I don't know a writer who doesn't have them, these moments (sometimes years) of adoration for writers whose work you admire. You study them, you read everything they write, you deconstruct their books and stories to see what makes them tick.
You do NOT, however, want to write like them. You shouldn't. You should write like you.
But...but...but...that little voice in your head whines. They're so GOOD! Why shouldn't I....
Just hush. You need your own voice. I need my own voice. Still....I've had so many, I've lost count. Most of them don't write Christian material...sometimes nothing even HINTING at Christian. But they don't have to. A good strong voice, solid beauty in the words, descriptions that make you wince or sigh, can be admired in any genre.
Those who know me immediately would name Harlan Ellison as number one. Oh, yeah. Since I was about 11 or 12. Dorothy Dunnett. Robert Heinlein. Mary Doria Russell. Others ebb and flow - those masters remain in my heart. Closer to my own genre . . . Steven Womack. Lawrence Block. James Lee Burke. Jeff Lindsay.
Sometimes I seem to find new folks all the time who's work engages me and keeps me reading. Tonight, it was Eric Jerome Dickey. He had a book signing at Davis-Kidd Booksellers. Friend Michele invited me (she was squiring him around town), and I picked up one of his books and sat down to wait for the reading. Forty pages later, I realized I didn't want to stop reading.
Who engages you? Who inspires you to pick up the next books or take a second look at how adjectives work? Who challenges you, mind and spirit? Or who just entertains you so thrillingly that you'd love to keep them happy and typing for a long time to come?
What do you most want to read?
Posted by Ramona at April 4, 2008 10:08 PMJust had to add a P.S. (before I think of more writers I should have included). When I was younger, I would read someone and immediately begin writing like them. It was inspiring and terribly annoying at the same time.
Lately, I've come to see that as God preparing me to do what I've been doing lately--capturing someone else's voice and writing for them.
He doesn't waste anything, does He? EVER!
Posted by: Marti at April 5, 2008 01:30 PMOoh, you know I'm working on a tight deadline so you're just going to get a list. But this question is too good not to answer!
So, in no particular order, some subject to change or removal, I present my very eclectic list:
Madeleine L'Engle (in awed memory)
Maeve Binchy (great characters even in "trashy" novels)
Eugenia Price (she, L'Engle and Bradbury are my longtime favorites--I always felt as though I knew her characters personally)
Brett Lott (my current hero; a BEAUTIFUL, literary writer)
Ray Bradbury (I don't really read SciFi but he is SUCH a gifted writer--probably the first one to make me see layers in writing)
Jan Karon (popular and a darn good writer, too)
Flannery O'Connor (brilliant)
Eudora Welty (equally so)
Donald Miller
Anne LaMott (the writing of these last two makes me think they are twins separated at birth)
Katherine Paterson (when I grow up, I may want to be her)
Oh, I did a list with comments anyway.
I'm really praying about the writer I'll become someday--yes, beyond the writer I am now. I wonder which of these (or the many others I read) will influence me most?
Thanks for provoking these thoughts! Love you RR!
Marti
Posted by: Marti at April 5, 2008 01:26 PM