StuartBurchell
Well-Known Member
Which authors have influenced your writing?
I am writing a nautical based military sci fi book at the moment. One of my first decisions was that my military characters would always be referred to either by surname, rank or their job/position, ie. Moore/ Lieutenant Commander/ First Officer/ helmsman AND be CONSISTENT about it, making it clear who you are describing.
This came from the books of Bernard Cornwell (the Richard Sharpe books, historical) and Mark Billingham (the DI Tom Thorne books, crime thrillers).
Their protagonists are always referred by their surnames, as are the other military/police regular characters in their respective series.
As I said, my book is centred around a military ship. So what sci fi military authors influenced me?
David Weber and Evan Currie.
David Weber's Honor Harrington series and Evan Currie's Odyssey One series, to be exact.
However, David Weber has always called his protagonist Honor, as opposed to being called Harrington. As noted above, I have decided to call mine by their surname. Calling mine by their first name is something I felt was not appropriate in my book.
Evan Currie. Canadian author of the Odyssey One series. I enjoy this series quite a bit. He has influenced me by convincing me not to copy his mistakes.
His books, by the look of them, are self published. No problem there. But I feel he could have done with an editor. His books often look rushed and he can't keep his continuity straight. He can with his characters, but in other details. His first book had his starfighter squadron 12 strong. One is killed and three ejected safely. So he has eight fighters. Next book he has twelve. Next book there's only six. He also can't keep track of how many warships a divided Earth has and what their names are (there's less than a dozen).
He is also inconsistent with how he calls his characters. In the third book (or fourth?), he calls a crewman Susan for a while (right at the start of the book itself) and it takes me a while to realise it was Ensign Susan Lamont. A minor command deck officer, but a regular character.
That shouldn't happen. Which is why my above stipulation on what my military characters are called was one of my first decisions, if not the first, I made.
So even a poorly written book(s) can be instructional, on how NOT to write.
Anybody want to contribute?
I am writing a nautical based military sci fi book at the moment. One of my first decisions was that my military characters would always be referred to either by surname, rank or their job/position, ie. Moore/ Lieutenant Commander/ First Officer/ helmsman AND be CONSISTENT about it, making it clear who you are describing.
This came from the books of Bernard Cornwell (the Richard Sharpe books, historical) and Mark Billingham (the DI Tom Thorne books, crime thrillers).
Their protagonists are always referred by their surnames, as are the other military/police regular characters in their respective series.
As I said, my book is centred around a military ship. So what sci fi military authors influenced me?
David Weber and Evan Currie.
David Weber's Honor Harrington series and Evan Currie's Odyssey One series, to be exact.
However, David Weber has always called his protagonist Honor, as opposed to being called Harrington. As noted above, I have decided to call mine by their surname. Calling mine by their first name is something I felt was not appropriate in my book.
Evan Currie. Canadian author of the Odyssey One series. I enjoy this series quite a bit. He has influenced me by convincing me not to copy his mistakes.
His books, by the look of them, are self published. No problem there. But I feel he could have done with an editor. His books often look rushed and he can't keep his continuity straight. He can with his characters, but in other details. His first book had his starfighter squadron 12 strong. One is killed and three ejected safely. So he has eight fighters. Next book he has twelve. Next book there's only six. He also can't keep track of how many warships a divided Earth has and what their names are (there's less than a dozen).
He is also inconsistent with how he calls his characters. In the third book (or fourth?), he calls a crewman Susan for a while (right at the start of the book itself) and it takes me a while to realise it was Ensign Susan Lamont. A minor command deck officer, but a regular character.
That shouldn't happen. Which is why my above stipulation on what my military characters are called was one of my first decisions, if not the first, I made.
So even a poorly written book(s) can be instructional, on how NOT to write.
Anybody want to contribute?
