Best Lessons Learned From Your Biggest Influences

Let's face it: Certain lessons stick with you, no matter how long. Some I've learned:

• Alan Moore: Your readers/viewers aren't idiots, so don't treat 'em as such.
• Rob Liefeld: If you're gonna draw people, at least look at real ones.
• Garth Ennis: Ultra-violence can have its humorous side. You just have to know where to look.
• Starman: Having long-term plots need to pay off, so prepare carefully.
• Order Of The Stick: A series can be dark; just avoid Darkness-Induced Audience Apathy. (A good way to avoid this is to have one upbeat lighthearted character, a la Elan).
• The Venture Brothers: Similar to Starman, it's okay to plan for the long run.
• British Television: It's OK to have people look normal. They don't have to all be supermodels.

Granted, those are all comic-book influences. But nevertheless, they've guided me.

• Sf Debris: If you want to be a writer, write. Good ideas don't always make a good story.
• Doug Walker: just because it's aimed at kids the work shouldn't be stupid. That also goes for characters who are kids too. The Scrappy is a bad character.
• J Michael Straczynski: his Complete Book of Scriptwriting is my bible.
• GeneRoddenberry If you're gonna dream, dream big
  • Sf Debris' corollary to that^: think your ideas through.
• DeadKennedys: Sacred cows make the best burgers

edited 8th Jul '13 10:32:19 PM by TairaMai

Robert Jordan: Pacing is important. Don't waste a whole book doing nothing.

edited 11th Jul '13 12:21:02 PM by JimmyTMalice

George Harrison: Don't blow your wad all on your first solo album But seriously, though... It's very possible to make powerful spiritual music without being too heavy-handed about it.

• Steven Tyler: If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing.
• Eiichiro Oda: Death ain't cheap. If you kill a character, make sure it's for a good reason.
• Mel Brooks: If you're going to make fun of someone, make fun of everyone else, too.
• Avatar The Last Airbender: Just because it's animated doesn't mean it's just for kids.
• Ratatouille: Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere.
• Stephanie Meyer: This is how not to write a romance.

edited 12th Jul '13 6:11:10 PM by CaptchaTheFlag

Jack Kirby & Grant Morrison: Go big or go home.

Alan Moore: Life can't be shelved into one genre. "It’s a horrifying, romantic, tragic, comical, science-fiction cowboy detective novel. You know, with a bit of pornography if you're lucky."

Ernest Hemingway: Writing doesn't need to be Shakespearean or flowery. A good story can be told in 6 to 8 words.

Neil Gaiman: A story can be found in EVERYTHING!

Kurt Busiek: Nostalgia can be beautiful. Never completely abandon the old days.

edited 12th Jul '13 7:16:45 PM by AtomJames

Oh...let's see. I think I have a good one.

• Blue Heelers: You can write a good story that does not revolve around the Cowboy Cop and has less focus on the crime and more on the police and their personal lives. In fact one of the best, most dramatic episodes had no crime at all.

As for realism, when it first began a friend on the force said it was as accurate as it gets. No Dirty Harry or Lethal Weapon involved.

Lessee...

• Stephen King: You aren't creating. You're digging in the dirt of your imagination and finding a story. Know when to start digging.
• Joss Whedon: Original characters are characters people remember. Also, don't be afraid to get bloody.
• Robert B. Parker: Write and keep writing. Plumbers don't suffer from "plumber's block".
• Ernest Hemingway: Choose your words carefully.
• Daniel Keys Moran: Be funny. Laughter and tears aren't that far apart.
• Tom Clancy: Do your damn homework.
• Carl Hiaasen: It's okay to have an agenda and a point of view, but for fuck's sake avoid pretending you don't.

Terry Pratchett: Funny and deep, not mutually exclusive.

• Jorge Luis Borges: Weird is fun. Cultural literacy improves your stories. Word choice is critical. Never neglect to edit.
• GK Chesterton: A good story tells you about its characters. A bad story tells you about its author. Common sense is rare, and frequently nonsensical.
• Victor Hugo: All the best heroes are tragic, and so are the villains.
• CS Lewis: Immerse yourself in your characters and know them intimately, even, especially, the dangerous ones. Sometimes your best ideas just don't work for the story you want to tell. Keep secrets.
• Narita Ryohgo: There are no incidental characters, only those who are out of focus. There are no boring characters, period. As things grow more complicated, they get more exciting.
• Ryukishi07: There's always a new kind of story to tell. Don't be afraid to make your characters miserable. Don't be afraid to make your characters happy.
• Kris Straub: Let yourself permeate the story and the characters. Write what you love, and show it.
• JRR Tolkien: Don't tell the reader more than a tenth of what you know. Characters, places, and objects in the story are themselves first and symbols a distant second.
• Dan Wells: Readers won't fear that the characters they love will die half as much as that the characters will become people they won't want to love.

edited 13th Jul '13 8:53:17 PM by Noaqiyeum

Alan Moore: You don't need to add sex into everything

JK Rowling: Subtlety and Moral Ambiguity doesn't work very well if the rest of the world doesn't logically pan out about it.

Whedon: Killing a character, while fun for the emotional pull, is usually a sloppy move.

Most Mangakas I've read: If you're gonna write about teamwork and stuff, actually have teamwork, stop the exposition train, and friendship is better off shown, not spoken about.

Tolkien: Put what you love into your writing (in his case, languages).

Avatar: The Last Airbender: Asian influences are just as interesting as European. And that character and humour can add to the quality of your work.