Sheila Crabtree
asked
Lisa de Nikolits:
Do you find reading books from the same genre you write in, a help or a distraction? Do you worry other books may influence your writing or enjoy getting inspiration from them?
Lisa de Nikolits
Dear Sheila, thank you for this question!
I'm a voracious reader of all kinds of novels and I always hope that the good ones will influence me – to become a better writer!
I never worry that I will come across an idea that I wanted to write about and find that it has already been written about, because each author's voice is so unique, we all bring a different perspective to the same idea.
I don't think there is any one writer I'd say who absolutely mirrors the genre I write, so I get to glean inspiration from all kinds of writers. I can relate to a bit of what one author did in one book and then to another thing, from a different book.
For example, I have recently been inspired by Jussi Alder-Olsen's work (I read all of his books that I could lay my hands on, I love the way he crafts a plot), I loved the nastiness and craziness of the characterization and plotting in Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, and I also loved (most of) The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt.
I'd say that those books were the nudging voices at the back of my mind while I wrote this first draft of Purgatory. I do find that different books speak to me when I am writing different books - my inspiration when writing The Witchdoctor's Bones was very different to these books listed above. (I posted a blog with the list pertaining to The Witchdoctor's Bones, here on Goodreads), in case you're interested.
It's sometimes frustrating, being such a stand-alone author, and have such different books - when people ask me what I write about, I can never sum it up in one sentence because each book is so different.
But on the plus side, I get to be inspired by all sorts of different writers and genres, from John Irving to Harry Crews to John Steinbeck to Annie Proulx and let's not forget Stephen King! I loved his earlier works more than I do his current ones but I still very much enjoy anything he writes.
Thank you very much for your question and I apologize that the answer is so long - I guess that's why I am a novelist and not the writer of poems or novellas!
I'm a voracious reader of all kinds of novels and I always hope that the good ones will influence me – to become a better writer!
I never worry that I will come across an idea that I wanted to write about and find that it has already been written about, because each author's voice is so unique, we all bring a different perspective to the same idea.
I don't think there is any one writer I'd say who absolutely mirrors the genre I write, so I get to glean inspiration from all kinds of writers. I can relate to a bit of what one author did in one book and then to another thing, from a different book.
For example, I have recently been inspired by Jussi Alder-Olsen's work (I read all of his books that I could lay my hands on, I love the way he crafts a plot), I loved the nastiness and craziness of the characterization and plotting in Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, and I also loved (most of) The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt.
I'd say that those books were the nudging voices at the back of my mind while I wrote this first draft of Purgatory. I do find that different books speak to me when I am writing different books - my inspiration when writing The Witchdoctor's Bones was very different to these books listed above. (I posted a blog with the list pertaining to The Witchdoctor's Bones, here on Goodreads), in case you're interested.
It's sometimes frustrating, being such a stand-alone author, and have such different books - when people ask me what I write about, I can never sum it up in one sentence because each book is so different.
But on the plus side, I get to be inspired by all sorts of different writers and genres, from John Irving to Harry Crews to John Steinbeck to Annie Proulx and let's not forget Stephen King! I loved his earlier works more than I do his current ones but I still very much enjoy anything he writes.
Thank you very much for your question and I apologize that the answer is so long - I guess that's why I am a novelist and not the writer of poems or novellas!
More Answered Questions
Jake Doherty
asked
Lisa de Nikolits:
Lisa:https://www.facebook.com/JakeDohertyAuthorhttps://www.facebook.com/JakeDohertyAuthor I let my subconscious do the work. because the subconscious mind can resolve problems much faster than the conscious mind. I've written sentences or paragraphs that i had no inkling of the evening before. Have you used this process?
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