"What are your influences?" The Dreaded Question.

Well, stylistically, I think Stephen King is the biggest influence I can think of on how I try to write and set up scenes and such.

As for works of fiction whose elements inspired me... that would be a long list.

Just for Innocence Lost, I have a rather diverse list, from the "invasion fiction" of the pre-World War One era of literature to the earlier works of Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, to more modern works, like Red Storm Rising and Saving Private Ryan, to classic World War Two fiction—Tora Tora Tora, Midway, etc.—to some Wild West stories (It Makes Sense in Context), to random pieces of art I find on deviantART and go, "hey, that's cool; how could I redesign that to make it work within the confines of my setting... and then make it end poorly in some manner or another, as it would in real life?"

Etc.

edited 5th Nov '11 5:27:01 PM by USAF713

I am now known as Flyboy.

I can often point to specific influences, but I mix and match them pretty haphazardly. Let's take the "make up the character right this very second" thread—I began with an idea from Halloween-themed fanart of Katawa Shoujo, expanded it with something from an expansion pack to Neverwinter Nights, and based the character's personality on a mix of the male lead in a romance novel called Night Magic and a bit character in an obscure episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

That's Feo . . . He's a disgusting, mysoginistic, paedophilic asshat who moonlights as a shitty writer—Something Awful

I have clear cut idea on what is my influences. The thing is, those are mostly anime series and...not everyone has decent opinion on anime...

I'm a (socialist) professional writer serializing a WWII alternate history webnovel.

My influences?

Everything I have ever heard, read, seen, watched, and experienced.

But lately, tokusatsu.

Well it's kinda obvious that your life is your influence. Everything you've seen, felt, smelled, or heard has changed your emotions and concepts and perceptions. It affects the way you write and describe details. Saying that is kind of a cop out of an answer.

I'm pretty sure the concept of Law having limits was a translation error. -Wanderlustwarrior

Take both YA and Shonen, and mix it up with whether my mind brews up. I guess that's it.

I guess my influence would be authors I regularly read (or, in the case of Bacigalupi, have recently read, as The Windup Girl has inexplicably persuaded me to write more serious or pretentious poetic stuff in present tense. My way of avoiding Purple Prose, I guess). The fact of the matter is that other people's styles and ideas are going to worm your way into your brain whether you like it or not.

Also, writers or books I hate tend to be an influence in that I actively try to distance myself from what I dislike about them.

Then again, years of HP Lovecraft have yet to compel me to write about unspeakable, inevitable horrors in Antiquated Linguistics, so maybe I'm wrong.

edited 5th Nov '11 7:48:30 PM by Sparkysharps

@DDR: No, it's not a cop out; its a general answer to a vague question. If someone wants to get more specific with the question I'll get more specific with the response.

If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~

So would you respond to, say, a question like "Do you listen to music while you write?" with something as simple as "yes?" It's kind of expected that when you're asked a question you go into a little more detail than just a straight answer.

I'm pretty sure the concept of Law having limits was a translation error. -Wanderlustwarrior

Whenever I'm asked that question that's exactly the answer I give. I don't feel like trying to explain my musical tastes to anyone in less than an essay's worth of writing.

Shinigan (Naruto fanfic)

@DDR: Well, I might or I might not, it would depend on who's asking. They might simply want to know whether or not I listen to music when I write, not everyone does. If they ask what kind, I'll tell them what kind.

Point is, saying "everything I've experienced" is a valid response to the question "What are your influences", because its true; everything I've seen and done (as well as what I've watched, listened to, and read) has impacted my writing in some way. I fail to see how going into huge detail about specific influences is somehow better than a simple response. The latter feels like self-aggrandizement to me, at least a little bit.

If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~

Because people tend to ask questions wanting more than a really vague answer. It's how we communicate. I think if someone is caring enough to actually ask what influences your writing, you should have enough care to return the favor and give them a bit more of a detailed answer than just "life." Because, face it, some things have influenced us more than others. I put One Piece as a higher influence than, say, "Dizzy" by Tommy Roe, and I put that higher than the color of my blankets.

I mean you could go on for hours about every influence, or you could just mention the big dogs that appeal most to you. You could also just be really vague, but I mean, jeez.

I'm pretty sure the concept of Law having limits was a translation error. -Wanderlustwarrior

People who have read my stuff don't ask this question, because they already know what my influences are. People who haven't read my stuff usually ask "What's it like?/What's it about?" first before moving to influences, and then they know what my influences are too (at least, for the particular project being discussed) because I always have an X Meets Y answer prepared for that particular question (for example, with regards to my most recent project I just say it's Sucker Punch meets Call Of Cthulhu).

I could probably say what my influences are if pressed, but because nobody's ever gotten that far into the interview I haven't had to. I can provide the short list, though: Quentin Tarantino, Clive Barker, Aaron Allston, Joss Whedon, Joe Schreiber, Frank Miller, Emerson Lake And Palmer and maybe a little David Cronenberg.

Jesus saves. Gretzky steals, he scores!

I'd say my biggest influences are video games, believe it or not. Since they're not the most cinematic or even literary mediums ever made (at least, early on), you really kinda have to fill in the blank. What's being said, what's being seen, etc. Of course, you get to also appreciate the small little subtleties and quirks in a video game. The sprite/ model designs, the animations for stuff, the sound and background score, and most of all, the visuals as a whole.

But if you want my typical boring answer, I'll just go with Tarantino, 80's and 90's animu and Chuck Palahniuk.

ALL CREATURE WILL DIE AND ALL THE THINGS WILL BE BROKEN. THAT'S THE LAW OF SAMURAI.

I don't get asked this a lot, mostly because I don't feel I can call myself a writer if I have not even written something I am satisfied with yet. But if it does come up I usually have to mention that I try to read a lot of works to understand what makes them work or not work. I usually say that reading new things always helps me improve my own work. But I guess that is a bit general. I bet people probably think I am a bit of a wanker when I answer without giving specifics, but I simply don't feel one work or artist should have that much prominence in my writing, so it really was the only correct answer I could give.

I hope the OP is still reading this thread.

I don't think I've ever been asked that question. Mostly I just field the "So what's it about" question, and then after that, people either nod and say "That's nice" or "Sounds interesting!" and walk away. Those who've read my stuff don't generally ask me either, though a number of them are my friends and they know what they like.

But like others here, I've prepared a list for any future person who might ask. The number one things at the top of the list are Diana Wynne Jones and The Legend Of Zelda—it was DWJ who taught me about tropes, playing with them, and the idea that comedy and sincerity can safely cohabitate, and it was Zelda that made me love offbeat fantasy universes and inspired me to write (the first things I was serious about writing were Zelda fanfics).

"Proto-Indo-European makes the damnedest words related. It's great. It's the Kevin Bacon of etymology." ~Madrugada

Ambrose Bierce, Cormac McCarthy, Richard Matheson, Yoshiki Tanaka, and George Orwell for influences from literature (although technically I've only seen animated adaptations of Tanaka's books). Hayao Miyazaki, Sergio Leone, Ridley Scott, and the Coen brothers from film. Chris Avellone, Tom Hall, Warren Spector, and Ken Levine as far as influences from video games. William Shakespeare, Tom Stoppard, and Samuel Beckett from theatre.

Pretty much all of them have written or directed at least one thing that was a big influence for me, on top of just life experiences and people I've met personally.

edited 23rd Dec '11 1:22:02 PM by culex2

To the last I grapple with thee; from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee.

Shounen anime mainly. Particularly Yu Yu Hakusho and Naruto

Help?.. please...

Good list!

In thinking from the first time I posted in this thread to now, I can say that my main influences are:

• F. Scott Fitzgerald
• Woody Allen
• Zadie Smith
• Neil Simon
• Richard Price (for dialogue more than anything else)
• Dan Chaon
• Truman Capote
• Z.Z. Packer
• Mark Twain
• Jennifer Egan
• It would be a stretch to say Haruki Murakami, but The Wind Up Bird Chronicle was a big one for me
• Tom Perotta
• J.D. Salinger
• Naoki Urasawa
• George Orwell (especially his essays)
• Richard Yates
• David Benioff
• Toni Morrison
• Kurt Vonnegut

edited 23rd Dec '11 7:22:19 AM by BetsyandtheFiveAvengers

This isn't a bad or unusual reaction — after all, you're not used to it yet. If you're worried about this kind of response, my advice would be to memorise a small number of influences, if only so that you can appease them.

When I was actually writing (and foolish enough to show it off), I was thankful enough not to run into this type. But I don't doubt that I would have reacted like you — I wasn't well-read then (and I'm not now), so giving influences would have been difficult, y'know?

Most recently, Tolstoy. Thankfully, though, it's been over a year since I read War and Peace, so I'm pretty much back to writing like an inhabitant of the 21st century. Sometimes, getting too influenced is not a very good thing...

Yours reminds me that I need to read more Vonnegut.

To the last I grapple with thee; from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee.

@ OP: If I were in your position, I would pick a few things you know very well. The "you're just copying" people might still accuse you of ripping them off, but I don't think there's much you can do about them short of having them actually read your work. In any case you'll have something to keep the conversation going.

I guess I'll contribute, since everyone else is doing it.

• Westerns, Frederick Jackson Turner. "Rugged man brings order to the frontier then rides off into the sunset because he doesn't belong in civilized society" technically started with James Fenimoore Cooper, but because I'm illiterate I haven't actually read The Pioneers.
  • I guess I should also shove Rivers Of Empire and Killing For Coal in here. Turner's Frontier Thesis is an extremely romanticized version of the West; these two books help debunk it, pretty much. My Western would be very different if I hadn't read these.
• Dale Pendell's Pharmako trilogy. It's the hippiest thing ever, and also amazing. Ostensibly it's about drugs, but it's also about chemistry, shamanism, politics, history, spirituality, literary themes and works like Faust, among other things.
• The Stranger, The Myth of Sisyphus. I've realized that anything I've ever attempted to execute and didn't immediately discard as shit is a response to these things on some level.
• Watchmen is the thing that finally broke me out of the stupid "must have moar badass/epic" mindset, so I guess I should credit it for that.

edited 26th Dec '11 10:41:11 PM by melloncollie

Y'know what's strange?

The stuff you watched as a kid.

I was watching A Bugs Life, and holy crudmuffins, I have to wonder if the fact that a few of the character archetypes mirror mine are subconscious or just coincidence.

I mean, I didn't even like the movie much as a kid, but I do wonder...

oddly