Young Writers Society

Do you have authors, poets, painters that you learn from? I'm not asking for favorites here. I'm asking if there are any authors that you learn things about writing from. Things about art, about expression. Do you have any?

I've read Walt Whitman, Sylvia Plath, the original beat poets. Alan Ginsberg's 'Hum Bomb' did it for me, I think. It really taught me, I suppose, that poetry was meant for reading out loud. When you hear 'Hum Bomb', hear it live, it's so amazingly out there. There is raw emotion and anger and exasperation. But if you read it, it's absolute nonsense. Two lines repeated throughout entire pages of stuff. There was a poetry contest hosted by the county-wide library branches that sent out a book of the winning poetry to all the winners, and I got one. There are a few writers in there, some darling kids, who wrote so amazingly. And you learn things. You learn that poetry is not a way of writing.

Fiction-wise, everything good I read, I learn from. At this point, I'm still learning, so you could probably pick out authors from my style here and there. Here's Cunningham in The Hours; oh, this is Pahlaniuk's Fight Club; this is Tolkien, this is Pratchett. Etc. I think the more you read the more you begin to understand that everything you have ever written up to this point has already been done and said and done and said better.

When I was reading Wuthering Heights (which is a classic), I was certainly inspired by Bronte's quick, descriptive and lavish use of words that appear at first to make absolutely no sense at all; but eventually it wore off.
Usually, after reading a large book, or taking a long time to read a relatively small book, I find myself writing in a similar way to the author without even meaning to.
For example, when I was reading Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls, which is a quite large war novel, I began to write in short, indescriptive, rather curt sentences, very get-to-the-point, as (and some will already know) is Hemingway's signature. But, eventually, that too wore off.

There are, however, some writers who I admire more for their storyline and imagination than particularly how they write. Like George R.R. Martin, the author of the famous fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire, which are beautiful and long-winded, but I can't say I've ever written anything similar to what he has. Another fine example of inspiration is the sort of characters an author creates. Ernest Hemingway is very well known for creating brilliant characters, and, often when I’m creating my own, I recall particular personalities in some of his books that I have read that I thought would fit well into what I was writing. It helps me get a better picture of the character.

Another person whom I admire, is not an author, but a musical artist. Saul (better known as Slash) the lead guitarist from Guns N' Roses. His songwriting (guitar) is incredible, as is his skill in performing. That sort of inspiration influences me when I am songwriting, as well as some older bands.

George R.R. Martin's characters are beautiful things. I actually agree on that point-- I've never really mimicked his style of writing. He's just got such an atmosphere. A lot of fantasy writers come off as a tad antiquated and tried out, but his style's almost always fresh and at the same time a little decadent.

I don't really get inspired by musicians since I'm not a musician myself, but Michaelangelo's sketches (his sketches, not his paintings) always taught me a thing or two about composition. The impressionists, Andy Warhol's pointlessness (or the point of his pointlessness, or something, you never know with warhola).

Oh man, where to begin??

Shakespeare
Dickenson
Plath
Ferlinghetti
Ginsberg
Keroac
Dr. Seuss
Orson Scott Card
Francesca Lia Block

That's just off the top of my head. I'm sure I could think of more if I really put my mind to it. I draw from a lot of places when I write.

Stephen King has helped me out a lot. Especially with his "Dark Tower" series and his book "On Writing". Um, I've gotten inspiration from loads of different places. Like... Marilyn Manson was one, he's inspired Morningstar, my devil creature who likes to strut his stuff as a rock star once in a while. Revolutionary Girl Utena, an anime, has helped a bunch. The Dresden Dolls, another band. Sting. Snow Patrol. Tool. A Perfect Circle. Dido...

Everclear. Everclear is a big one.

But, yeah. Books. Definatley. And art? Well, this piece has inspired me a bunch:



Full photo Here

That's all I can think of at the moment, though.

Since I dont read (i dont have the chance ) to read much fantasy and sci-fi books music and art is my muse. Enya mostly. Also good art. Like the one above combined with good ambient music. Thats Luys Royo if you dont know. Sadly most of his works are PG+16.

My biggest inspiration is by far Dr. Suess, and then probably Issac Asimov. Other than that, I don't have any muses, although my latest story borrows heavily from Shakespeare.