My Writing Inspirations

We all have those books, those authors, those people, that inspired us to write. Maybe it was someone well-known, maybe it was your 5th grade teacher. Today I thought it would be fun to share people and books that inspired me to write the way I do. And maybe give me some insight as well.

C. S. Lewis and The Chronicles of Narnia

I was raised on The Chronicles of Narnia audio-dramas by Focus on the Family. To this day, I have a hard time reading the books without hearing it exactly like they did in there. I listen to, and read these books so many times over the years.

From C. S. Lewis I got my part of love for magical, classic fantasy books. I have two books where characters go into another world through magic, which probably comes from these books. Lewis showed me that you can write clear and simply, but still have a beautiful story.

J. R. R. Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings

What sort of list would this be if I didn't mention Tolkien? Not my list, that's for sure. I'll admit, I started the movies before I read the books. But we could only watch it at night a few times a week, and I couldn't wait, so I picked up the books and read them in a week. The Hobbit soon followed along with many of Tolkien's other works (which I want to read all of).

Tolkien showed me what real epic fantasy was, as well as what a well built world looks like. When you read the books, you feel like the world has been there for a long time, and can see how it evolved into our own. If I have a world even a fraction as good as his, I'll be happy.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Another childhood favorite of mine. I love the books, the movies, the fan art, everything. It's weird and not everything makes sense and that's awesome.

This book is where I got my love for slightly crazy worlds and being more flexible about them. I've even written my own Alice in Wonderland inspired series that I plan on finishing this NaNoWriMo.

Brian Jacques and Redwall

Call me obsessed, but I think I've read almost all the Redwall books. There are so many ones, covering so many different creatures and adventures. His world is so well done, and the stories cover most of its history.

These stories showed me about heroes and heroines, epic quests, horrible villains, and amazing feasts that make your mouth water. The story with Marin and Rose was one of the first stories to break my heart. Hopefully I can do the same to other readers! I mean, I would never do that.

Rick Riordan and Percy Jackson and the Olympians

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but these books really defined my teenage years. I was fascinated with this series and the one that followed. Percy was my hero, and I feel even more connection with him now that I know I have dyslexia too.

The humor and life in these books is what I tried to mimic (badly) in my first novel. I still would love to learn his secret for making people laugh out loud but until then, I will try my hardest. Trying to mimic him really helped me find my own style.

Christopher Paolini and The Inheritance Cycle

This was another series that defined my younger years. I eagerly awaited each new installment to see what would happen to Eragon next. I admit, I haven't read this series in years, but I plan to soon and I'm a little afraid I won't like them as much.

Christopher Paolini showed me that a young person like myself could publish a book. I even got to meet him and have him sign my book, so that was awesome. I hope to one day be as inspiring as he was to me. 

Any books about talking animals or small people

Think, the Littles, the Borrowers, or any of those books about talking animals written for the middle grade level. Those books were my fascination when I was really young, and many of my first attempts at "writing" were basically copies of my favorites.

Yeah, I know these aren't award winners or maybe even the best written, but they inspired me to write, and that's the important thing, right? I'm sure we all have those stupid half stories that we wrote mimicking our favorites.

Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys

My love for mystery novels (which I would love to write one of someday) came from these books. I probably read almost all of both of them. If I ever write a mystery, I'd rather it be like Sherlock Holmes or Agatha Christie, but these are where I got started.

Fairytales

Fairytales have always fascinated me. There are so many out there that have such clever plots. I hope to write my own fairytale retelling someday, but until then I will be reading my Hans Christian Anderson and brothers Grimm, thank you very much.

I'm sure there are other things that have inspired me over the years, but these are the ones that come to mind. I'm sensing a bit of theme here, anyone else getting that?

Who or what has inspired you as a writer? Have any of these? Tell me in the comments.

Suggested Posts:

12 Fairytale Retellings I Want to See
Thoughts on Worldbuilding