A Novel Writer You Admire?

Anitraka · Mar 2, 2006

A Novel Writer You Admirer?

Who’s your favorite author you admirer and would love to write just like he/she?

Mine is James Patterson. He uses 1st person POV for every main character. You get to know the character inside and out. You learn about their lives and family. When something happens to one of the character you find a tear in your eye. Like you just lost someone real close. I just wish one day I could write like him.

Branwyn · Mar 2, 2006

Anne Rice. She tends to get bogged down in her descriptions, for my taste, but I love her Vampire Chronicles and the Mayfair Witches saga.

Adriana Trigiani, Susan Wettig Albert, and M.R.Sellars.

Avalon · Mar 2, 2006

Connie Willis. Neil Gaiman.

Carlene · Mar 2, 2006

Joy Fielding - except for her novel "Puppet." Her "Whispers & Lies" was one of the BEST myseries I've ever read - ever!

Carlene

Prosthetic Foreheads · Mar 2, 2006

Anitraka said:
Who’s your favorite author you admirer and would love to write just like he/she?

Mine is James Patterson. He uses 1st person POV for every main character. You get to know the character inside and out. You learn about their lives and family. When something happens to one of the character you find a tear in your eye. Like you just lost someone real close. I just wish one day I could write like him.

I'm sure Patterson used to write, but I understand he now unabashedly uses ghost writers for his novels.

Anitraka · Mar 2, 2006

Prosthetic Foreheads said:
I'm sure Patterson used to write, but I understand he now unabashedly uses ghost writers for his novels.

Ghost Writers??

Prosthetic Foreheads · Mar 2, 2006

Yes. Other, unknown, writers actually write the novels you see bearing Patterson's name. They get paid well, especially the ghost writers for Patterson. I'm sure he gets the final say before publishing, but the actual writing is not his.

Anitraka · Mar 2, 2006

Are you for sure that is true??? Because most of his writing is alike. He also has some novels who wrote it with him like "HoneyMoon".

Prosthetic Foreheads · Mar 2, 2006

Perhaps others have more concrete information, but I thought it was established that he comes up with the story ideas and even outlines, but the prose is handled by others and then Patterson oversees rewrites. I read a quote by him saying something along the lines of there being two kinds of people: the craftsmen and ideas people. He acknowleged that he could "do the craft at an acceptable level, but the ideas are what I like."

A friend of mine, who is much more knowledgable on the publishing world than I am, said Patterson compared himself to a movie producer who's in charge of the process.

Prosthetic Foreheads · Mar 2, 2006

To answer your first question, I like Chuck Palahniuk. Some people are put off by his distinct style, but I love it. I also like Elmore Leonard for crime fiction.

Nyna · Mar 2, 2006

On the bright side, if you ever do manage to write just like Patterson, there may be a job for you ghostwriting.

I'm thinking I'd like to write like Robin Hobb, Terry Pratchett, or Orson Scott Card in his better novels. A girl's got to dream, right?

...on a side note, I'm new here, this is my first post in the novel writing forum, yay! and hello.

Anitraka · Mar 2, 2006

Well I love the books and who ever writes them.... they're awesome... (my opinion)

Ganesha · Mar 2, 2006

Anitraka said:
Who’s your favorite author you admirer and would love to write just like he/she?[/font]

some of my favorites:
Marion Zimmer-Bradly
Doris Lessing
Isabel Allende
Anne Rice

now that's a good start.

Shadow_Ferret · Mar 2, 2006

I admire many authors, but to be honest, I'd like to be my own writer. I don't want to be known as "the next So-and-So!"

Which is exactly what the cover blurb on the book I"m reading write now says, "So-and-So is the next Stephen King!"

Personally, I'd hate to be compared to a well-known talent because the readers then have it set in their mind that you're supposed to be just like that author and if you aren't, if you vary just a bit, they might be turned off.

No comparisons, please.

That said, I admire the writing of Robert E. Howard, Nelson DeMille, Laurel K. Hamilton, Kim Harrison to just a very name a few.

eldragon · Mar 2, 2006

John Fante

goatpiper · Mar 2, 2006

I don't really want to write like anybody but myself (quite the struggle!) - I certainly desire a certain type of writing career that some writers enjoy.

That said, some of my favorite influences are:

Michael Chabon
Neal Stephenson
Franz Kafka

PerditaDrury · Mar 2, 2006

Prosthetic Foreheads said:
Perhaps others have more concrete information, but I thought it was established that he comes up with the story ideas and even outlines, but the prose is handled by others and then Patterson oversees rewrites. I read a quote by him saying something along the lines of there being two kinds of people: the craftsmen and ideas people. He acknowleged that he could "do the craft at an acceptable level, but the ideas are what I like."

A friend of mine, who is much more knowledgable on the publishing world than I am, said Patterson compared himself to a movie producer who's in charge of the process.

The movie producer analogy is apt.

Patterson is a good guy, though: he makes no apologies AND he puts his co-author's names on the books. They make a fortune; he has a cottage industry going using his name as a brand.

He writes the Alex Cross novels himself though.

Anitraka · Mar 2, 2006

That's good then. I'm in the middle of reading "The Big Bad Wolf" Alex Cross.

Nicholson James · Mar 2, 2006

I have too many influences:

William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, John Irving (and subsequently Charles Dickens), Stephen King, Dennis Lehane, and Chuck Palahniuk.

But as said earlier in the post, I'd like to become my own writer. Don't want to be the "best thing since [author's name]!"

Anitraka · Mar 2, 2006

I am my own writer. But the way he writes is wow. Just the way he desribes everything and says everything is completely awesome. I love it.

Paul J. Andrew · Mar 2, 2006

Despite the wordiness and over-long telling of his story, I've gotta give props to Robert Jordan. His descriptiveness (is that a word?!) is one of the first things that gave me the impetus to write. Also, I rather like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Sherlock Holmes is the best. And Michael Stackpole, for proving Star Wars can be made into good books.

TwentyFour · Mar 2, 2006

Robert Morgan

Prosthetic Foreheads · Mar 2, 2006

PerditaDrury said:
The movie producer analogy is apt.

Patterson is a good guy, though: he makes no apologies AND he puts his co-author's names on the books. They make a fortune; he has a cottage industry going using his name as a brand.

He writes the Alex Cross novels himself though.

Many strongly suspect that the later Alex Cross novels are also ghostwritten, though they will never have another name on the cover. He's been known to avoid the issue of whether all of the novels with only his name were written by himself. I've no doubt he's a great guy. He pays his authors well and given unknown writers a career. He spreads the wealth around, for sure. Anybody who keeps people buying books is okay by me.

PerditaDrury · Mar 2, 2006

Prosthetic Foreheads said:
Many strongly suspect that the later Alex Cross novels are also ghostwritten, though they will never have another name on the cover. He's been known to avoid the issue of whether all of the novels with only his name were written by himself. I've no doubt he's a great guy. He pays his authors well and given unknown writers a career. He spreads the wealth around, for sure. Anybody who keeps people buying books is okay by me.

Interesting... I know one of his writers -- he's legally bound not to devulge any details of their writing relationship but he speaks highly of Patterson.

Patterson's a pretty simplistic, forumlaic writer... very easy to imitate... I have my writing students "write like Patterson" as an exercise. Patterson, like Madonna in the music world, identified a market and tied it up. Hats off to anybody who can do that. We all need something to read on airplanes.

Stylistically, in that genre, no one can touch James Lee Burke in my opinion. He has sentences alone that are worth dying for.

Jamesaritchie · Mar 2, 2006

Like

There are many writers I love, but only one I'd really wish to write like, and that's Ray Bradbury.

A Novel Writer You Admire?

Anitraka

Branwyn

Print release:Sept.1,'09

Avalon

Linda J. Daly

Carlene

New kid, be gentle!

Prosthetic Foreheads

Anitraka

Prosthetic Foreheads

Anitraka

Prosthetic Foreheads

Prosthetic Foreheads

Nyna

Anitraka

Ganesha

con·ver·sa·tion·al·ist

Shadow_Ferret

Court Jester

eldragon

in a van down by the river

goatpiper

Distraction Junkie

PerditaDrury

Anitraka

Nicholson James

Anitraka

Paul J. Andrew

TwentyFour

practical experience, FTW

Prosthetic Foreheads

PerditaDrury

Jamesaritchie