Okay, so I'll admit to some serious envy and hero worship when it comes to reading authors published in my genre. No, not because they are published, but because the words and stories flow effortlessly. Because they are telling the stories that I hope mine will measure up to.
I just finished Kim Harrison's "Pale Demon" #9 in her series. By far the best of her books (they're all great and I recommend them) and it left me thinking. I read it with great gusto, devouring the pages in less then 2 days in between things like working, sleeping and eating. In the back of my head as I dived through the story I kept thinking,
"I want people to read my book like I'm now reading Harrison's."
I want to see people buy a hardcover and do it because they just can't wait for the soft cover to come out (though that is changing with e-books but that is another post). I want to be like those authors I've read for so long, seen their styles evolve and grow and only get better the longer they write. Maybe that's too much to ask at this point, but for me, I want to write like Harrison, to make you believe that what she's telling you is really happening somewhere, despite the fact that it's fantasy.
Of course, to be fair, I could say this about a lot of writers. One of the things that sets Harrison apart though and something she and I have in common is that she's not an English Major, nor has she taken any creative writing classes. Not that I think those are bad things, not in the least. But it gives me hope that those of us without the formal educations have as much chance as those with them to be published and make a life of it.
Which writer do you want to be like? Who inspires you and your writing?
4 comments:
I want to be like Heinlein. And LeGuin. And Harper Lee. And the Watership Down guy.
Too much to ask?
Nah. We have to be compared to someone, right? It might as well be those we look up to. :) That's my theory anyway!
I want to tell stories like Lois McMaster Bujold, because her plots and characters are incredible. And I want to have the grace of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, who are well-spoken in all things and humble despite the size of their fandoms. (I'd also like to write creepiness like Gaiman does, but Bujold tops him, slightly.)
Richard Laymond and Piers Antony and the authors who write the "forgotten Releams" the words that come from these make you "see" the work rather than "read" it, and in Richards case strikes a good dose of fear in you :P
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