13 Writers Who've Most Influenced Me

Caleb Monroe · 09-02-2008, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Friday’s post got me thinking about which writers have had the biggest impact on my own development as a writer, so I thought I’d do a post about them. These are not necessarily my favorite writers, or those I consider the most skilled (though there’s certainly plenty of crossover with those groups). These are simply the writers who, for whatever reason or timing, have resonated with me and most influenced my thinking/approach as a writer. Here they are, in alphabetical order by last name:

Read the full thing here >>

So who's on your list?

BJCochran · 09-02-2008, 09:01 PM

For my 13, in no important order, are --

Mike Carey -- His run on Hellblazer was absolutely fantastic in my eyes. He nailed the suspense and the horror aspects without hamming it up like other proclaimed horror writers have (Joss Whedon with Buffy and Angel TV series).

Neil Gaiman -- Sandman...nuff said.

Steve Niles -- Some people dont like him but I must admit he has the same ability that Carey had with Hellblazer when it comes to his Cal McDonald stuff.

Shane Black -- Not just because he has written some of my favorite movies (The first two Lethal Weapons, Monster Squad, and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) but if anyone has the chance to read those scripts you will see just the charisma come off the page from the scenes. I guess thats the best way of putting it.

H P Lovecraft -- Except for his horrible dialogue he is one of the only short story writers who can make my skin crawl.

Richard Matheson -- Just a great writer, not to mention he wrote some of the better Twilight Zone episodes.

Mark Waid -- Not so much for his writing ability as much as his attitude. He is going to bust his ass on a title and make sure he hits the deadline. Plus he has been known to be vocal when an editor changes his story when most just go back into the shell they have.

Geoff Johns -- Not so much for his run on Green Lantern but for his Avengers stuff. I found that he could make characters I normally couldnt stand enjoyable.

Clive Barker -- Nuff said...the modern day horror maestro in my eyes.

Ok I guess I cant really come up with a full 13...but thats my list.

Steven Forbes · 09-02-2008, 09:52 PM

Hmm. Okay, I'll play. But my list is MUCH shorter than 13.

This is in no order at all, except for the first one.

Roger Zelazny- the man is the reason I write, pure and simple. If you haven't read the Amber Chronicles, Lord of Light and This Immortal (This Immortal tied with Dune for the Nebula Award), then you haven't been doing any reading. Not all of his book are great, but they're all worth reading.

Neil Gaiman- he was a personal friend of Zelazny, and writes in something of the same flavor. Mythic realism.

Frank Herbert- mysticism and philosophy. Dune is a seminal body of work that should be read once a year, by everyone.

Mark Waid- in comics, one of my personal heroes. And the man can tell a story!

Clive Barker- re-reading The Great and Secret Show right now. Really, one of the few writers that has ever made my skin crawl. A great blend of horror, eroticism, and imagination.

Stephen King- writes the most believable characters you'll find anywhere, and then putting them in some of the strangest, messed up situations you can think of. Gerald's Game, anyone? I try to make sure all of my characters are believable in order to evoke emotional reactions in readers. No one does it better than the King.

Joe Kelly- anyone who can make Deadpool into a sympathetic character while still maintaining the off the wall humor is aces in my book. That's something I try to emulate with some of my own characters.

Alan Moore- pure craft. If I had only a single drop of his genius...

Brian Lumley- his ability to rethink the old into something new without making it seem absurd is amazing. What he did for vampires is what I want to do for werewolves.

Wow. Nine. A lot further than I thought.

-Steven

quantum1019 · 09-02-2008, 09:56 PM

Stan Lee

Will Eisner

Alan Moore

Roger Zelazny

Arthur Conan Doyle

Robert Anton Wilson

JRR Tolkein

Neil Gaiman

Dennis O'Neil

John Byrne

Robert E. Howard (with an assist from Roy Thomas)

Marv Wolfman

Chester Gould

BJCochran · 09-02-2008, 09:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Forby

Hmm. Okay, I'll play. But my list is MUCH shorter than 13.

This is in no order at all, except for the first one.

Roger Zelazny- the man is the reason I write, pure and simple. If you haven't read the Amber Chronicles, Lord of Light and This Immortal (This Immortal tied with Dune for the Nebula Award), then you haven't been doing any reading. Not all of his book are great, but they're all worth reading.

Stephen King- writes the most believable characters you'll find anywhere, and then putting them in some of the strangest, messed up situations you can think of. Gerald's Game, anyone? I try to make sure all of my characters are believable in order to evoke emotional reactions in readers. No one does it better than the King.

-Steven

First of all Roger Zelazny is the authors name I was trying to think of when I was making my list. I was to lazy to go on amazon.com. But Lord of Light and This Immortal are great reads.

The only problem I have with King is he sucks at writing endings. He will get me totally enthralled by a book but then the last 20-50 pages are a waste. And the last book I read by him, The Cell, started off great but then the characters go into a hotel and the story just loses it in my opinion.

**Buckyrig** · 09-02-2008, 10:09 PM

Here's 16 (+1), since once I hit 13, I didn't know where to pare down.

No order...and I reserve the right to have a completely different list next week.

Ok, pants me...

Alan Moore
Gardner Fox
Jim Shooter
JM DeMatteis
William Faulkner
Samuel Beckett
Jonathan Swift
Kurt Vonnegut
Mark Waid
Edward Albee
George Bernard Shaw
George Orwell
Douglas Adams
Ben Edlund
Mike Allred
Darwyn Cooke

And this dude Cap I went to high school with.

Steven Forbes · 09-02-2008, 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BJCochran

First of all Roger Zelazny is the authors name I was trying to think of when I was making my list. I was to lazy to go on amazon.com. But Lord of Light and This Immortal are great reads.

The only problem I have with King is he sucks at writing endings. He will get me totally enthralled by a book but then the last 20-50 pages are a waste. And the last book I read by him, The Cell, started off great but then the characters go into a hotel and the story just loses it in my opinion.

I'm going to be reading Lord of Light tomorrow, right after I finish one of the Dresden books (book six- I forget the title). Well, that and a werewolf book. But Lord of Light is one of those books that stays with you.

As for King, I agree that his endings can be a letdown. The last book I read by him was The Dark Tower, and I wasn't too thrilled with the ending. I understood it, but wasn't too happy about it.

I have a lot on my plate, so King has to get shoved aside for a while in favor of Butcher and Zelazny and Heinlein and Stephenson and a host of others. I'll come back around to him in a couple of years, though. (I'm expecting some of the reading to get shoved to the side, too.)

-Steven

ronin7 · 09-02-2008, 11:06 PM

13. Chris Claremont - His ability to write strong female characters has been an influence on how I write women, but not to the point I make them butch warrior women.

12. Warren Ellis - I've always been fascinated by his skill at blending sophisticated real world science with modern comic story telling.

11. Dennis O'Neil - For bringing back the detective aspect to Batman and showing Batman as a great deductive reasoner.

10. Steve Englehart - His stories featuring Batman showed that Batman was capable of love and yet he was incapable of allowing himself to having a life outside of his crusade which led to Frank Miller's version.

9. Stan Lee - Lee's melodrama approach was fresh and surprisingly authentic to how I feel real people's ordinary lives are. Though most writers focus on more taboo subjects. I don't think the melodrama is that out of place.

8. Joseph Michael Straczynski - His voluminous output is something very few writers can achieve and it's something truly to be admired.

7. Chuck Dixon - Chuck took Nightwing after Dennis O'Neil did the set up and made him into his own hero capable of handling a city rampant of crime that the Batman wasn't accustomed to. Whereas in Gotham the criminals feared super heroes. Bludhaven's criminals feared no one.

6. Mark Millar - His reinvention of the Avengers and Bendis' reinvention of Spider-Man opened up my eyes to the possibilities of deconstructing the super hero genre.

5. Brian Azzarello - His brutally violent stories show a darker side of criminality and super-villains. While I don't like all of his work. I do appreciate his willingness to show how violent most criminals are.

4. Martin Scorsese - Scorsese's work which mostly focused on Italian American identity, the Roman catholic concepts of guilt and redemption, and the violence endemic is really inspiring to me as a writer. Because he covered themes that falls in the dramatic category that I enjoy working in and he did it excellently.

3. Frank Miller - Who isn't inspired by Frank Miller? He took the film noir approach from the early cinema movies and applied them to comics making him a house hold name. Now, many crime comic writers can flourish again because of his reintroduction of the crime genre.

2. Brian Michael Bendis - His unique ability to craft his stories on the dialogue of his characters has served as a tool for deeper examinations of the characters he writes. While not everyone agrees with his views on the characters. No one can deny his panache for dialogue.

1. John Lindley Byrne - Byrne is a master when it comes to story telling. As he always knows how to set a scene in a time and place in which it would draw the readers attention. And his art was innovative for it's time and easy to read despite the complex layouts. But his most significant achievements were the work he did on the Fantastic Four, X-Men, and Superman. For without him none of those titles would have achieved the heights they had achieved.

BJCochran · 09-02-2008, 11:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Forby

I'm going to be reading Lord of Light tomorrow, right after I finish one of the Dresden books (book six- I forget the title). Well, that and a werewolf book. But Lord of Light is one of those books that stays with you.

As for King, I agree that his endings can be a letdown. The last book I read by him was The Dark Tower, and I wasn't too thrilled with the ending. I understood it, but wasn't too happy about it.

I have a lot on my plate, so King has to get shoved aside for a while in favor of Butcher and Zelazny and Heinlein and Stephenson and a host of others. I'll come back around to him in a couple of years, though. (I'm expecting some of the reading to get shoved to the side, too.)

-Steven

How are the Dresden books? I've been really interested in picking up one or two of them and giving them a try. I am ashamed to say the TV series got me interested in it.

As for the Dark Tower...meh I read the first three Dark Tower books and granted it was nice to see Easter Eggs to his other works I wasnt too thrilled about any of them. I think the only two books I was satisfied with throughout the whole novel was Needful Things and Salems Lot. But then again I never said I had decent taste.

I might be among the few but I feel he had stronger endings when he was writing under Richard Bachman. But thats just my opinion

T.J. May · 09-02-2008, 11:28 PM

Bradbury
King
Moore
Gaiman
Lovecraft
Barker
Matheson
Blackwood
Lansdale
Ennis
Mythmakers
Folklorists

**Buckyrig** · 09-02-2008, 11:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by T.J. May

Mythmakers

Joseph of Phineas?

T.J. May · 09-02-2008, 11:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buckyrig

Joseph of Phineas?

Jenna Jameson

Steven Forbes · 09-03-2008, 12:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BJCochran

How are the Dresden books? I've been really interested in picking up one or two of them and giving them a try. I am ashamed to say the TV series got me interested in it.

As for the Dark Tower...meh I read the first three Dark Tower books and granted it was nice to see Easter Eggs to his other works I wasnt too thrilled about any of them. I think the only two books I was satisfied with throughout the whole novel was Needful Things and Salems Lot. But then again I never said I had decent taste.

I might be among the few but I feel he had stronger endings when he was writing under Richard Bachman. But thats just my opinion

Personally, I like the books. He gets to the action pretty quickly, and it just keeps moving from there. I'm pretty hooked.

And don't be ashamed. The tv series got me interested in them, too. It wasn't until recently that I became a mystery fan. And they're not really mysteries. The "detecting" part is him pretty much stumbling in and out of trouble, but with his heart in the right place. I read them for the characters and the situations, not because of the "mystery" aspects of them.

(btw, this is a GREAT way for Marvel to set up magic in their universe. Get someone with at least SOME magical study under their belt to write Dr. Strange. I volunteer...)

As for King, I've never been much of a fan of his Bachman stuff. A real turnoff for me. Just something about them felt off, so I only read two or three.

-Steven

Nick Kerklaan · 09-03-2008, 02:23 AM

Sort of a rough list, they've all written at least one thing that's had a major influence on me, some have written more such things than others.

William S. Burroughs
Alan Moore
Neil Gaiman
Frank Miller
Chuck Palahniuk
Warren Ellis
Stephen King
Grant Morrison
Bret Easton Ellis
Jack Kerouac
Chris Ware
Charlie Kaufman
And let's say the last slot (not that these are in any order) is a tie between Kurt Busiek and Mark Waid.

I'm sure I'm forgetting loads.

EDIT: Extending my list to 14 so I can incude Lovecraft. D'oh!

Dan Hill · 09-03-2008, 04:35 AM

Geoff Johns
Got me back into comics with his Flash run. The guy writes good heroes. He also has that knack to tie in lots of continuity and still make it accessible.

Damon Lindelof
I know Lost is a love/hate thing with a lot of people but I love the show and its writing.

Alan Moore
Apart from the amazing stories he writes he has this real palpable love for language itself. It comes across in interviews, the stories he writes etc. It rubs off.

Stephen King
As someone already said, Characters.

Brian Bendis
Dialogue. Whatever story he is writing you can depend on the dialogue being good.

Dennis Lehane
Be it his work on The Wire or his own novels the guy writes well rounded characters and crime stories.

Niall Ferguson
An author/historian who as far as I know hasn't put his pen to any fiction whatsoever. However the way in which he presents history in his books interesting, exciting etc is what he's influential to me for.

Andy Diggle
Writes a killer action set piece. Also has really tight efficient dialogue.

Elmore Leonard
King of Dialogue as far as I'm concerned.

Joss Whedon
A tad cliched but this guy held my thrall with a group of characters for seven years.

Garth Ennis
For similar reasons to Andy Diggle.

Ernest Lehman.
He wrote North by Northwest which to me is up there as a "perfect" movie.

Joseph Campbell/Christopher Vogler
I'm forever re-reading their books on myth and story.

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09-02-2008, 09:01 PM	#2
BJCochran I'm In Your Head Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Orange, MA Posts: 1,277	For my 13, in no important order, are -- Mike Carey -- His run on Hellblazer was absolutely fantastic in my eyes. He nailed the suspense and the horror aspects without hamming it up like other proclaimed horror writers have (Joss Whedon with Buffy and Angel TV series). Neil Gaiman -- Sandman...nuff said. Steve Niles -- Some people dont like him but I must admit he has the same ability that Carey had with Hellblazer when it comes to his Cal McDonald stuff. Shane Black -- Not just because he has written some of my favorite movies (The first two Lethal Weapons, Monster Squad, and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) but if anyone has the chance to read those scripts you will see just the charisma come off the page from the scenes. I guess thats the best way of putting it. H P Lovecraft -- Except for his horrible dialogue he is one of the only short story writers who can make my skin crawl. Richard Matheson -- Just a great writer, not to mention he wrote some of the better Twilight Zone episodes. Mark Waid -- Not so much for his writing ability as much as his attitude. He is going to bust his ass on a title and make sure he hits the deadline. Plus he has been known to be vocal when an editor changes his story when most just go back into the shell they have. Geoff Johns -- Not so much for his run on Green Lantern but for his Avengers stuff. I found that he could make characters I normally couldnt stand enjoyable. Clive Barker -- Nuff said...the modern day horror maestro in my eyes. Ok I guess I cant really come up with a full 13...but thats my list.

09-02-2008, 09:52 PM	#3
Steven Forbes Freelance Editor Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 2,103	Hmm. Okay, I'll play. But my list is MUCH shorter than 13. This is in no order at all, except for the first one. Roger Zelazny- the man is the reason I write, pure and simple. If you haven't read the Amber Chronicles, Lord of Light and This Immortal (This Immortal tied with Dune for the Nebula Award), then you haven't been doing any reading. Not all of his book are great, but they're all worth reading. Neil Gaiman- he was a personal friend of Zelazny, and writes in something of the same flavor. Mythic realism. Frank Herbert- mysticism and philosophy. Dune is a seminal body of work that should be read once a year, by everyone. Mark Waid- in comics, one of my personal heroes. And the man can tell a story! Clive Barker- re-reading The Great and Secret Show right now. Really, one of the few writers that has ever made my skin crawl. A great blend of horror, eroticism, and imagination. Stephen King- writes the most believable characters you'll find anywhere, and then putting them in some of the strangest, messed up situations you can think of. Gerald's Game, anyone? I try to make sure all of my characters are believable in order to evoke emotional reactions in readers. No one does it better than the King. Joe Kelly- anyone who can make Deadpool into a sympathetic character while still maintaining the off the wall humor is aces in my book. That's something I try to emulate with some of my own characters. Alan Moore- pure craft. If I had only a single drop of his genius... Brian Lumley- his ability to rethink the old into something new without making it seem absurd is amazing. What he did for vampires is what I want to do for werewolves. Wow. Nine. A lot further than I thought. -Steven

09-02-2008, 09:56 PM	#4
quantum1019 Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 248	Stan Lee Will Eisner Alan Moore Roger Zelazny Arthur Conan Doyle Robert Anton Wilson JRR Tolkein Neil Gaiman Dennis O'Neil John Byrne Robert E. Howard (with an assist from Roy Thomas) Marv Wolfman Chester Gould

09-02-2008, 10:09 PM	#6
Buckyrig I Coulda Had a VH Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Steve Buscemi's Couch Posts: 11,460	Here's 16 (+1), since once I hit 13, I didn't know where to pare down. No order...and I reserve the right to have a completely different list next week. Ok, pants me... Alan Moore Gardner Fox Jim Shooter JM DeMatteis William Faulkner Samuel Beckett Jonathan Swift Kurt Vonnegut Mark Waid Edward Albee George Bernard Shaw George Orwell Douglas Adams Ben Edlund Mike Allred Darwyn Cooke And this dude Cap I went to high school with.

09-02-2008, 11:06 PM	#8
ronin7 Heavy Thinker Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Ohio Posts: 1,064	13. Chris Claremont - His ability to write strong female characters has been an influence on how I write women, but not to the point I make them butch warrior women. 12. Warren Ellis - I've always been fascinated by his skill at blending sophisticated real world science with modern comic story telling. 11. Dennis O'Neil - For bringing back the detective aspect to Batman and showing Batman as a great deductive reasoner. 10. Steve Englehart - His stories featuring Batman showed that Batman was capable of love and yet he was incapable of allowing himself to having a life outside of his crusade which led to Frank Miller's version. 9. Stan Lee - Lee's melodrama approach was fresh and surprisingly authentic to how I feel real people's ordinary lives are. Though most writers focus on more taboo subjects. I don't think the melodrama is that out of place. 8. Joseph Michael Straczynski - His voluminous output is something very few writers can achieve and it's something truly to be admired. 7. Chuck Dixon - Chuck took Nightwing after Dennis O'Neil did the set up and made him into his own hero capable of handling a city rampant of crime that the Batman wasn't accustomed to. Whereas in Gotham the criminals feared super heroes. Bludhaven's criminals feared no one. 6. Mark Millar - His reinvention of the Avengers and Bendis' reinvention of Spider-Man opened up my eyes to the possibilities of deconstructing the super hero genre. 5. Brian Azzarello - His brutally violent stories show a darker side of criminality and super-villains. While I don't like all of his work. I do appreciate his willingness to show how violent most criminals are. 4. Martin Scorsese - Scorsese's work which mostly focused on Italian American identity, the Roman catholic concepts of guilt and redemption, and the violence endemic is really inspiring to me as a writer. Because he covered themes that falls in the dramatic category that I enjoy working in and he did it excellently. 3. Frank Miller - Who isn't inspired by Frank Miller? He took the film noir approach from the early cinema movies and applied them to comics making him a house hold name. Now, many crime comic writers can flourish again because of his reintroduction of the crime genre. 2. Brian Michael Bendis - His unique ability to craft his stories on the dialogue of his characters has served as a tool for deeper examinations of the characters he writes. While not everyone agrees with his views on the characters. No one can deny his panache for dialogue. 1. John Lindley Byrne - Byrne is a master when it comes to story telling. As he always knows how to set a scene in a time and place in which it would draw the readers attention. And his art was innovative for it's time and easy to read despite the complex layouts. But his most significant achievements were the work he did on the Fantastic Four, X-Men, and Superman. For without him none of those titles would have achieved the heights they had achieved.

09-02-2008, 11:28 PM	#10
T.J. May Writer/SUMM Publications Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Boston Posts: 2,185	Bradbury King Moore Gaiman Lovecraft Barker Matheson Blackwood Lansdale Ennis Mythmakers Folklorists

09-03-2008, 02:23 AM	#14
Nick Kerklaan Troll Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 935	Sort of a rough list, they've all written at least one thing that's had a major influence on me, some have written more such things than others. William S. Burroughs Alan Moore Neil Gaiman Frank Miller Chuck Palahniuk Warren Ellis Stephen King Grant Morrison Bret Easton Ellis Jack Kerouac Chris Ware Charlie Kaufman And let's say the last slot (not that these are in any order) is a tie between Kurt Busiek and Mark Waid. I'm sure I'm forgetting loads. EDIT: Extending my list to 14 so I can incude Lovecraft. D'oh!

09-03-2008, 04:35 AM	#15
Dan Hill Potential Scribe Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Worcester, England Posts: 470	Geoff Johns Got me back into comics with his Flash run. The guy writes good heroes. He also has that knack to tie in lots of continuity and still make it accessible. Damon Lindelof I know Lost is a love/hate thing with a lot of people but I love the show and its writing. Alan Moore Apart from the amazing stories he writes he has this real palpable love for language itself. It comes across in interviews, the stories he writes etc. It rubs off. Stephen King As someone already said, Characters. Brian Bendis Dialogue. Whatever story he is writing you can depend on the dialogue being good. Dennis Lehane Be it his work on The Wire or his own novels the guy writes well rounded characters and crime stories. Niall Ferguson An author/historian who as far as I know hasn't put his pen to any fiction whatsoever. However the way in which he presents history in his books interesting, exciting etc is what he's influential to me for. Andy Diggle Writes a killer action set piece. Also has really tight efficient dialogue. Elmore Leonard King of Dialogue as far as I'm concerned. Joss Whedon A tad cliched but this guy held my thrall with a group of characters for seven years. Garth Ennis For similar reasons to Andy Diggle. Ernest Lehman. He wrote North by Northwest which to me is up there as a "perfect" movie. Joseph Campbell/Christopher Vogler I'm forever re-reading their books on myth and story.