Eric Allen
asked
James Islington:
Who are some of your favorite authors, and do you think that they've influenced your writing style and the type of stories that you want to tell?
James Islington
Who are some of your favourite authors?
When I was a teenager, my favourite authors were probably Raymond Feist, Robert Jordan and Stephen Lawhead. More recently, it'd be Brandon Sanderson and Patrick Rothfuss.
Do you think that they’ve influenced your writing style and the type of stories that you want to tell?
Definitely. As an author, you’re (hopefully) trying to tell a story that you’d personally want to read - I think the best way to do that is to be aware of what you find most engaging about other stories, and then understanding why that's the case. So I kind of feel like if you're writing a book and your favourite authors aren't an influence, you're probably doing something wrong!
For example, some things I've loved from the authors above (and would therefore say are influences / things I aspire to in my own writing): Magician's pure sense of adventure. Wheel of Time's epic scope and world and history. Pendragon Cycle and Song of Albion's use of tragedy to impact and enhance their stories, without slipping into 'grimdark' territory. Name of the Wind's pacing, emotion and humour. Mistborn and Stormlight's concrete magic systems, plot twists and prose that favours imagination over paragraphs of unnecessary description. The fact that no matter how dark or morally complex their plots, each author writes stories with main characters who are variously relatable, likeable, and/or trying to do the right thing - i.e. are people you can root for. And that's just off the top of my head....
So, yeah - the answer's most certainly a 'yes'. Thanks for the question!
When I was a teenager, my favourite authors were probably Raymond Feist, Robert Jordan and Stephen Lawhead. More recently, it'd be Brandon Sanderson and Patrick Rothfuss.
Do you think that they’ve influenced your writing style and the type of stories that you want to tell?
Definitely. As an author, you’re (hopefully) trying to tell a story that you’d personally want to read - I think the best way to do that is to be aware of what you find most engaging about other stories, and then understanding why that's the case. So I kind of feel like if you're writing a book and your favourite authors aren't an influence, you're probably doing something wrong!
For example, some things I've loved from the authors above (and would therefore say are influences / things I aspire to in my own writing): Magician's pure sense of adventure. Wheel of Time's epic scope and world and history. Pendragon Cycle and Song of Albion's use of tragedy to impact and enhance their stories, without slipping into 'grimdark' territory. Name of the Wind's pacing, emotion and humour. Mistborn and Stormlight's concrete magic systems, plot twists and prose that favours imagination over paragraphs of unnecessary description. The fact that no matter how dark or morally complex their plots, each author writes stories with main characters who are variously relatable, likeable, and/or trying to do the right thing - i.e. are people you can root for. And that's just off the top of my head....
So, yeah - the answer's most certainly a 'yes'. Thanks for the question!
More Answered Questions
Julia Sarene
asked
James Islington:
Might be a strange question - but have your Ebook rights changed? I've managed to get 3 of my colleagues to buy it, as I thought it was fantastic! When I wanted to recommend it today, I found that it was gone from all of the German independent book stores. The only one listing it now is Amazon - not an option... It's really sad, as I would probably find more willing buyers, if only it only was still up for sale!
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