Books, Quotes...That Influences/Changed the Way You Write

Stephen King, Lemony Snicket and Dr. Seuss all influenced me in different ways. I pretty well consider Dr. Seuss a genius; the way he managed to make up the silliest things was just incredible. Lemony Snicket is probably the most brilliant writer I can think of for taking completely random, obscure words and using them. Plus he's so bloody sarcastic, it's great. Stephen King is just too great for words. So I try and take little aspects of their stories and make them into my own.

There's a lot of writers on here as well that definitely changed or influenced the way I write. Just the way they use detail so accordingly and paint such a brilliant picture made me want to try harder, and try to acheive something like that someday.

Grendel by John Gardner was a big influence, as weird as that is. [:
Weetzie Bat and Paint It Black both deserve credit, as well as anything Palahniuk.

Palahniuk and Bret Ellis, pretty much.
Or any other member of the Literary Brat Pack.
And when I was younger, Speak was a huuuge influence.

Is it's safe to say that my best friend inspired me the most. She is truly my favorite writer, with the way that she writes, it's like, her characters feelings and thoughts, they make my head swim. I love the style that she has, and I want to write like her, but I know I can never do it.

Narnia. It was the first book I can remember being read to me, and it was the first series I read by myself. I started writing fantasies straight after I read it. The characters were amazing. The story wowed me, and still does even though it's thirteen years later, from the beginning with Diggory and Polly' adventure to the events of The Last Battle.

The book Street Pharm by Allison van Diepen has influenced me slightly. I don't know what it is about the book it has just influenced me.

Then there are a few writers here on this site that have influenced me so much it's not even funny. They make me feel as if I could do so much better that I do at the moment, though no matter how hard I would try I'd never be able to write like them. It's just amazing.

Most of The Dark Tower series, which I haven't currently finished :XD

Particuarly the first line of The Gunslinger. I can't remember the exact quote, and I'm too lazy to leg it upstairs and find it. It's something along the lines of;

The man in black fled across the desrt and the gunslinger followed

I don't know why, but it did.

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman was a huge influence on me. Without that book I would still be writing myself into corners in pointless stories, plus he is a British author and I don't tend to read a lot of them. And from Neil Gaiman you could probably include Lewis Carrol and Dr Seuss, anything really outlandish is good with me.
Running Man by Stephen King was big for me too, I though it was a completely original idea and he managed to instil horror all the way through the story when the actual gruesome horror didn't kick in until the end.

xo

Anything by Palahniuk, definitely.
Also, The Perks of being a Wallflower.

Anne Rice's work. Boy, oh boy, it's influenced my writing a lot :tehe:

Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. They got me into my whole vampire obsession and I definately wouldn't be writing about vampires if it wasn't for her sparking that interest.

Summer of My German Solider by Bette Greene:

His thumb pressed against my palm. "You know what you are asking is impossible, but if you're saying that you love me--"
Yes," I answered, wondering if it came out audible. "Yes."
"Then know this, Patty, it's not completely one-sided. I love you too, and in my own way I'll miss you."

^
That inspired the Romance aspect of all my stories. It was the first 'romance' I'd ever read and it's definately one of my favorite books to this day.
I still cry when I read it.

All of Chuck Palaniuk's work especially his novel Fight Club.

How he describes things...is just so dark, gritty and cynical. I love it.

You Don't Know Me by David Klass influenced me a lot, subtly, I think. Just his manner of writing. I think people can see if if they've read it.

And absolutely anything by Brian James. He writes so fantastically and realistically.

Neil Gaiman's short stories-- ideas and metaphors.
Markus Zusak's emotion.

And a lot of lines and tidbits from many, many fanfictions.

Francesca Lia Block gave me a huge appreciation for unusual descriptions and how the scenery can change everything about the story.

All the original Green Day slash writers from AFF circa August/September 2005.

H.P. Lovecraft. Almost all of his short stories are horror, and beautifully written. He's a huge inspiration, and I steal his techniques a lot.

Dean Koontz' story Velocity is another one that changed my writing style/type of stories I write. He's the one that inspired me to write horror.

F.P. Wilson's Adversary Cycle/Secret History of the World. Such an amazing, complicated series, again, horror, that definitely makes me think more about a long term plot.

Lastly, Steven King, of course. This man is a genius, and that he's written so many amazing books is mindblowing. One day I definitely want my books sitting next to his in some book store.

The book that inspired me to actually start writing something epic, which I'll never forget, is Flowers In The Attice by V.C. Andrews. I love the whole series, and how it actually talked about forbidden relationships. I was only fourteen when I read the series, but reading about a man of at least forty courting a fourteen year old, incest, and other stuff, made me want to write something that would be viewed as a "scandal". So technically the book ended up birthing my first fanfic, even though it was nearly a year after I read the series that I started writing.

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audry Niffenegger changed the way I wrote about love and relationships. The way I saw relationship loyalty and all that.

The Stand by Stephen King really gave me the inspiration to write something involved with an "end of the world" scenario, and eventually birthed the idea for the fanfic I'm currently writing.

I could list so many more, but I'll stop here :XD

The Alchemist, I can never remember the author but I loved the way he used minor characters to show and influence the main characters point of view. That book changed my writing a lot. It's also a miracle cure for writer's block. I wrote down at least 6 outlines while reading that. :tehe:

The Picture Of Dorian Gray

Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles

Stephen King.

So when I write lush, flowery prose it's thanks to the former two, and when it's all semi-stark and violent it's King.

My latest story is ridiculously Wilde-drunk actually, which is strange seeing as how I haven't picked up my Complete Works for a couple of weeks :tehe:

Well, Mibba authors taught me to write mostly. But published authors? I'd have to choose Francesca Lia Block. Especially the "weezie Bat" books.