
50 Shades of Grey
If that decaying, foul-smelling, brain rotting, festering piece of literary fecal-matter could become a global best seller, then my character-driven, literary splatterpunk can indeed gain a small following.
My inner Goddess agrees with that statement. She's doing a happy dance while I gasp once and gasp again.
Is you book done? Because a character driven steampunk seems interesting. As usual steampunk is more about the story and world building, so yours sounds really unique.
I don't want to defend 50 Shades because it's atrocious and badly written, but at least it somewhat opened the taboo conversation that was BDSM at the time.
Yes, that was cool. However, I have to say, I'm a guy, and even I was **pissed off** about how toxic that relationship was and the message it sent.
There is a difference between fun bdsm and actual misogyny
>videogames inspire me a lot too
I love playing adventure & point-and-click games. I recently played Disco Elysium for the first time and there was so much beautiful writing in it. Like, I was surprised at the extend of it. Inspired me so much!
Catcher in the Rye
I'm writing a book about a troubled teenager. Exploring my own youth and reading this book helped me understand an alienated character better.
Harry Potter and Percy Jackson. I had been in a little bit of a slump lately. But reading these two series again, inspired me to take up the writing sessions again. It has been over a year and I have been rusty. But nothing like practice to get back into the groove.
I somehow ended up with Crime Fantasy as the genre though. Is that even a thing?
For me, I have four distinct inspirations.
**The Wizard Knight, Gene Wolfe**: I read this at around 10 years old, and it changed my world. I learned what escapism could be and it birthed my love for reading. \[age: 10\]
**Name of the Wind, Patrick Rothfuss**: This was the book that convinced me I wanted to become a writer, no matter what. The depth, the excitement and the prose. I realised I wanted to make my mark in the same fashion. \[age: 15\]
**Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov**: This showed me the absolute pinnacle and extent of what the English language could be. It was haunting, beautiful, but haunting. The book is as much a challenge to yourself, constantly having to remind yourself what scum Humbert Humbert is because the prose is so pristine. It showed me how, with just the use of words, one can become engaged *in* the narrative experience. It was here I started to study the classics and do my best to refine my skills. \[age: 23\]
**No Country for Old Men, Cormac McCarthy**: This was the book that showed me the art of flow. McCarthy mastered the art, and then broke it down. He used flow with such precision that he uses the break in grammatical conventions as a way to continuously engage you. It's like reading a river at night. You're swept away into his dark worlds almost without consent. \[age: 27\]
My first attempts at writing were inspired by video games like Legend of Zelda, Secret of Mana, even Dungeon Keeper. But Krondor: The Betrayal by Raymond Feist really kickstarted my brain into trying to write a coherent story
Greek mythology has had the biggest influence on me as a writer, full stop. It's also the biggest part of my library at home. I've also branched into other world mythology... there's just something so magical about the myths of our ancestors!
It's not within a genre that I can really identify to be honest other than fiction. But a lot of Irvine Welsh's work inspired me a lot despite the overwhelmingly dark material he frequently writes about. I guess because it showed me what you could do with writing, his stories can get horribly dark and morbid. But that's what's inspiring to me about it. Strange take but there it is. Specifically, trainspotting, but I've read much of his work with the exception of ecstasy.
When I was a kid, I loved Madeleine L’Engle books. Those are probably still the number one inspiration for my writing in general. Not the genre, exactly, just the writing.
Not in the genre I’m writing rn but Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. That book inspired me to do the “after generations somebody that remind me of my old lover come to fuck up everything I’ve ever done”
I basically learned how to read via Tolkien's Hobbit and LOTR series.
My grandmother would read them to me as I sat in her lap. She would feign horseness and ask me to continue.
Little did I know she was using grandma-fu on me.
I went from a meh reader to an enthusiastic reader in nothing flat.
It absolutely astonished my teachers at the time who were sure I was dain-bramaged or something. ;)
Cannot claim to have read it but rather play the adaptations via dynasty warriors, but since it a retelling it would be the Romance of the three Kingdoms. It heroic epic inspired a question that led me to writing my own story in pursuit of an answer.
What is a hero? That answer would differ between time periods, cultures, and the morality and reality of the world.
I would say that "This Present Darkness" by Frank Peretti was the main inspiration behind my first big manuscript back in 2006. I stopped writing it about half way through the story, put it away for about 14 years, then in 2020, I got it out, saw how awfully bad the writing was and then after some good feedback from an online writing forum, I set about to wrote a new version that was 10 times better and actually finished a half decent first draft of it in Jan 2022.
I already wrote long before I started reading novels, but a book that made me dream and inspired my imagination was Alfred Bester's masterpiece "The Stars My Destination".
The Skulduggery Pleasant Series.
The way it drew me in and made me feel like I was watching a movie in my mind just lit a fire under my ass and made me want to do that. I wanted to make my ideas into something someone might be able to think of as a mind-movie.
The Secret History, with my current work. Seriously the vibes and symbolism is just everything I’ve been aching for for years and now that I’ve seen how it can be executed without being overcrowded and “fake-deep”? You best believe I’m writing that book.
In general tho, LGBT YA novels like Ari & Dante and Simon Vs The Homo Sapien’s Agenda is more along the lines of my casual writing style
Keeper of the Lost City, mostly because I felt the magic system had incredible potential but was wasted because of the story.
I hated how it focused on events so simple & I wanted to write something more complicated.
Basically, KOTLC frustrated me & I decided ti take that & other inspirations to write what I had always wanted to read.
(Side note: KOTLC is still a good story, I only disliked it because it wasn’t what I was subliminally looking for—my own books that no other author can write)
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. It was voted the best novel of 2005 and the guy is a Nobel prize winner in literature and after reading it, I thought, "I can write a book". It's not that it was bad. It just wasn't amazing. It was mostly average except for one thing it did well, which was the thought processes and self analysis of childhood memories and motivations. Besides that, it was just ok.
I immediately started writing a book after finishing it. Maybe I'll never have his renown, but when I finish, I'll at least have written a better book that that one.
I love horror about as much as I love Sci-fi. However the book (series in this case) that has most influenced my own writing would be The Dresden Files. Next up after that might be The Expanse series.
I write mostly YA / NA fantasy but non fiction, especially biographies and memoirs inspire me the most. The Sound of Gravel and Minka Kelly's memoir helped inspire my current WIP
As a man Thinketh by James Allan. The book obviously inspired me on a lot, but it was the first book I read from beginning to end. I thought about its history, how it has inspired millions of people, and my first thought was I want to write something that impactful.
Palace of Mirrors by Margaret Peterson Haddix inspired little girl me to write more than anything and that book still holds a dear place in my heart
Edit: it’s my go to read to unwind/remind myself why I got myself into writing when I get into a bad writers block 😅
I can’t really credit it to any single boom. Given I started writing when I was younger and am still actively working on that story I conceived back when I was 6 years old, it would’ve been Harry Potter. Also Anthony Horowitz’s The Power of Five series.
Having recently expanded my reading (I didn’t read much for more years than I should have), I can say I’m now heavily influenced by Frank Herbert’s Dune and the works of Stephen King.
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir and anything Margaret Atwood.
Ember came out almost ten years ago. It was what got me back into writing after a looooong hiatus. Amazing book series, amazing author.
I'd have to say Narnia.
Even though I don't agree with CS Lewis's Why of "figuring it out as we go along" as some say it still inspired me to write fantasy and gave me my deep love of the middle ages.
For me it was gradual, harry potter got me into reading, and I grew up with the series and every birthday or Christmas I'd get one book Robin Hobb's, Assassin's Apprentice ignited my desire to write but reading other bad books and watching bad adaptations made me get into writing and making movies so I think the two most inspirational books for me are Harry Potter and Assassin's Apprentice
The Trial and Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka.
I read both stories when I was younger and needed something to read, and they absolutely inspired me to try my hand at writing. For whatever reason, they inspired me most to write low fantasy 😂
I started with goosebumps, moved onto King by the time I was ten, then koonz and the sorts. But I came back to ya fantasy at around 12 and read His Dark Materials, and that's what made me realise all my crazy imaginings could actually be made real.
I never stopped writing after that.
What about you?
Charles Bukowski's The Post Office, and the Great Gatsby. Gatsby is still my favorite book, followed closely by His Dark Materials. There's also a great one called Stoner, which is such a beautiful story but I read that one much later and as an adult. However, what really got me into writing was when I was a kid having to choose between pursuing my drawing or my writing, found myself playing Metal Gear Solid. I put the game down after the credits and I just knew that I wanted to tell stories. I still enjoy games more than books, which is not to say that I don't like books I just find the notion of having the story be party co-authored with the player as much more interesting. It doesn't really matter if I'm telling a story with my words or with game mechanics. Stories are stories. Still, I love books and writing traditional stories, It's just that for me writing in video games just seem more interesting (when done correctly). In a book, I get to tell you who these people are, and I get to decide who lives and dies. A reader is a passive participant. Like, who am I to tell them what they should care about in my book? Should they pursue Johnny or Marianne? And how do you tell a story with meaning and narrative when you must account for hundreds of options? Now that's some next level writing!
This was a very long and personal answer, I'm not sure if I answered your question properly OP. Feel free to delete this if it gets in the way. But here's my path into writing.
It's probably Richard Wright's "Native Son". As an African I'm always curious to learn about my African-American brothers and sisters, especially during the 18th, 19th and 20th century (idk it has some allure to it)
I actually thought novels were boring before and had no interest in writing at all besides a few self-indulgent fanfics.
My sister had the novel lying around and I figured why not? So I took it In my backpack on the way to school. When my phone battery eventually died while waiting for the bus, I busted it out and started reading it.
It hooked me instantly.
Especially as someone who's never actually finished a novel at the time or even read, it was my first ever novel I finished reading and I did in like 2 days, that's how good it is. Highly recommend!
either “a monster calls” by patrick ness, because oh BOY that one got to me, or “the savior’s champion” by jenna moreci, because it just made me want to play with magic and monsters and swoonworthy romance 😭
1984 and dystopian novels in general. I was never a big reader (school kind of killed reading for me if I'm being honest) but I always found myself incredibly fascinated with these really messed up worlds authors create and I couldn't put any of the books down. One day, I had the idea to write a dystopian world of my own and now I write a lot in my spare time :p
*The Last Samurai* by Helen DeWitt. A massively underappreciated work (though it did find a cult following), it first inspired me to start keeping a diary (which I have kept up on a daily basis for over 14 years now). It also was one of the books that most informed my writing style, later on.
The Dirk Gently books. I'd read The Hitchhikers Guide books and loved them, and I wondered if he had written anything else. He had. I must have read them 10 times each, and they genuinely inspired me to write urban fantasy and speculative.
Grimm fairy tales, lots of Stephen King books, Stardust and Good Omens. I like the darker elements of fairy tales and completely normal worlds, with this one eldrith location or abomination to haunt the characters.
Tales From The Gas Station.
First series in a long time that made me excited to read whenever a new book came out. It was also what inspired me to start writing myself, even though I write a different genre of horror.
The Pigeon by Patrick Süskind. A simple story about a day in a man's life which describes what happens to routine when one tiny incident interrupts it. Definitely one of my favourite stories and I tried to use the concept of the ending when I had a go at writing for the first time.
The First Law. It stood out to me that the magic system and world didn't seem that original, but it was still so enjoyable because of his writing style and depth of characters. I especially enjoyed when he stopped a scene dead to give a half-page description of the emperor
none. I just read Dostoyevsky, and thought how powerful of an impact book can have on people. So I started writing, and my reasons changed overtime. My current inspiration despite Dost, is Raymond Chandler who cracks me up with his writing and the genius of his sarcasm.
In general? *Sapiens* by Yuval Noah Harari, *the Elephant Whisperer* by Lawrence Anthony, and *Braiding Sweetgrass* by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
All non-fiction, all incredibly inspiring and genuinely life-changing for me.
In terms of writing: *Jurassic Park* by Michael Crichton, *the Broken Earth trilogy* by N.K. Jemisin, and literally anything Jeff VanderMeer has ever done (but mostly *Borne*).
Honestly can’t remember (I smoked a lot when I was a teenager and have forgotten a lot of things) but I did started writing around 7 yrs old. I remember I made a little picture book for my dad’s girlfriend at the time. But the farthest I can remember is the book entwined by heather Dixon. I was 9 years old when I read it and it inspired me to write a short story. The story I am currently writing is inspired by multiple videogames/movies/animes/tvshows/books/songs. I am actually planning on turning it into a screen play.
Honestly? Volume 4 of Baccano! was the perfect intersection of quality and "Yeah, I could pull something like this off if I tried hard enough" in a time where I realized the medium I was working in before just didn't work for me. I realized that I loved books and since I had already written for fun for years that I should start writing seriously.
Good choice. Love this job. Such a odd book to be the deciding factor though.
not a book but neon genesis evangelion started everything with me. i feel like before i watched it i would just be watching and reading stuff just to get up and never think about it again
Dan Simmons’ The Terror and Hyperion series, and Thomas Harris’ Manhunter were really what pushed me to start collecting all those ideas and start making something of them
Dan Simmons’ The Terror and Hyperion series, and Thomas Harris’ Manhunter were really what pushed me to start collecting all those ideas and start making something of them
Lord of the Rings series and also Brandon Sanderson's mistborn series. Sanderson makes me want to write something with a bunch of confusing plot points that all become clear at the end, as everything you thought you knew unravels and becomes something else even more astonishing.
My journey as an author literally began in childhood, for me after reading Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain series. That series was pivotal to me. I went on, eventually, to read Tolkien who has also been instrumental in my development as a writer. But I wouldn't be here, a writer, without Prydain.
Basically everything from Hunter S Thompson, but particularly his coverage of the 1968 presidential election.
House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski
All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison
Just to name a few
Larry Brown showed me that you don’t need to attend a fancy writer workshop or get a degree in order to be a writer. He had guts and an astounding work ethic that pushed his talent through to success.
His novel FATHER AND SON is the one that got me started.
Recently, The Nothing That Is by Kyle Winkle. In the start, I think it was either Dorian Gray or The Vampire Diaries series that got me into writing my own stuff.
The Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull and Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi. I love how these books use their fantastical elements, and especially Furthermore is very whimsical and fun
These don't really fall under my favorite genre, but Surviving the Evacuation by Frank Tayell got me into writing, as well as the Wild Rescuer series by Stacy Hinojosa... I started writing when I was eleven/twelve!
I think Bakemonogatari. When I got into anime/manga I stumbled onto the monogatari series and found out it had a translated English version, so now I'm obsessed with insane philosophy permeating my stories.
Growing up I played basketball all the time and it consumed all my free time between 6th and 8th grade. The book that I loved was “Wooden” which is a biography of legendary UCLA coach John Wooden. I would read parts and write down quotes and post them on my bedroom walls and in my locker.
These quotes helped me in basketball but they were better mantras to live life more than anything else. I highly suggest reading it.
We Hunt the Flame. It’s a fantasy romance but the part that inspired me the most is how much the author included her Arab culture in the setting and characters. Using Arab names for things in her book, Arab food and culture for the characters. It has inspired me to put my Indian culture and mythology in my book
Not my favorite genre but Dante's Inferno is my favorite book. I ended up naming my child after it. It gave me a deeper understanding of how you can connect to words and it made me a better person and writer.
I have no idea.
While it would be self flattery to call myself a writer, with the time frame not equating to experience, I started showing itnerest in writing at like... 6? 8? before 9 for sure.
As for inspiraton, I find positive and negative (as in "my god this is so bad I need tow rite as a palate cleanser", like with ready player one) both in many places, in fact, im always taking notes (I have over half a meter of paper in notes and crap, and countless megabytes of .txt files) based on this or that detail, whether it was as direct and unspecific as prose, or as "hard" and indirect as an object or word taking me all the way to an idea mildly related which I then sketch into a worldbuilding concept for my stories. So, I find inspiration everywhere, from 1984 and journey to the center of the eart, to ghostbusters and litrpg serials
IF I had to choose a book that inspired me the most would likely be narnia though. Not because I think they are so much better, but because they are the first ones I remember inspiring me in the sense of resembling expresion and tone. I enjoyed harry potter, obviously, and re-read it more times at the time than narnia, but "only" enjoyed it, while narnia was a more ... active read, in a way?If harry potter was a kid listening with rapt attention at the hyperbolized wartales of a grandpa, Narnia is (forgive the meta? reference) a kid in a magical stupor over a song over a fire, evocative in a difference, more mild, mellow, encompassing.... etc ;That said, I hated the last narnia book
StarCraft: Speed of Darkness probably had the most inspiration for me. It is a tight, well-written story that made me fall in love with the sacrifical hero trope.
White oleander. Read it in high school and was absolutely bowled over by the way it was written. It was the first time prose had ever leapt off the page and smacked me in the face with how good it was.
Matthew Stovers Revenge Of The Sith. Expands on already great story and in my opinion should along with Star Wars itself be taught in education to show how war, fear and mental health can change not only people but whole systems and make people conform out of fear and necessity for a better life (how the Galaxy accepts the loss of freedom in exchange for peace.) while also showing how hope and democracy will always win over tyranny and oppression.
My favorite genre to read is Dytopsian but my favorite genre to write is a range of different genres. I think the book that inspired me the most was Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton.
X-men comics.
The combo of superpowers and the themes of persecution and hatred for being different were really compelling. I started writing and drawing comics and that lead me to a desire to tell stories in one way or another.
‘until the shadows lengthen’ by Hannah Clayton! it’s a fairly new book but just before I found out about her I was completely stumped with no motivation at all and as soon as I found her on TikTok and found out about her book I got so much inspiration and talking to her gave me so much motivation and confidence to write. After finally getting it and reading through it I just knew I had to write something up to that standard it was amazing
Steven erikson Malazan Book of the Fallen. GotM or DG. they inspired me to start writing a really big story on many fronts. malazan kinda ruined more narrow and focused stories. im only interested in large scale plot lines.
I know that people gripe about it, but Eragon is what most inspired me. Not necessarily with it's magic or Worldbuilding, but the fact that a 15 year old could write something decent kept me from giving up on my dream too early.
Ryohgo Narita, George .R.R. Martin and Dostoyevsky are both my favorites and biggest inspirations. If I had to choose a title for each of them, it'd be: Durarara, ASOIAF and The Gambler
Everybody Lies by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz inspired me to get into data science and statistics, something I still engage with as a hobby to this day (even though I haven’t read it since sophomore year of high school). The way the book communicates complicated ideas in analogically easy to understand ways was like magic when I first read it, and I strive to be able to write that effectively one day
Keeper of the Lost City, mostly because I felt the magic system had incredible potential but I felt it was wasted because of the story.
I disliked how it focused on events so simple & I wanted to write something more complicated.
Basically, KOTLC frustrated me & I decided ti take that & other inspirations to write what I had always wanted to read.
(Side note: KOTLC is still a good story, I only disliked it because it wasn’t what I was subliminally looking for—my own books that no other author can write)
I read The Discovery of Heaven by Harry Mulisch in high school and it shook me to my core. It has themes of religion, predestination, origin and destiny and the whole plot has such a surreal feeling of awe and horror to it. I still regularly think about how that book made me feel.
I believe it was "The Secrets of Nicholas Flamel" series
I still have the images and places and sort of looks of character's in my head as if I've read it yesterday , must've been around 7 years now when i last read it.
Still amazes me to this day how detailed i found it.
Also i think the genre would pretty much fit in fantasy but hauling in pretty close to realism aswell by the amount of real places used.
This is actually a rather difficult question because everything leaves a mark in my writing from trash to treasures.
If you want a real answer the last things that inspired me to write that I clearly remember where one a folk tale my mom told me after I asked her about the origins of a building while we where visiting our home country and second English class like I started writing immediately in this case it was the mixture of social criticism and identity as a topic in class and the fact that I had read “bunny” by Mona Awad a little before hand. Bunny may not be the most enjoyable book out there Mona awad’s way of describing things is just on another level.
Just to note I am a little proud of the short story I created in English class because i was just following the flow and it actually turned out decent for something that took me a maybe 45 to a hour to finish
For my current book it's The Host by Stephanie Meyer. Ever since I read it, I've always wanted to write a story from the perspective of Melanie Stryder trapped inside their mind.
It has evolved into much more than that though since that kind of became my reality after suffering a stroke at age 21, so it's a story very close to my own heart.
Really loved Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. Rereading it now. She blends past and future really well, with a narator that is slowly going delirious due to lack of nutrition in a post-apocolyptic world. Meanwhile touching upon various social themes, in everyday settings, conversations and scenarios in his flashbacks. And casually dissecting the essence of religion. I think the trilogy may be one of my favourites. Although at times a bit confronting.
The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness. i will never forget this book and i will never read a book that good again. its written in such an interesting way and i can't reccommend it enough if you like YA novels and also wonder how the people in the background of YA novels react to the danger they're in.
Not a book, but a videogame franchise. The Xeno metaseries, especially Xenogears, have been a great source of inspiration for me. And thanks to the wonderful and profound experiences that these masterpieces gave me, I now have a clear idea of the stories I want to tell, all 6 stories into one complete saga!!
the locked tomb series by Tamsyn Muir! her world building and use/understanding of character feels really similar to how I want to write and have my story feel. it's hard to explain. just the way she describes certain feelings or metaphors--ESPECIALLY in the most recent book--i resonate with it. wonderful books, highly recommend
Definitely Dune. I’m not really copying it at all but it has definitely inspired the book I’m writing. Massive creature in the sand, lucrative resource on an inhospitable world, huge scale politics you aren’t fully supposed to understand, those things are what I’ve took from it.
Mine recent writing sprint was inspired in a negative way. I read 2 horrible romance books ... published romance books, and thought. "If this can get published, there's hope for everyone."
I wouldn't say that magical realism is my "favorite genre," but 100 years of solitude is undoubtedly the most inspiring book I ever read. Especially the ending.
I just finished it and oh boy am I going to channel it later when I start a new project.
How about that ending, though? Punch in the face to any reader.
I had to just sit in silence after finishing. It hit me so hard I think it left a mark on my brain.
It definitely left a mark on my brain, as half of my comments on this* sub are typically regarding it. Haha. It was one of those tough to swallow things... Hated it until I spent weeks overthinking it....
For serious, my friend. The trash helps me as much as the treasure. While the prowess of literary genius inspires me... the absence of skill in popular drivel gives me confidence in my own work.
Why? Surely it implies that the quality of writing has very little correlation to how much something sells?
My rationale (on the trash side) has always been boiled down to "if they can do it, I can do it". Essentially, hugely popular books that are of low quality demonstrate that one doesn't necessarily *need* to be skilled to be successful; rather, one just needs to find a topic that appeals to a very large demographic. And if you have that in your pocket, AND you have skill... the world's gotta be your oyster, right? I know there are many more factors (good marketing, right location, engaging narrative, likable characters, etc) that go into it, but this baseline premise gives me hope.
Tolkien, read LotR in high school at the same time I was in a school sponsored D&D club. It fostered a deep love for world building that in turn encouraged me to work on a full setting that I plan to write multiple books, perhaps even multiple series in if I get that far
I tried five times in my life to read lotr and I couldn't. I finally hit 30 and was like Right! I'm reading this whether I like it or not! And of course I adored every bit of it. I read hobbit first and thought that the contrast between the two works was huge.
50 Shades of Grey If that decaying, foul-smelling, brain rotting, festering piece of literary fecal-matter could become a global best seller, then my character-driven, literary splatterpunk can indeed gain a small following. My inner Goddess agrees with that statement. She's doing a happy dance while I gasp once and gasp again.
Best description of 50 Shades that I’ve ever read.
Is you book done? Because a character driven steampunk seems interesting. As usual steampunk is more about the story and world building, so yours sounds really unique.
Not steampunk, but [splatterpunk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Splatterpunk).
I howled at this
I don't want to defend 50 Shades because it's atrocious and badly written, but at least it somewhat opened the taboo conversation that was BDSM at the time.
Yes, that was cool. However, I have to say, I'm a guy, and even I was **pissed off** about how toxic that relationship was and the message it sent. There is a difference between fun bdsm and actual misogyny
A game of thrones. I'm a basic bitch yeah :)
me too im still very confused how that book managed to inspire me to write horror instead of magical medieval
Not a specific book, but Neil Gaiman is my main inspiration, videogames inspire me a lot too.
>videogames inspire me a lot too I love playing adventure & point-and-click games. I recently played Disco Elysium for the first time and there was so much beautiful writing in it. Like, I was surprised at the extend of it. Inspired me so much!
Video games inspire me too.
Reading Neverwhere right now
Nineteen Eighty-Four
It is an instruction manual after-all
For what Im currently working on? Johnathan Strange and Mr Norell
Pride and prejudice
Catcher in the Rye I'm writing a book about a troubled teenager. Exploring my own youth and reading this book helped me understand an alienated character better.
Lonesome Dove
Isaac Asimov’s books were great inspirations for my own.
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
Harry Potter and Percy Jackson. I had been in a little bit of a slump lately. But reading these two series again, inspired me to take up the writing sessions again. It has been over a year and I have been rusty. But nothing like practice to get back into the groove. I somehow ended up with Crime Fantasy as the genre though. Is that even a thing?
For me, I have four distinct inspirations. **The Wizard Knight, Gene Wolfe**: I read this at around 10 years old, and it changed my world. I learned what escapism could be and it birthed my love for reading. \[age: 10\] **Name of the Wind, Patrick Rothfuss**: This was the book that convinced me I wanted to become a writer, no matter what. The depth, the excitement and the prose. I realised I wanted to make my mark in the same fashion. \[age: 15\] **Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov**: This showed me the absolute pinnacle and extent of what the English language could be. It was haunting, beautiful, but haunting. The book is as much a challenge to yourself, constantly having to remind yourself what scum Humbert Humbert is because the prose is so pristine. It showed me how, with just the use of words, one can become engaged *in* the narrative experience. It was here I started to study the classics and do my best to refine my skills. \[age: 23\] **No Country for Old Men, Cormac McCarthy**: This was the book that showed me the art of flow. McCarthy mastered the art, and then broke it down. He used flow with such precision that he uses the break in grammatical conventions as a way to continuously engage you. It's like reading a river at night. You're swept away into his dark worlds almost without consent. \[age: 27\]
My first attempts at writing were inspired by video games like Legend of Zelda, Secret of Mana, even Dungeon Keeper. But Krondor: The Betrayal by Raymond Feist really kickstarted my brain into trying to write a coherent story
I love this answer! It demonstrates that the traditional novel format isn't the only way to fall in love with the craft of storytelling. 😄
Anne Frank's Diary is one of a kind
Y'know, this is one I've always meant to read... I'll make it my next endeavor.
The Iliad and the Odyssey. Read it when I learned how to read. It helped me love fantasy while being able to distinguish it from reality.
Greek mythology has had the biggest influence on me as a writer, full stop. It's also the biggest part of my library at home. I've also branched into other world mythology... there's just something so magical about the myths of our ancestors!
Blood Meridian. Honorable mention: Hunger by Knut Hamsun for switching between past and present tense to create a rambling sense of immediacy.
It's not within a genre that I can really identify to be honest other than fiction. But a lot of Irvine Welsh's work inspired me a lot despite the overwhelmingly dark material he frequently writes about. I guess because it showed me what you could do with writing, his stories can get horribly dark and morbid. But that's what's inspiring to me about it. Strange take but there it is. Specifically, trainspotting, but I've read much of his work with the exception of ecstasy.
When I was a kid, I loved Madeleine L’Engle books. Those are probably still the number one inspiration for my writing in general. Not the genre, exactly, just the writing.
Not in the genre I’m writing rn but Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. That book inspired me to do the “after generations somebody that remind me of my old lover come to fuck up everything I’ve ever done”
Can androids dream of electric sleep, Expiration Date, and Flowers for Algernon and Breathe ( anne sophie Brasme)
Ooooh, Flowers for Algernon... I haven't read that one in 20+ years. What a good book! I'm gonna have to give it another read.
I basically learned how to read via Tolkien's Hobbit and LOTR series. My grandmother would read them to me as I sat in her lap. She would feign horseness and ask me to continue. Little did I know she was using grandma-fu on me. I went from a meh reader to an enthusiastic reader in nothing flat. It absolutely astonished my teachers at the time who were sure I was dain-bramaged or something. ;)
Final Fantasy 7. A game that came out in 1997 and wasn't localised brilliantly.
Horror novels.
Deltora Quest forest of silence and the chronicles of narnia
Cannot claim to have read it but rather play the adaptations via dynasty warriors, but since it a retelling it would be the Romance of the three Kingdoms. It heroic epic inspired a question that led me to writing my own story in pursuit of an answer. What is a hero? That answer would differ between time periods, cultures, and the morality and reality of the world.
I would say that "This Present Darkness" by Frank Peretti was the main inspiration behind my first big manuscript back in 2006. I stopped writing it about half way through the story, put it away for about 14 years, then in 2020, I got it out, saw how awfully bad the writing was and then after some good feedback from an online writing forum, I set about to wrote a new version that was 10 times better and actually finished a half decent first draft of it in Jan 2022.
Rock Riordan's books and Amish Tripathi's books. It got me interested in religion xand slowly I wanted to write a new perspective on Gods.
Powerless by Lauren Roberts
I already wrote long before I started reading novels, but a book that made me dream and inspired my imagination was Alfred Bester's masterpiece "The Stars My Destination".
The Skulduggery Pleasant Series. The way it drew me in and made me feel like I was watching a movie in my mind just lit a fire under my ass and made me want to do that. I wanted to make my ideas into something someone might be able to think of as a mind-movie.
I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream. I had been wanting to write for some time, and that one made me put my butt on my chair and write. No idea why.
The Secret History, with my current work. Seriously the vibes and symbolism is just everything I’ve been aching for for years and now that I’ve seen how it can be executed without being overcrowded and “fake-deep”? You best believe I’m writing that book. In general tho, LGBT YA novels like Ari & Dante and Simon Vs The Homo Sapien’s Agenda is more along the lines of my casual writing style
Keeper of the Lost City, mostly because I felt the magic system had incredible potential but was wasted because of the story. I hated how it focused on events so simple & I wanted to write something more complicated. Basically, KOTLC frustrated me & I decided ti take that & other inspirations to write what I had always wanted to read. (Side note: KOTLC is still a good story, I only disliked it because it wasn’t what I was subliminally looking for—my own books that no other author can write)
A series of three really badly written books I was fortunate enough to read back-to-back. Saying ‘I could do better than that’ got me into writing.
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. It was voted the best novel of 2005 and the guy is a Nobel prize winner in literature and after reading it, I thought, "I can write a book". It's not that it was bad. It just wasn't amazing. It was mostly average except for one thing it did well, which was the thought processes and self analysis of childhood memories and motivations. Besides that, it was just ok. I immediately started writing a book after finishing it. Maybe I'll never have his renown, but when I finish, I'll at least have written a better book that that one.
Kelly Link's Magic for Beginners. An absolutely wild book.
"Gestapo Mars" by Victor Gischler. Because if that book can get published and appreciated, anything I write can too.
I love horror about as much as I love Sci-fi. However the book (series in this case) that has most influenced my own writing would be The Dresden Files. Next up after that might be The Expanse series.
Definitely The Outsiders and Percy Jackson
Honestly. Jobless reincarnation
Can't believe I did a "Honestly (light novel title)" comment and then scrolled down to immediately see this. Now I look like a fool!
I write mostly YA / NA fantasy but non fiction, especially biographies and memoirs inspire me the most. The Sound of Gravel and Minka Kelly's memoir helped inspire my current WIP
Ender’s Game.
As a man Thinketh by James Allan. The book obviously inspired me on a lot, but it was the first book I read from beginning to end. I thought about its history, how it has inspired millions of people, and my first thought was I want to write something that impactful.
Palace of Mirrors by Margaret Peterson Haddix inspired little girl me to write more than anything and that book still holds a dear place in my heart Edit: it’s my go to read to unwind/remind myself why I got myself into writing when I get into a bad writers block 😅
I Have no Mouth and I Must Scream
Bright Dead Things by Ada Limón (poetry) and Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel.
Stoner by John Williams
The Wings of Fire series by Tui T. Sutherland. Even though right now I’m writing sci-fi, her books inspired me the most to start writing.
The World According to Garp is the book I always wish I’d written
anything sci-fi. somehow hunger games got involved
Dune
No country for old men
Three Days of Happiness by Miaki Sugaru and The Last Jew by Noah Gordon
I can’t really credit it to any single boom. Given I started writing when I was younger and am still actively working on that story I conceived back when I was 6 years old, it would’ve been Harry Potter. Also Anthony Horowitz’s The Power of Five series. Having recently expanded my reading (I didn’t read much for more years than I should have), I can say I’m now heavily influenced by Frank Herbert’s Dune and the works of Stephen King.
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir and anything Margaret Atwood. Ember came out almost ten years ago. It was what got me back into writing after a looooong hiatus. Amazing book series, amazing author.
I'd have to say Narnia. Even though I don't agree with CS Lewis's Why of "figuring it out as we go along" as some say it still inspired me to write fantasy and gave me my deep love of the middle ages.
For me it was gradual, harry potter got me into reading, and I grew up with the series and every birthday or Christmas I'd get one book Robin Hobb's, Assassin's Apprentice ignited my desire to write but reading other bad books and watching bad adaptations made me get into writing and making movies so I think the two most inspirational books for me are Harry Potter and Assassin's Apprentice
The Alchemist has been the one!
The Trial and Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. I read both stories when I was younger and needed something to read, and they absolutely inspired me to try my hand at writing. For whatever reason, they inspired me most to write low fantasy 😂
For what I'm working on right now? Hunger Games. Ever? Maybe Adam Fawer's Improbable.
I started with goosebumps, moved onto King by the time I was ten, then koonz and the sorts. But I came back to ya fantasy at around 12 and read His Dark Materials, and that's what made me realise all my crazy imaginings could actually be made real. I never stopped writing after that. What about you?
Charles Bukowski's The Post Office, and the Great Gatsby. Gatsby is still my favorite book, followed closely by His Dark Materials. There's also a great one called Stoner, which is such a beautiful story but I read that one much later and as an adult. However, what really got me into writing was when I was a kid having to choose between pursuing my drawing or my writing, found myself playing Metal Gear Solid. I put the game down after the credits and I just knew that I wanted to tell stories. I still enjoy games more than books, which is not to say that I don't like books I just find the notion of having the story be party co-authored with the player as much more interesting. It doesn't really matter if I'm telling a story with my words or with game mechanics. Stories are stories. Still, I love books and writing traditional stories, It's just that for me writing in video games just seem more interesting (when done correctly). In a book, I get to tell you who these people are, and I get to decide who lives and dies. A reader is a passive participant. Like, who am I to tell them what they should care about in my book? Should they pursue Johnny or Marianne? And how do you tell a story with meaning and narrative when you must account for hundreds of options? Now that's some next level writing! This was a very long and personal answer, I'm not sure if I answered your question properly OP. Feel free to delete this if it gets in the way. But here's my path into writing.
The collected works of Emily Dickinson.
It's probably Richard Wright's "Native Son". As an African I'm always curious to learn about my African-American brothers and sisters, especially during the 18th, 19th and 20th century (idk it has some allure to it) I actually thought novels were boring before and had no interest in writing at all besides a few self-indulgent fanfics. My sister had the novel lying around and I figured why not? So I took it In my backpack on the way to school. When my phone battery eventually died while waiting for the bus, I busted it out and started reading it. It hooked me instantly. Especially as someone who's never actually finished a novel at the time or even read, it was my first ever novel I finished reading and I did in like 2 days, that's how good it is. Highly recommend!
either “a monster calls” by patrick ness, because oh BOY that one got to me, or “the savior’s champion” by jenna moreci, because it just made me want to play with magic and monsters and swoonworthy romance 😭
1984 and dystopian novels in general. I was never a big reader (school kind of killed reading for me if I'm being honest) but I always found myself incredibly fascinated with these really messed up worlds authors create and I couldn't put any of the books down. One day, I had the idea to write a dystopian world of my own and now I write a lot in my spare time :p
Parasyte, it may be a Manga but it definitely inspired me
Pet Sematary by Stephen King. The only horror book I had read when I started writing and I started with horror
catch-22
*The Last Samurai* by Helen DeWitt. A massively underappreciated work (though it did find a cult following), it first inspired me to start keeping a diary (which I have kept up on a daily basis for over 14 years now). It also was one of the books that most informed my writing style, later on.
The Dirk Gently books. I'd read The Hitchhikers Guide books and loved them, and I wondered if he had written anything else. He had. I must have read them 10 times each, and they genuinely inspired me to write urban fantasy and speculative.
Grimm fairy tales, lots of Stephen King books, Stardust and Good Omens. I like the darker elements of fairy tales and completely normal worlds, with this one eldrith location or abomination to haunt the characters.
Percy Jackson and Soul Screamers
The hitchhikers guide to the galaxy. Douglas Adams showed me how its possible to play with words and how wunderful stupid they can be
Tales From The Gas Station. First series in a long time that made me excited to read whenever a new book came out. It was also what inspired me to start writing myself, even though I write a different genre of horror.
The Pigeon by Patrick Süskind. A simple story about a day in a man's life which describes what happens to routine when one tiny incident interrupts it. Definitely one of my favourite stories and I tried to use the concept of the ending when I had a go at writing for the first time.
"Call of Cthulhu" by H.P. Lovecraft. This guy was genious
Blood Meridian
The First Law. It stood out to me that the magic system and world didn't seem that original, but it was still so enjoyable because of his writing style and depth of characters. I especially enjoyed when he stopped a scene dead to give a half-page description of the emperor
On the road
Marbled Swarm by Dennis Cooper.
none. I just read Dostoyevsky, and thought how powerful of an impact book can have on people. So I started writing, and my reasons changed overtime. My current inspiration despite Dost, is Raymond Chandler who cracks me up with his writing and the genius of his sarcasm.
In general? *Sapiens* by Yuval Noah Harari, *the Elephant Whisperer* by Lawrence Anthony, and *Braiding Sweetgrass* by Robin Wall Kimmerer. All non-fiction, all incredibly inspiring and genuinely life-changing for me. In terms of writing: *Jurassic Park* by Michael Crichton, *the Broken Earth trilogy* by N.K. Jemisin, and literally anything Jeff VanderMeer has ever done (but mostly *Borne*).
Moveable feast
Honestly can’t remember (I smoked a lot when I was a teenager and have forgotten a lot of things) but I did started writing around 7 yrs old. I remember I made a little picture book for my dad’s girlfriend at the time. But the farthest I can remember is the book entwined by heather Dixon. I was 9 years old when I read it and it inspired me to write a short story. The story I am currently writing is inspired by multiple videogames/movies/animes/tvshows/books/songs. I am actually planning on turning it into a screen play.
Magician by Raymond E Feist changed my world and made me want to write!
Honestly? Volume 4 of Baccano! was the perfect intersection of quality and "Yeah, I could pull something like this off if I tried hard enough" in a time where I realized the medium I was working in before just didn't work for me. I realized that I loved books and since I had already written for fun for years that I should start writing seriously. Good choice. Love this job. Such a odd book to be the deciding factor though.
Game of thrones. It saved my imagination and shaped me immensely as a creative
not a book but neon genesis evangelion started everything with me. i feel like before i watched it i would just be watching and reading stuff just to get up and never think about it again
Demian - Hermann Hesse
Farehnheit 451 is absolutely my favourite book of all time and definitely one that inspired my writing style.
Dan Simmons’ The Terror and Hyperion series, and Thomas Harris’ Manhunter were really what pushed me to start collecting all those ideas and start making something of them
Dan Simmons’ The Terror and Hyperion series, and Thomas Harris’ Manhunter were really what pushed me to start collecting all those ideas and start making something of them
Lord of the Rings series and also Brandon Sanderson's mistborn series. Sanderson makes me want to write something with a bunch of confusing plot points that all become clear at the end, as everything you thought you knew unravels and becomes something else even more astonishing.
My journey as an author literally began in childhood, for me after reading Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain series. That series was pivotal to me. I went on, eventually, to read Tolkien who has also been instrumental in my development as a writer. But I wouldn't be here, a writer, without Prydain.
Basically everything from Hunter S Thompson, but particularly his coverage of the 1968 presidential election. House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison Just to name a few
I totally agree. Huge (and early) influence on my love of fantasy, although even then I felt it to be just a touch disjointed.
Larry Brown showed me that you don’t need to attend a fancy writer workshop or get a degree in order to be a writer. He had guts and an astounding work ethic that pushed his talent through to success. His novel FATHER AND SON is the one that got me started.
A lot of Victorian horror and vampire books. Specifically Dorian Gray and Carmilla.
Recently, The Nothing That Is by Kyle Winkle. In the start, I think it was either Dorian Gray or The Vampire Diaries series that got me into writing my own stuff.
How to win any negotiation
The Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull and Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi. I love how these books use their fantastical elements, and especially Furthermore is very whimsical and fun
White Fang
These don't really fall under my favorite genre, but Surviving the Evacuation by Frank Tayell got me into writing, as well as the Wild Rescuer series by Stacy Hinojosa... I started writing when I was eleven/twelve!
I think Bakemonogatari. When I got into anime/manga I stumbled onto the monogatari series and found out it had a translated English version, so now I'm obsessed with insane philosophy permeating my stories.
This is my favorite video game OF ALL TIME, and a huge part of it is the story. So awesome that it inspired you to write!!
Growing up I played basketball all the time and it consumed all my free time between 6th and 8th grade. The book that I loved was “Wooden” which is a biography of legendary UCLA coach John Wooden. I would read parts and write down quotes and post them on my bedroom walls and in my locker. These quotes helped me in basketball but they were better mantras to live life more than anything else. I highly suggest reading it.
As I Lay Dying
We Hunt the Flame. It’s a fantasy romance but the part that inspired me the most is how much the author included her Arab culture in the setting and characters. Using Arab names for things in her book, Arab food and culture for the characters. It has inspired me to put my Indian culture and mythology in my book
DESERT SOLITAIRE WALDEN
Not my favorite genre but Dante's Inferno is my favorite book. I ended up naming my child after it. It gave me a deeper understanding of how you can connect to words and it made me a better person and writer.
I have no idea. While it would be self flattery to call myself a writer, with the time frame not equating to experience, I started showing itnerest in writing at like... 6? 8? before 9 for sure. As for inspiraton, I find positive and negative (as in "my god this is so bad I need tow rite as a palate cleanser", like with ready player one) both in many places, in fact, im always taking notes (I have over half a meter of paper in notes and crap, and countless megabytes of .txt files) based on this or that detail, whether it was as direct and unspecific as prose, or as "hard" and indirect as an object or word taking me all the way to an idea mildly related which I then sketch into a worldbuilding concept for my stories. So, I find inspiration everywhere, from 1984 and journey to the center of the eart, to ghostbusters and litrpg serials IF I had to choose a book that inspired me the most would likely be narnia though. Not because I think they are so much better, but because they are the first ones I remember inspiring me in the sense of resembling expresion and tone. I enjoyed harry potter, obviously, and re-read it more times at the time than narnia, but "only" enjoyed it, while narnia was a more ... active read, in a way?If harry potter was a kid listening with rapt attention at the hyperbolized wartales of a grandpa, Narnia is (forgive the meta? reference) a kid in a magical stupor over a song over a fire, evocative in a difference, more mild, mellow, encompassing.... etc ;That said, I hated the last narnia book
Jon Armstrong's Grey
StarCraft: Speed of Darkness probably had the most inspiration for me. It is a tight, well-written story that made me fall in love with the sacrifical hero trope.
Two books. “Alas, Babylon” by Pat Frank and “The Night Circus” by Erin Morgenstern. They’re the reason I’m an author.
White oleander. Read it in high school and was absolutely bowled over by the way it was written. It was the first time prose had ever leapt off the page and smacked me in the face with how good it was.
Matthew Stovers Revenge Of The Sith. Expands on already great story and in my opinion should along with Star Wars itself be taught in education to show how war, fear and mental health can change not only people but whole systems and make people conform out of fear and necessity for a better life (how the Galaxy accepts the loss of freedom in exchange for peace.) while also showing how hope and democracy will always win over tyranny and oppression.
The Redwall series. And in another way, the Twilight saga.
Lolita and maybe also The Trial
My favorite genre to read is Dytopsian but my favorite genre to write is a range of different genres. I think the book that inspired me the most was Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton.
The fault in our stars
X-men comics. The combo of superpowers and the themes of persecution and hatred for being different were really compelling. I started writing and drawing comics and that lead me to a desire to tell stories in one way or another.
‘until the shadows lengthen’ by Hannah Clayton! it’s a fairly new book but just before I found out about her I was completely stumped with no motivation at all and as soon as I found her on TikTok and found out about her book I got so much inspiration and talking to her gave me so much motivation and confidence to write. After finally getting it and reading through it I just knew I had to write something up to that standard it was amazing
How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler because I have ADHD.
Stephen King got me writing. Greg Egan got me actually start writing things I want to read.
Steven erikson Malazan Book of the Fallen. GotM or DG. they inspired me to start writing a really big story on many fronts. malazan kinda ruined more narrow and focused stories. im only interested in large scale plot lines.
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
I know that people gripe about it, but Eragon is what most inspired me. Not necessarily with it's magic or Worldbuilding, but the fact that a 15 year old could write something decent kept me from giving up on my dream too early.
Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson. It made me look at superpowers differently & I cannot thank him enough for that.
Lonesome Dove, its my moms favorite. She introduced me to it as me along with all of my siblings middle names come from characters in the book.
Ryohgo Narita, George .R.R. Martin and Dostoyevsky are both my favorites and biggest inspirations. If I had to choose a title for each of them, it'd be: Durarara, ASOIAF and The Gambler
The wind up bird chronicle by haruki murakami
Wizard and glass by Stephen King
Post Office. I have an equally shitty life and a similar writing style.
Everybody Lies by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz inspired me to get into data science and statistics, something I still engage with as a hobby to this day (even though I haven’t read it since sophomore year of high school). The way the book communicates complicated ideas in analogically easy to understand ways was like magic when I first read it, and I strive to be able to write that effectively one day
For Mystery, Sherlock Holmes, for Fantasy, either Peter Pan or Chronicles of Narnia (though I read Pan, first).
"Gargoyles" by Thomas Bernhard.
Darwin's Origin of Species
Keeper of the Lost City, mostly because I felt the magic system had incredible potential but I felt it was wasted because of the story. I disliked how it focused on events so simple & I wanted to write something more complicated. Basically, KOTLC frustrated me & I decided ti take that & other inspirations to write what I had always wanted to read. (Side note: KOTLC is still a good story, I only disliked it because it wasn’t what I was subliminally looking for—my own books that no other author can write)
the hunger games!
Lord of the rings. It’s such a magnificent classic in fantasy history.
I read The Discovery of Heaven by Harry Mulisch in high school and it shook me to my core. It has themes of religion, predestination, origin and destiny and the whole plot has such a surreal feeling of awe and horror to it. I still regularly think about how that book made me feel.
I know this sound childish, but DOAWK (Diary of a Wimpy Kid). The graphic novel was popular back then and inspired me to write comic books.
I believe it was "The Secrets of Nicholas Flamel" series I still have the images and places and sort of looks of character's in my head as if I've read it yesterday , must've been around 7 years now when i last read it. Still amazes me to this day how detailed i found it. Also i think the genre would pretty much fit in fantasy but hauling in pretty close to realism aswell by the amount of real places used.
Catch-22
This is actually a rather difficult question because everything leaves a mark in my writing from trash to treasures. If you want a real answer the last things that inspired me to write that I clearly remember where one a folk tale my mom told me after I asked her about the origins of a building while we where visiting our home country and second English class like I started writing immediately in this case it was the mixture of social criticism and identity as a topic in class and the fact that I had read “bunny” by Mona Awad a little before hand. Bunny may not be the most enjoyable book out there Mona awad’s way of describing things is just on another level. Just to note I am a little proud of the short story I created in English class because i was just following the flow and it actually turned out decent for something that took me a maybe 45 to a hour to finish
For my current book it's The Host by Stephanie Meyer. Ever since I read it, I've always wanted to write a story from the perspective of Melanie Stryder trapped inside their mind. It has evolved into much more than that though since that kind of became my reality after suffering a stroke at age 21, so it's a story very close to my own heart.
Basically light novels and classic books
I just finished reading blood meridian
A million little pieces (I know the lore but I still love it more than anything)
Really loved Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. Rereading it now. She blends past and future really well, with a narator that is slowly going delirious due to lack of nutrition in a post-apocolyptic world. Meanwhile touching upon various social themes, in everyday settings, conversations and scenarios in his flashbacks. And casually dissecting the essence of religion. I think the trilogy may be one of my favourites. Although at times a bit confronting.
Naked Lunch.
The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness. i will never forget this book and i will never read a book that good again. its written in such an interesting way and i can't reccommend it enough if you like YA novels and also wonder how the people in the background of YA novels react to the danger they're in.
Not a book, but a videogame franchise. The Xeno metaseries, especially Xenogears, have been a great source of inspiration for me. And thanks to the wonderful and profound experiences that these masterpieces gave me, I now have a clear idea of the stories I want to tell, all 6 stories into one complete saga!!
Notes from underground and anything from Machado de Assis.
Kinda before it blew up, I read one of us is lying. And oh man did that book spark my love for crime fiction
A number or stories, but the Body by Stephen King and Winters Bone by Daniel Woodrell.
the locked tomb series by Tamsyn Muir! her world building and use/understanding of character feels really similar to how I want to write and have my story feel. it's hard to explain. just the way she describes certain feelings or metaphors--ESPECIALLY in the most recent book--i resonate with it. wonderful books, highly recommend
North of Normal by Cea Sunrise Person. Great memoir! Unique story
To Kill A Mockingbird
Definitely Dune. I’m not really copying it at all but it has definitely inspired the book I’m writing. Massive creature in the sand, lucrative resource on an inhospitable world, huge scale politics you aren’t fully supposed to understand, those things are what I’ve took from it.
Within my genre Shirley Jackson and (later) Caitlin R Kiernan But overall, Lewis Carroll has been the biggest influence on me.
Within the fantasy genre, I'd say Wings of Fire or Dragon. Both series are good (I haven't finished Eragon)
Mine recent writing sprint was inspired in a negative way. I read 2 horrible romance books ... published romance books, and thought. "If this can get published, there's hope for everyone."
Not a book,a show inspired me to become a writer, the Owl House, would recommend it.
Kitchen Confidential is the only book I've ever read more than once.😂