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helloamhere · 3 years

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I loooove your writing style, is there any books or authors that influenced it???

Thank you!!! Tons, tons of course. I have been slowly and laboriously teaching myself to write in a way that accomplishes the goals I have for my writing....I’d say I’ve actively been working on it for five years. It comes from a mixture of places, not all of which are other books and authors. I am actually a big believer in developing skills by looking at *other fields outside of your own*. So in a funny way I am also very influenced by the science writing I’ve done, by data journalism, by the challenges of being a data scientist, by writing code. Understanding how to write elaborate code was actually a huge help to thinking about the causal skeleton of a plot. But for books: I was brought up hardcore in the Western Canon style of education, which has lots of horrendous colonialist and exclusionary overtones, but also incredible art (so it goes, the history of humanity). I grew up pretty much exclusively reading so-called “great books.” I learnt a lot about technical writing from this, about how language changes over time, about the rules and how to break them. Then I took a nose-dive into trashier comfort reading, I loved the *ideas* of scifi but loathed the lack of character authenticity (or even caring about characters at all); then I discovered YA, which is where I think I learned that it is ok to indulge your soft-hearted impulses towards fantasy. Now I just read a huge blend. I like to read a lot of history, but there's nothing I love more than finding a really adult take on trauma, healing, and resilience...hard to find though. Increasingly more popular I hope. There are people across and between genres who skewer the kinds of topics that I like, so I find myself influenced by HOW they approach it even if it's not the genre I want to write. Major influences: Dodie Smith’s I Capture the Castle hit me at a time when I really needed to think more about subtle characters. Evelyn Waugh, similarly. I learn a lot from satire--TH White’s The Once and Future King might be my most re-read, although of course I also love Terry Pratchett (like everyone). Dorothy L Sayers had a big influence on me too, I don’t think I write like her but something about her observation of the world is *so* articulate and incisive. I love the zany confidence of Nick Harkaway, and I love the innovative way that MR Carey writes heart-driven stories smack in the middle of horror settings. I do not particularly think Andy Weir is a good writer actually, but seeing how successful The Martian was changed some of my conceptions of how much science and dry problem solving you could sell in a fiction book. NK Jemisin is a queen and a goddess and I don’t want to write exactly like her but damn, damn everyone should learn from her. Martha Wells taught me just how much an action plot could turn on squishy emotions. I find Mary Robinson’s imagination really inspiring and charming. There’s this book by Mary Mitford called Our Village that’s a collection of essays she wrote about her rural life that are just, exquisite. Jerome K Jerome strongly influenced my character humor! I read a ton of nonfiction in history and science, which has influenced me as well. I’d call out Lewis Thomas for this, and Ed Yong might be one of the best current science journalists out there. But also Mary Roach, who is startlingly funny. Malinda Lo helped me believe you could write about queer women and Tamsyn Muir is looking like someone who will help carry that crown, bless. Zadie Smith is one of my favorite writers full stop. There are so many more. I try to always be reading something that is teaching me. What is really inspiring me and motivating me in writing changes day to day and I haven’t had as much time to read as I’d like for the last few years (see: global pandemic, etc). I feel a bit like I’m exchanging quantity for depth though, because I will really really think about a book when I read it. It’s a good time!

#reading #my writing #ask #you people are so infinitely kind #the life and times of helloamhere #personal #books

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