Books to read for a writing education?

[Coragem]

A recent thread has got me thinking about the books we may read to educate ourselves as writers (if also for enjoyment as well).

Perhaps would could compare notes on the writers who have influenced us, or helped us develop?

I suppose this varies depending on the style we're aiming for. For example, my own "3rd person limited" narratives run about as close to 1st person as you can get while still being 3rd person! As such, while I may love a writer like Guy Gavriel Kay, his narrative is more removed from his characters than my own, so not always useful in helping me hone my own style. GRRM or Joe Abercrombie are closer to where I am, adopting different language for different POVs.

Lately I've been reading A Dance with Dragons as closely and carefully as I can, and that's helped me a lot. I've said it before, but I think great writing often comes down to the small details and mannerisms that bring scenes to life (the little things readers don't always notice if they're there, but very much would notice if they weren't!). GRRM is a master of this. Also, I'm often so impressed by simple things, like the way he uses commas, or occasionally repetition of "and", to create rhythm in the writing.

Other influences for me? Well, I could mention one or two more names, but not as many as I'd like. I wish I'd read more than I have, and to improve as a writer I know I need to continue looking for the best influences. Hence this thread.

Coragem.

 

[JLawrenceDavis]

Most of my education comes from reading several different writers. Sometimes, I'll be reviewing something I wrote and say to myself, "Hey, this is very much a similar style to this author." I've done this with how I write comic books, mirroring the style of Geoff Johns at certain moments in telling the story.

For novels, I've come to like some things with punctuation some authors do, and even worked to write my sentences in a certain style. I have noticed myself paying a lot more attention to books I'm currently reading, noting things I like and things I'd do differently, all working to improve my writing.

 

[Phyrebrat]

For me I have been influenced by three authors; Stephen King, E M Forster and (the late) Michael McDowell, but I'm not clear on whether that is to do with their content more than their style. Well, maybe in the case of Forster, it is style as well, but the other two...?

SK realises his playworld so vividly and I love the characterisation and painfully deep side-arcs and long narratives. But essentially, I love a good scarey chiller so he really scratches that particular itch for me. MM on the other hand has a lovely flow with some strange turns of phrase, syntax or tense that typify his writing, for example, he will write something like' 'Luker and India must keep their voices low should they be overheard...' It seems archaic yet really reflects the geographical area in which he wrote all his novels; that of the Deep South. And that again is part of why I like MM so much; he has really brought that area to life for me with the colourful phrases in conversations that the characters have, and that even in his narrative his personal opinion about his characters comes forth.

And there's the problem - or bonus - I think; if you stick with a writer who consistently works in the same location (for King it is New England, for McDowell, Alabama), you can automatically be pre-informed as to what the area looks like, how the folk respond to each other in terms of social mores, and so on. Loyalty to an author may preclude their need to give detailed exposition on those kind of things in subsequent works.

I understand of course that Forster is the odd man out here as his literature is littered with themes and symbology and a well-mined stimulus but I find his humour balances that, and is far more accessible than the drudgery of some of Thomas Hardy's work, for example (stepping under my flame-retardant jacket, now ).

Do you ever read Arthur C Clarke? I enjoy his stories, too but they are so clinical. Almost like a novel textbook. Thing is, apart from stories like The City and The Stars, where human relationships and nurture are important concepts, that cold approach works well. I can't imagine Rendezvous with Rama being given the humanist approach and it working so well as that story has such a strong sense of isolation.

I figure that it is down to subject matter and the concept; if your story has a strong human element, or references the human condition, then your writing really has a duty to cultivate this...perhaps. Do you agree?

 

[Boneman]

ooh, that's got me thinking... Because it's been decades, I'd have to say it's been an insidious thing - a slow absorption of so many influences that I'd be hard put to say there was any particular ones. But...

Asimov, without a doubt.
Piers Anthony, even though some of it was often strangely erratic.
Orson Scott Card.
James Clavell - for Shogun (still my all-time favourite book)
Stephen King for the Dark Tower series - not that keen on reading horror.
Roger Zelazny, particularly Amber, even if it became a little indulgent on occasions.
Anne McAffrey, for incredible consistency and style. Sadly missed.
Oh, and that American Bloke, what's his name...? Patrick Rothfuss.

Never took to Arthur C Clarke, and can't get into GRRM yet. Abercrombie and Gaiman are getting there, but they don't excite me as much as those listed above.

 

[Ökuþórr]

I am influenced by real world mythology far more than modern (well, modern when compared to ancient myth) fantasy authors. Mythology is what I like to write, much more than regular fantasy novels (although you could say that in a way, fantasy is our modern mythology), or novels that use an in world mythology.
Is there a market for that? Are there many people out there like me who love myths enough to read and greatly enjoy a book/books of invented myths?

Not to say that modern authors don't influence me though.

 

[Coragem]

For me it's not simply a question of all time favourite authors who I'd aspire to follow, it's a question of who is influencing me now, today.

So, they say that if you're reading well that's when you write well. I think there's a lot to this, so these days I always try to be reading a book that'll help me. Which has, of course, resulted in me becoming very finicky about what I'll read!

Words are our fuel, after all, and I feel very much that regular exposure to good reading is the whetstone keeps our skills sharp!

Coragem.

 

[slack]

I think there's a lot to this, so these days I always try to be reading a book that'll help me. Which has, of course, resulted in me becoming very finicky about what I'll read!

Me too. Which is why I haven't been reading much sci-fi these days.

Carver has been a big influence on me lately. Not necessarily in terms of his writing style -- his minimalism -- because I like a good run-on sentence, but the subtlety and understated quality of many of his stories.

 

[Venusian Broon]

Knowing your genre inside out is crucial to being a marketable and successful author.

But I'd like to also suggest that being an excellent writer you have to read widely outside your genre. You'll probably surprise yourself on what you like. Don't read the classics by watching the adaptions on telly - the copyright has expired for them so you can find them cheap!, find the most critically acclaimed crime writers, read bestsellers to see what the fuss is about, pick up literary fiction to see what the snobs think a novel should be

Everything helps!

 

[AnyaKimlin]

Well it depends - I read anything, everything and am not finicky. If an author does a good plot and characters I will read them.

Right now Agatha Christie, Alannah Knight and Ellis Peters are probably my biggest inspirations. The latter two although write detective novels have influences in my fantasy.

Enid Blyton is always in there. Robert Neill and James Hilton for warmth.

 

[Boneman]

ooh... ooh... a great love story - Stan Barstow's A Kind of Loving Trilogy, which should be a quadrilogy...

 

[hopewrites]

The only book I can come up with as something that influenced influences my writing and really it is more that it changed the way I look at stories and life in general is Hero with a thousand faces by Joseph Campbell. He studied mythology more extensively and more intensely then I had but in the way that I wanted to and expresses the conclusions I was coming to in a more profound way then I realized they could be.

If you want to know the anatomy of life, and the reason stories speak so clearly to the soul, I would recommend this book.
for me it clearly delineated why I love fiction so much, why when reading a story I can identify with a character and enjoy their progression, why I will be able to identify different parts of my life with different parts of the story, and how when the character progresses past where I am it feels like a glimpse of what my future might be.


so not exactly a recommendation in the vain you asked for, but the only one I could think of.

 

[Ripley!WatchOut!]

The only book I can come up with as something that influenced influences my writing and really it is more that it changed the way I look at stories and life in general is Hero with a thousand faces by Joseph Campbell. He studied mythology more extensively and more intensely then I had but in the way that I wanted to and expresses the conclusions I was coming to in a more profound way then I realized they could be.

If you want to know the anatomy of life, and the reason stories speak so clearly to the soul, I would recommend this book.
for me it clearly delineated why I love fiction so much, why when reading a story I can identify with a character and enjoy their progression, why I will be able to identify different parts of my life with different parts of the story, and how when the character progresses past where I am it feels like a glimpse of what my future might be.


so not exactly a recommendation in the vain you asked for, but the only one I could think of.

Agreed.

But also read Chris Vogler's Writer's Journey (which is relatively simple) and Kal Bashir's excellent 2000+ stage hero's journey/transformation/new world (which is relatively deep).

These are life changers in terms of how you go about writing.

 

[Rosemary Fryth]

I've read everything from Arthur C Clarke, to Tolkien, to Charles de Lint and a lot of other authors in between, including the action/adventure author Desmond Bagley and the Brother Cadfael series. My most read books currently reside in a massive floor to ceiling bookcase, whilst I have a reference library which has titles such as the 'Heimskringla' and the other Norse sagas, and classical authors such as Bede and Tacitus. Classics by authors such as Walter Scott, Emily Bronte, and Jane Austen of course have been read over the years, as well as medieval and dark age poetry (I'm particularly fond of Anglo-Saxon Poety.) All these authors and titles (and more) have inspired and educated me in my writing, however I believe the biggest inspiration and education for my epic-fantasy writing would have to be my participation in medieval reenactment here in Australia. There is nothing like creating and wearing costumes, handling swords, trying on chainmail armour, cooking for feasts, playing music, and adopting a medieval persona for public entertainment and school education to really give you first hand knowledge of what living an early medieval life was like. Hands on experience wins hands down against reading other authors or looking at pictures in books.

 

[Hilarious Joke]

If you want to read a masterful craftsman of fantasy stories, I would recommend Patrick Rothfuss. His writing is breathtakingly good.