The standard to which you aspire

scarletpeaches · Aug 7, 2005

Here's something that just struck me...I was wondering which novel you wish you had written? Is there any book that you put down after reading the last page thinking, "I'll never write that well; I'm going to kill myself. Actually wait, I might give it a try after all?"

Also - which novel do you think taught you most about how to write, if this question would give a different answer to the previous one? I have read a few 'how to' books in my time but these are more about the tools of the trade, so which novel(s) do you feel taught you most about the art?

Jamesaritchie · Aug 7, 2005

Novel

scarletpeaches said:
Here's something that just struck me...I was wondering which novel you wish you had written? Is there any book that you put down after reading the last page thinking, "I'll never write that well; I'm going to kill myself. Actually wait, I might give it a try after all?"

Also - which novel do you think taught you most about how to write, if this question would give a different answer to the previous one? I have read a few 'how to' books in my time but these are more about the tools of the trade, so which novel(s) do you feel taught you most about the art?

Well, I've never read a novel that was so good I wanted to kill myslef, but anything, novel or short story, by Ray Bradbury intimidates me. He's as good as they come, and no living writer uses language nearly as well as Bradbury.

JayEss · Aug 7, 2005

Charles Dickens' Great Expectations.

I read it and almost cried with delight -- in how wonderfully it was written (and in the story itself), but also in knowing that I'll never come close abilities-wise.

alaskamatt17 · Aug 7, 2005

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. I doubt I'll ever do characterization as well as him.

triceretops · Aug 7, 2005

Well, I've never read a novel that was so good I wanted to kill myslef, but anything, novel or short story, by Ray Bradbury intimidates me. He's as good as they come, and no living writer uses language nearly as well as Bradbury.

I have to agree with the above statement and I'll add Poul Anderson to that list. They are so worldly and clever that it scares me sometimes.

Tri

scribbler1382 · Aug 7, 2005

Catcher in the Rye showed me what you could do in a novel. I also remember one summer where I read back to back Ross MacDonald/Robert Ludlum/Lawrence Sanders and always finished the books wishing they kept going, I liked the characters so much.

But I think the capper is anything by Steinbeck. The opening of East of Eden makes me want to break my keyboard and turn in my phrasing license everytime I read it.

jackie106 · Aug 7, 2005

scribbler1382 said:
I also remember one summer where I read back to back Ross MacDonald/Robert Ludlum/Lawrence Sanders and always finished the books wishing they kept going, I liked the characters so much.

I had a two week period in 1998 when I read all of Ross MacDonald's books. Very few mystery writers can create plots like he did. Some of Dennis Lehane and Harlan Coben's novels come close.

Jackie

maestrowork · Aug 7, 2005

Toni Morrison. Her prose is like dreams. And her stories leave me spellbound for days, if not weeks or months.

And yes, if I could write like she does, I'd lie a happy man.

A. Hamilton · Aug 7, 2005

I'll have to ponder this one. I can think of books or authors with individual qualities and elements I'd like my writing to be associated with. It was Dean R. Koontz who first inspired me to explore more than one character's viewpoint. Agatha Christie fed my inner sleuth. The Nancy Drew series inspired me to think beyond gender stereotypes. Even Harlequin romances inspired me, (gag first, embrace human sentiment next, everybody has the potential for love:now find a way to gain readers' empathy).
Sometimes I wish I had a list of every book I've ever read. But then I'd get caught up in the research and not the writing.. :flag:

ok..that's another thread...

KTC · Aug 8, 2005

Any of Michael Chabon's books stop my heart. Each one gave me the feeling, "I wish I wrote that!" As for a novel that taught me the most about writing, I would have to say Huckleberry Finn. Not that I think it's the best novel ever written...just that it showed me the potential of what could be done in the course of a novel. Its format seemed perfect to me, like if I could learn its recipe I could write a good novel myself.

aadams73 · Aug 8, 2005

"East of Eden" Brilliant book.

loquax · Aug 8, 2005

Nothing made me want to write more than reading Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast trilogy. That was the first book to show me that you really can do anything with words.

La Reine · Aug 8, 2005

After reading Arundhati Roy's "The God of Small Things" I knew

1) I could never write anything as good as that

2) I could write anything

Azure Skye · Aug 8, 2005

As of right now, Agatha Christie.

blargh · Aug 8, 2005

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole and Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry (sp?). Any time I pick up either of these books, I want to burn everything I've ever written. I agree with the above posters about Bradbury. He's in a class all by himself.

AdamH · Aug 8, 2005

"The Stand" By Stephen King. I read that for the first time when I was 12 and ever since then I've been trying to aspire to that level. I'm closer than I was then but there's still a long way to go.

RustyVanReeves · Aug 8, 2005

KANE & ABEL - Jeffery Archer

PattiTheWicked · Aug 8, 2005

Diana Gabaldon's Outlander was the one that made me stop and say, "Damn, wish I'd written that."

WannabeWriter · Aug 8, 2005

My biggest inspiration for writing, and whom I still consider my favorite author, is crime thriller novelist Michael Connelly. Every book he's written, to me, ranges from pretty good to just plain awesome. He makes every single element of a novel work well.

Nateskate · Aug 8, 2005

I've never read an entire work of fiction, and felt that way. Rather, I've seen glimpses within writing, ideas, bits and pieces that I wish I was talented enough to write. And I've read great ideas, such as Narnia, and Lord of the Rings, and yet, I never wanted to write like either Lewis or Tolkien, as far as style.

To be honest, my favorite books are life stories. And most of these I wouldn't have wanted to live through- concentration camp survivors...etc.

BlueTexas · Aug 8, 2005

scribbler1382 said:
But I think the capper is anything by Steinbeck. The opening of East of Eden makes me want to break my keyboard and turn in my phrasing license everytime I read it.

Yeah. I feel that way, too. Eudora Welty's use of language makes me think I should go back to crayons and construction paper.

sassandgroove · Aug 8, 2005

In elementary school through highschool, many Judy Blume books spring to mind, especially Starring Sally J. Freeman as Herself, and Tiger Eyes. In highschool, Marion Zimmer Bradley's Firebrand and Mists of Avalon, Carrie Fisher's Post Card's from the Edge and Surrender the Pink, in early twenties, I stayed up late to finish Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, and then read his introduction, at which point I was so jazzed I was up half the night writing the story I had only talked about writing. That was four years ago, and I finally have a draft written! YAY!!!

rowriter · Aug 8, 2005

Toni Morrison is a big one for me-The Bluest Eye is a wonderful wonderful book, among others. I also really admire Virginia Woolf's To The Lighthouse, though I'm not sure I would appreciate it as much if I didn't fully dissect and analyze it for a Lit Class. I really had a love affair with this book for about two months--the way that woman could switch point of view is just mind-boggling. And for some reason that I can't pin down right now, John Irving's World According to Garp really impressed me.

I think the idea of someday being able to write like the people I admire is part of what keeps me writing. It's the "necessary delusion" of believing that you have it in you. Even if I'm never ever that good, I can still work towards it and that's what counts. ("It's not the destination, it's the journey that counts") But what I'm really aspiring to is not that author's writing ability, but that unique voice that makes a work so magical.

I don't think I could pick out one novel that taught me the most about writing...there's just too many!

Marcusthefish · Aug 8, 2005

My inspirations are:

Hyperion, by Dan Simmons
Watership Down, by Richard Adams
Lonesome Dove and The Streets of Laredo by McMurtry

I'm also in awe of John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee books--somewhat dated in places, but still the most entertaining crime novels ever.

MTF

Saanen · Aug 8, 2005

I will die happy if my writing ever gets compared favorably to Diana Wynne Jones's. I've been a fan of her writing since I was twelve and first read Dogsbody, and I've read everything I can by her in the intervening decades. I love her characters, her sense of humor, her easy style, her inventiveness, and her attention to detail. I know I've been heavily influenced by her writing, but I can't imagine a better role model.

None of her books have made me want to kill myself or anything so drastic, but many of her books have made me want to write until my hands fell off from typing.

The standard to which you aspire

scarletpeaches

Jamesaritchie

JayEss

alaskamatt17

triceretops

scribbler1382

Write For You, Edit For The Reader

jackie106

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray

A. Hamilton

here for a minute...catch me?

KTC

Stand in the Place Where You Live

aadams73

A Work in Progress

loquax

I verb nouns adverbly

La Reine

Azure Skye

Huh?

blargh

AdamH

Pumped Up Kicks

RustyVanReeves

PattiTheWicked

Unleashing Hell.

WannabeWriter

Nateskate

BlueTexas

Back from self-exile land.

sassandgroove

Sassy haircut

rowriter

Bibliophile

Marcusthefish

Saanen