What are some of the stories (be they books, movies, campfire tales, whatever) that have inspired you in your writing?
Some of my favorite books/stories are:
The Name of the Wind - by Patrick Rothfuss (This is one of the best books I have read in my entire life. Just the way Pat writes . . . The protagonist could be brushing his teeth and it would hold your interest.)
Dune - by Frank Herbert (Not so much the rest of the books in the series, but that first one . . . something about it . . . )
The Star Wars Saga - by George Lucas (Let's be real here, everybody knows Star Wars is awesome.)
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell - by Susanna Clarke (This book is kind of like a cross between Neil Gaiman, J.K. Rowling, and Charles Dickens. Read it.)
American Gods - by Neil Gaiman (Neil Gaiman is cool. All the other things I was going to say about him are pretty much summed up in that little sentence.)
I'll probably think of lots more later, but that's a start. :)
-- Edited by Gingerben on Tuesday 21st of February 2012 10:42:39 PM
I find Diana Wynne Jones to be the most inspiring writer I've read - not her newer books, but the older ones like Fire and Hemlock, Eight Days of Luke and Archer's Goon. They're so complex and brilliantly plotted, using traditional mythology with some strange British sensibility in a wonderful way.
Neil Gaiman is great too, though I prefer his work in comic books to his novels.
Other favourites are Terry Pratchett and, if graphic novels can be included, Hiromu Arakawa, because the depth and epic world-building in Fullmetal Alchemist really is astounding!
-- Edited by StarsDay on Wednesday 22nd of February 2012 10:10:44 PM
