Which YA authors inspire your own writing the most?

I remember reading WE WERE LIARS (E. Lockhart) about a year ago and the whole time just itching to get on Scrivener because I was so inspired by her style. I haven't come across many authors that do that for me, but she definitely does. Also, I'm on a huge YA binge right now and am going to go pick up SPEAK tomorrow thanks to your rave review!

Kristin Cashore's YA fantasy definitely helped give me my love of the genre. More recently, I've fallen in love with Maggie Stiefvater's characters and writing. Just reading The Raven Cycle helped me realise so many ways I could improve the characterisation in my own books.

This book specifically? It was inspired pretty heavily by Judy Blume's Summer Sisters.

As a whole? I'm a new writer, and I know that I'm nowhere near as good as the writers that inspire me.

I aspire to Laurie Halse Anderson, and the depth and punch of her characters.

I aspire to Ellen Hopkins (who I've had the good fortune to become friendly with), who packs an emotional wallop like nobody else.

I aspire to A.S. King and her unapologetic weirdness.

I aspire to John Green, and his nerdy/philosophical appeal.

I aspire to Sarah Dessen, who manages to live at the intersection of poignancy and summer whimsy.

I aspire, and I fall short.

I find Laini Taylor's style really captivating. When I read Daughter of Smoke and Bone for the first time, I got itchy writing fingers from the lyrical quality of her prose.

emjayfree said:

I remember reading WE WERE LIARS (E. Lockhart) about a year ago and the whole time just itching to get on Scrivener because I was so inspired by her style. I haven't come across many authors that do that for me, but she definitely does.

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I found that book really inspiring too. Such stunning writing.

I also loved Laura Ruby's BONE GAP -- wish I could write such spare, perfect prose.

Ilsa Bick's DROWNING INSTINCT and Courtney Summers' FALL FOR ANYTHING were an emotional punch to the gut, which is what I want to capture with my writing these days.

And Nova Ren Suma is the queen of atmospheric books.

I could probably go on all day.

ETA: I almost forgot about JELLICOE ROAD. That book....................

As a survivor Speak inspired me in non-writing ways. And I absolutely adore Levithan and now I can no longer type to you because my jealousy is megalithic. GAH!

I am inspired by Levithan, John Green, Hannah Moskowitz, Brent Hartinger, Martin Wilson, etc. etc. etc. So many...too many to mention. But, yeah...Levithan. He actually helped me on my own personal life journey.

Right now, Marcus Sedgwick. Marcus Sedgwick all the way. His writing is gorgeous, weird, and wonderful, and his stories are pure intellectual curiosity running wild. I love, love, love his work.

And also right now, Frances Hardinge. I read CUCKOO SONG months ago and it's still inspiring me.

In the past it's been Francesca Lia Block and Jane Austen x a million... so many more.

It's weird -- the writers who inspire me the most are none of them writers of my own genre. I write pretty much exclusively contemporary, but my favourite writers are always fantasy authors. Well, besides Jane Austen, of course.

citrine said:

I find Laini Taylor's style really captivating. When I read Daughter of Smoke and Bone for the first time, I got itchy writing fingers from the lyrical quality of her prose.

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Me too!! Her series is such a wild ride of endless fun and imagination and doing things (like the random POVs) that I am glad were allowed to be kept in. I want to go to Prague now.

A. G. Howard. I just finished reading the SPLINTERED trilogy yesterday and it made me want to edit Devin's book for so much more description. You'd think a habitual observer like my narrator would be more descriptive, but he seems to forget not everyone can interpret his surroundings by his actions...

Probably my biggest inspiration is C.S. Lewis, Chronicles of Narnia specifically. But I've also drawn a lot of inspiration from Tamora Pierce. I love the worlds they create and Pierce still has some of my favorite characters ever. Both of those are from childhood.

More recently, Kristin Cashore and, as of a week or two ago, Sarah J. Maas have also provided a lot of inspiration. I like Cashore's writing style, and I've really gotten into Maas's amazing ability to describe everything in such stunning and captivating ways. Their characters are also killer and compelling.

Kaylinn57 said:

Probably my biggest inspiration is C.S. Lewis, Chronicles of Narnia specifically. But I've also drawn a lot of inspiration from Tamora Pierce. I love the worlds they create and Pierce still has some of my favorite characters ever. Both of those are from childhood.

More recently, Kristin Cashore and, as of a week or two ago, Sarah J. Maas have also provided a lot of inspiration. I like Cashore's writing style, and I've really gotten into Maas's amazing ability to describe everything in such stunning and captivating ways. Their characters are also killer and compelling.

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As someone who writes a lot of YA fantasy with female heroines, I look up to both Cashore and Maas. When I was younger it was Tamora Pierce.

For more contemporary stuff, I recently read everything by Rainbow Rowell. I'm excited to read her newest, Carry On, especially since it's fantasy.

I also really enjoyed the originality of Meg Rosoff's How I Live Now and found it really inspiring.

Kaylinn57 said:

Probably my biggest inspiration is C.S. Lewis, Chronicles of Narnia specifically. But I've also drawn a lot of inspiration from Tamora Pierce. I love the worlds they create and Pierce still has some of my favorite characters ever. Both of those are from childhood.

More recently, Kristin Cashore and, as of a week or two ago, Sarah J. Maas have also provided a lot of inspiration. I like Cashore's writing style, and I've really gotten into Maas's amazing ability to describe everything in such stunning and captivating ways. Their characters are also killer and compelling.

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As someone who writes a lot of YA fantasy with female heroines, I look up to both Cashore and Maas. When I was younger it was Tamora Pierce.

For more contemporary stuff, I recently read everything by Rainbow Rowell. I loved Eleanor & Park and Fangirl was okay...but felt meh about her two adult books. I'm excited to read her newest, Carry On, especially since it's fantasy.

I also really enjoyed the originality of Meg Rosoff's How I Live Now and found it really inspiring.

As someone who largely grew up in the middle of contemporary geekspace, I'm inspired by the writers that play in contemporary geek spaces with contemporary geek people - not idealizing, or vilifying, or making them a punchline, but being authentic to the many ups and downs of the nerdosphere. Ernest Cline's Armada, and Ready Player One. Cory Doctorow's Little Brother, and Homeland. Randy Ribay's Infinite Number of Parallel Universes. Brian Katcher's The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak. Cherie Priest's I Am Princess X. I think it's probably YA, so I'll add Svetlana Chmakova's Dramacon, too, because hers was the first story I read that make me think we could write about my kinds of places and people.

I love Cashore. Also, Libba Bray. After reading A Great And Terrible Beauty, it gave me the courage to write in FPP.

Lloyd Alexander was a huge, huge influence on my tastes in fantasy and I suspect has influenced how I write my female characters. I love how his female characters are so spunky.

Tamora Pierce was an interesting influence as well. I snuck-read them because I didn't think my parents would approve of the subject matter, and sorta viewed them in a "this is trashy literature because there's sex in it" way, but then I also wrote a lot of fan-fic type stuff based on the world she created and I really did love her characters, so it's unfortunate that I was viewing it through the lenses of my parents' biases.

I've been meaning to go back and reread a lot of stuff I read as a kid. I imagine it will be entirely different reading it as an adult.

And apparently I'm missing out on a lot of other great fiction as well, because I have no idea who most of the names mentioned here are. >_>

Wow, so many. I definitely spend more time reading than writing, though I do a lot of both. Shannon Hale--I think her writing is beautiful, she's great at giving these small flourishes to characters that just make you smile, and I love how simple and sweet the romances are in her books. But, I'll admit--and I don't know if I'll ever be able to do this--I seriously admire J.K. Rowling and Cassandra Clare for their ability to create a well-defined ensemble cast. Sarah J. Maas fits in this category as well, I think, though I really think Rowling and Clare are ensemble masters. Kristin Cashore and Marie Rutkoski also for beautiful writing. Oh, and Maggie Stiefvater, of course, for beautiful writing and amazing characterization. In contemporary, Jenny Han and Morgan Matson for effortlessly introducing these moments that just feel like real life--and also making you really fall in love with the boy.

If only I could just pick and choose my favorite things about all of these amazing authors and automatically manifest them in my own writing. Alas. But I'm working on it!

This is tough because authors always disappoint me. I usually love one or two works and hate the rest. So if I can pick and choose the works:

Laurie Halse Anderson for Speak and Wintergirls only

Frederic Miller for Ender's Game only

and J.K. Rowling, if she counts, but all I've read is the Harry Potter series.

I think of JKR as a MG writer, even though HP ended up in the YA section as the characters grew up. But she definitely influenced me far more than any of these YA authors.

Yep, JKRowling has to be counted in YA, I think. She was the first one who inspired me to start writing again, and from HP, I saw the value in planning ahead. The HP series still knocks me flat.

Next, I credit Stephenie Meyer for opening my eyes to how accessible YA stories could be and making me finally choose to pursue my writing dream. I don't aspire to write paranormal YA, but she made me realize even a stay-at-home mom with kids under her feet can publish a novel. And say what you will about the story's flaws, Twilight shows an uncanny ability to tap into what it feels like to be an awkward teenage girl with an impossible crush, which I could certainly relate to. Without her, I believe there'd be a lot less YA today.

Since then, I've fallen hard for:

Maggie Stiefvater - The Scorpio Races and The Raven Cycle - Out of all the genres and styles in YA, Maggie's style of storytelling is what I aspire to most: the slightly magical contemporary fantasy with a bittersweet tone. I love the cleverness that manifests in her story ideas, the settings, and the characters. I love how she balances dark drama with wit and humor. She can be a little "too" clever sometimes, but I forgive any such missteps for the great yield in other elements.

Rainbow Rowell - her romances are so unique; I love the way she writes about imperfect, "not beautiful" couples in such realistic, beautiful ways.

Jandy Nelson - a recent find. I've only read The Sky is Everywhere so far, but the voice she uses is infinitely more developed than my own, so I aspire to learn more about voice from her.

Another one for CS Lewis here, not just Narnia (though I always wanted to live there) but also his supremely weird and quite flawed SF stuff. He could evoke a sense of profound oddity and otherness which I aspire to. My favourite moments in Narnia have this flavour to them.

I also love David Almond - again, weird, other, and a sense of looking at the ordinary world from an odd angle and seeing it as full of magic and weirdness. That's pretty much how I do see the world, so it resonates with me.

There are so many it's hard to choose, but I'll round it off with Gabriel King, "The Wild Road" and "The Golden Cat". Bought the sequel on a whim in a Sally Army shop and loved it so much I hunted down the first book on eBay and got it shipped across the Atlantic. Again, magic and strangeness in the ordinary world, and a brilliant depiction of cat characters who really feel like cats, not people in fursuits. Love his dialogue, his character voices, the sense of poetry in the way they speak, and the way he limits vocabulary and uses repetition to express a non-human way of thinking. Love these books.

Wow, some really good suggestions here. I'm taking notes for my next trip to the library!

Jennifer A. Neilson and Cinda Williams Chima wrote some (male) main characters that I fan-girled so hard over. Biggest fictional crushes ever! If I could write such strong, life like characters I don't think I'd ever need a real life boy friend. Hahaha

Laini Taylor, Laurie Halse Anderson, E. Lockhart--at least as far as We Were Liars goes.

RaggedEdge said:

Next, I credit Stephenie Meyer for opening my eyes to how accessible YA stories could be and making me finally choose to pursue my writing dream. I don't aspire to write paranormal YA, but she made me realize even a stay-at-home mom with kids under her feet can publish a novel. And say what you will about the story's flaws, Twilight shows an uncanny ability to tap into what it feels like to be an awkward teenage girl with an impossible crush, which I could certainly relate to. Without her, I believe there'd be a lot less YA today.

Since then, I've fallen hard for:

Maggie Stiefvater - The Scorpio Races and The Raven Cycle - Out of all the genres and styles in YA, Maggie's style of storytelling is what I aspire to most: the slightly magical contemporary fantasy with a bittersweet tone. I love the cleverness that manifests in her story ideas, the settings, and the characters. I love how she balances dark drama with wit and humor. She can be a little "too" clever sometimes, but I forgive any such missteps for the great yield in other elements.

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Exactly how I feel about both of them!

Another on my aspirational list is Megan Whalen Turner -- I love the way she takes the story and keeps turning it, looking at it from different angles, adding new layers to everything that went before.

Maggie Stiefvater for me, too.