Authors, Writers, and Poets!

Hello there YWSers! Just out of curiosity, who are your favorite poets/authors and how have their writing influenced your writing style? For example, in my case my favorite writer of all time is undoubtedly Edgar Allan Poe (As you could probably guess). My writing style in terms of content and vocab is incredibly similar to his poems, especially the Raven. My poems, except for love poems, almost always run dark and gloomy.

What about you?

TuckEr EllsworTh

I personally think Edgar Allen Poe is brilliant; although many might argue he was just a depressed drunk.

However, he hasn't really influenced my writing too much. Being a fantasy writer, I hold a particular series by CS Lewis very close to my heart. Reading the Chronicles of Narnia as a child and then once more just a few years ago, I realized how amazing a fantasy world can be, and that directly impacted my own creation of fantasy worlds. I don't think I'd be as good as I am today (if I can even call myself that) if I hadn't rediscovered his series.

Some of my favorite authors are (Yes, I know the list is long; I couldn't decide):

Flannery O'Connor- Wise Blood, and most of her short stories
Charles Dickens- A Tale of Two Cities
C. S. Lewis- The Screwtape Letters, Till We Have Faces, Narnia
Ted Dekker- The Circle Series, Kiss, Immanuel's Veins, Adam
Tosca Lee- Havah, Demon
Jane Austen- Pride and Prejudice
Elissa Elliot- Eve
Lisa Unger- Blackout
Nathaniel Hawthorne- The Scarlet Letter, and his short stories
The Bronte Sisters- Wuthering Heights (Emily), Jane Eyre (Charlotte)
Lois Lowry- The Giver Quartet, Number the Stars
Henryk Sienkiewicz- Quo Vadis
Francine Rivers- The Mark of the Lion Series, and her novellas
Frank Peretti- The Oath
Carrie Ryan- The Forest of Hands and Teeth
Dante Alighieri- Inferno
Lew Wallace- Ben-Hur
Lloyd C. Douglas- The Robe
John Steinbeck- East of Eden
John Milton- Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained
Tracy Groot- Madman
William Shakespeare- Macbeth
Christopher Paolini- The Inheritance Cycle

And the Bible.

All of these people have influenced my voice and writing in different ways--I tend to write dark, violent, suspenseful, romantic/idealistic, allegorical, and intensely religious-themed works.

H. P. Lovecraft taught me the beauty of the English language.
Kurt Vonnegut taught me the beauty of simplicity.
E. D. Evgenievich taught me that I can do it, too.

C.S. Lewis is awesome! I loved Chronicles of Narnia as a kid and still today, and his book The Screwtape Letters was absolutely amazing. I don't know if you've read that particular one of his, Veeren, but I still think about it after reading it a few years ago.

Walt Whitman is my favorite poet, hands down. I learned a lot from him by reading Leaves of Grass - and I mean a LOT. But I get the most inspiration and learn the most from really, really, REALLY good song lyrics. I love a lot of indie music because it's written from the soul, not just because they're being paid a lot of money and popularity to scribble down some crap like "baby baby baby oh" and "girl dat (butt) be so fine" and "so what we get drunk and smoke weed." I like poetic lyrics. Take Ray Lamontagne for example: the imagery in his lyrics are extremely powerful. Love that man.

Isabel Allende's style showed me how to write fluently. Ayn Rand's style taught me how to be unconventional and unpredictable in my writing, to take risks and jump into the depths of my mind and onto paper without the security of a net. I just love her to death - she's probably my favorite prose writer.

@Cole! Love Francine Rivers. I've read just about every one of her books (not exaggerating), except for Redeeming Love - my Mom says I have to wait to read that one until I'm 18. :/

I'll be sure to check it out, Indie ^.^

Haha Veeren, I urge those who argue he's a drunken author to come at me for a smack down, because I believe that, arguably, Edgar Allan Poe is the greatest poet in the English history. Of course, only closely rivaled by William Shakespeare.

indieeloise wrote: Ayn Rand's style taught me how to be unconventional and unpredictable in my writing, to take risks and jump into the depths of my mind and onto paper without the security of a net. I just love her to death - she's probably my favorite prose writer.

I used to somewhat enjoy Rand's writing for what it was, but I cannot agree at all with her philosophy. I urge you to look up Objectivism and see what I mean.

dogs wrote:Edgar Allan Poe is the greatest poet in the English history. Of course, only closely rivaled by William Shakespeare.

Bold statement! I don't really have any counter-argument, as poetry isn't my forte, though I love the satire of Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift.

I told Tucker this before, but I have always had a soft spot for the Russian masters. Dostoevsky and Nabokov are my favorite. Both so psychological.

And then I love modernist/postmodernist authors: DeLillo, Marquez, Saramago. I should probably read more of the current authors. I haven't read any Jonathan Safran Foer and the like; probably should do so.

Trident wrote:
I used to somewhat enjoy Rand's writing for what it was, but I cannot agree at all with her philosophy. I urge you to look up Objectivism and see what I mean.

I'm almost finished with her book The Fountainhead, and I can't say that I love the characters or their personalities or some of their actions, but it really makes me think. Truly ponder. But I understand what you mean. I have researched Objectivism, and I don't agree with it either, but I am fascinated with the way she channeled and represented her beliefs into and through her characters. Like I said, I don't like all of them, but what the characters represent truly exposes the nature of humans, of selfishness and exploitation, in my opinion. Which kind of lines up with her belief that one's self interest is all that matters in their personal life. Of course, not everyone wants to admit that they have more selfish ambitions and motives than they realize, but it's blatantly stated through the words of Rand. My librarian gave me a copy of Anthem, and she told me that it dives deeper into her philosophy. It's on my list.

(Sorry if I ventured into something way beyond the purpose of this thread!)

Oh on a random note, I'm surprised that you say William Shakespeare's Macbeth is what influenced you most. I'd certainly his sonnet 12, Mid Summers Nights Dream, King Lear, and Hamlet are his most successful and influential pieces.

I do love Poe and Hemingway and even Lewis. But without a doubt the author who influenced me most has been Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities and Oliver Twist being my favorites. Oh, and who doesn't love a little Arthur Conan Doyle

Some of the authors that have influenced me are:
Brandon Sanderson - Mistborn, Wheel of Time
J.K. Rowling
Gary Schmidt - The Wednesday Wars
Cody Harder - Illustrator
C.S. Lewis -Narnia, The Screwtape Letters, Mere Christianity
Brandon Mull - Fablehaven
Rick Riordan

You can tell definitely in some of my stuff right after I read a book by Sanderson - his style comes out in me quite a bit. Then I have to quench the desire to write like him, because my intended audience is 10 - 15 yrs.

Sebastian Faulks, Ian McEwan, James Patterson, Oscar Wilde and F. Scott Fitzgerald for novels.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Bernard Spenser for poetry.

One of the finest script writers is Stephen Moffat.

And Edgar Allan Poe for short stories.

F. Scott Fitzgerald, really nice choice there. His writing of the Great Gatsby is so incredibly good, although I'm a little aprehensive about the movie, but we'll see how that all befalls.