Books That You Have Deliberately Not Read....

[Aitor]

...because you are worried that they might influence your writing, or that you are worried about being accused of ripping them off!

Here's some stuff that I haven't read/watched. Some of it on purpose but mainly because I am lazy. If there's a plus then it's something I think I should read, one day!

The Cloud Atlas +
Foucault's Pendulum +
The Da Vinci Code ----
Sophie's Choice + (have seen film)
Sophie's World +
The Northern Lights + (have seen Golden Compass)

There's lots of others... but these are what spring to mind first

Stuff I don't mind admitting to:
1984
Dune (and sequels)
Contact
2001
A Handmaid's Tale
King Lear
Othello
So Long And Thanks For All The Fish

[Rick]

Anything by GRRM.

I got burned by Robert Jordan's wheel of time series by an author unfortunately passing away in the middle of it. I made a vow: I will never read GRRM with his crazy 5 year delays between books until the series is finished. I'll just enjoy some HBO.

[Elan]

Richard wrote: "Anything by GRRM.

I got burned by Robert Jordan's wheel of time series by an author unfortunately passing away in the middle of it. I made a vow: I will never read GRRM with his crazy 5 year dela..."

Have you finished WoT yet? Brandon Sanderson absolutely knocked the final books out of the park. They're some of my favorites in the series.

[Rick]

So... funny story about that. In the middle of editing or taking breaks from my own writing, I was rereading the series from beginning to end. I'm currently in book 3: Then a contest and Inkshare started...

::sigh::. I can't wait to get back to reading.

[Elan]

Richard wrote: "So... funny story about that. In the middle of editing or taking breaks from my own writing, I was rereading the series from beginning to end. I'm currently in book 3: Then a contest and Inkshare s..."

I AM SO EXCITED FOR YOU. I MUST JOIN YOU.

*starts rereading WoT for the 9th time.*

[E]

I haven't read any of the GoT books, and I dunno I've heard mixed interest in them. Granted I read LotR in 7th grade, but tried reading the Silimarian (or how it's spelled) and couldn't get past 20 pages.

There are a few books I've read and wish I hadn't spent the time reading them:

Divergent (my sister lent it to me.)
Twilight, yes I read the first book before I knew how horrible it was.
Lord of the Flies, hated that book ugh.

[Elan]

K.E. wrote: "I haven't read any of the GoT books, and I dunno I've heard mixed interest in them. Granted I read LotR in 7th grade, but tried reading the Silimarian (or how it's spelled) and couldn't get past 20..."

My name is Elan, and I have read the entire Twilight series.

I am ashamed.

But I had just gone through a bad breakup, was living at my brother's house, and didn't have any books of my own. His wife lent me her copies. I read them all in about 2 weeks, hating myself all the while.

I don't know why I just shared that story with you all.

[E]

Haha it's ok Elan. I only read the 1st book and it was at Barns and Noble. I used to go there and read for hours cause I didn't have any money to buy books. This was way before e-books too.

[C.D.]

Richard wrote: "Anything by GRRM.



That's not fair. Wildcards is awesome.

[A.C.]

Aitor wrote: "...because you are worried that they might influence your writing, or that you are worried about being accused of ripping them off!

Here's some stuff that I haven't read/watched. Some of it on pur..."

Errr, Fifty Shades of Grey?
I guess I strategically avoid reading certain things at certain times because at that moment they'd affect my writing in a way I don't want to be affected. For example, I stopped reading Agatha Christie in the thick of writing this book because I kept writing like her, and that's not the voice I want for most of my characters.

I also strategically read to help my voice - when I want to write a fun action scene or witty dialogue, I read "The Princess Bride". When I want to write funnier stuff, I read Hitchhiker's. Strategy!

[Aitor]

Cara: thanks for mentioning hitchhikers just after I get my 42nd pre-order! Other fun facts:

1) Today is 380 years since 15 September 1635 - the date the book starts
2) Today is 15 days before I stop being 42
3) I've met Douglas Adams, had him sign me Mostly Harmless which I recently had to give away due to an accident years ago involving a registry office which I didn't want to cause an even bigger problem in my present froody life
4) Last year I cycled up Swains Lane (more than) 42 times for charity - this is a very steep hill in London which passes by Highgate Cemetery - where Douglas Adams is buried.

I have zero intention of reading Fifty Shades of Grey.

Isn't there room for a Miss Marple in your universe?

[E]

Aitor wrote: "Cara: thanks for mentioning hitchhikers just after I get my 42nd pre-order! Other fun facts:

1) Today is 380 years since 15 September 1635 - the date the book starts
2) Today is 15 days before I s..."

I completely agree on the 50 Shades of Gray, completely utterly. I've read excerpts and it reads like a bad early 2000's fanfiction.

[Liam]

I'm more with Cara above - I keep reading no matter what I think will seep in, I feel like it adds more than it takes away.

For instance, I started reading The Windup Girl by Pablo Bacigalupi earlier this summer, and was quickly engrossed by the world-building and setting, and not just a little bit concerned that a few of the broad strokes were pretty similar to my story, but I plowed on.

It was a very useful exercise, since it eventually played out as a series of decisions I would know to avoid in my own work (I ended up not liking the book much at all after a really strong start).

And then on the flip side, things I enjoy only add to the pieces I want to include in my own work. As mentioned in a thread dedicated to the topic elsewhere on the board, "borrowing" is a fine literary tradition, and when done well, can add shades of the familiar to new work.

If Id've stopped reading The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet, or the Expanse series, or currently with my first Neal Stephenson (Seveneves) for fear of being too strongly influenced, my own writing would suffer.

[Aitor]

Liam, I'm in (at least) two minds about it. Luckily, or unluckily, I've just not had enough time or energy recently to read other people. It's all gone into my own writing.

Still, if anybody actually takes a serious look at what I've done, I know I'm going to get some stick for "borrowing" heavily from both Contact and The Northern Lights. The star Vega, in the constellation Lyra, is going to seem like an obvious nod/steal to both those, but the truth is it's a coincidence which I decided to embrace rather than fight.

(view spoiler)[
There was a character of a five year old girl developing and I knew that she was somehow the bridge between 1635 and the modern day. But the name Ilaria - it was simply the name of someone who served me in a pub and I thought it the most beautiful name; perfect for my character. Then I had the idea about the lyre which was a play on her name partially, but she did need to be a musician...

Ilaria -> lyre -> Lyra

Vega is the brightest star in Lyra. I don't have any messages being broadcast from it, but it is important to the story. And I loved Ilaria so much that I had to have a second, modern Ilaria, and I admit this one does have more than a little of Foster's portrayal of Ellie Arroway about her. She promptly took over the final third of the book.

But Lyra from Northern Lights / Golden Compass? Not really, although you could take the Kate Bush song from the film and with just two modifications it would fit perfectly.
(hide spoiler)]

[Elan]

Liam wrote: "I'm more with Cara above - I keep reading no matter what I think will seep in, I feel like it adds more than it takes away.

For instance, I started reading The Windup Girl by Pablo Bacigalupi earl..."
Oh man, I lovedThe Windup Girl. I hope you enjoyed it, too!

[Joe]

I try to read as many books as I can while I'm writing, but a lot of that has to do with my background and how I got to where I am today.

When I was a youth, I dropped out of college and worked at a laundromat. Considering that I wanted more out of life, I worked my way into an entry level programming job. With only light programming skills from my hobbyist and small freelance days, I had a lot of ground to cover. I began to read other developers code and seek out samples online (this was before the tools that exist to today and make that easier.) I learned how to take things apart and put them together, to analyze the work and understand the logic and flow.

I now take that same approach to writing, to analyze and review the works of others to better understand my own. I won't always get it right, but I will try.

I originally did not have any plans to go to college. I only wanted to write, but instead of following my dream I followed the expectations put for me. Still, I have few regrets in life, and none involves the path I chose. Now, many years later I have a book to be published, and I am here, sharing my experience with all of you.

[Jae]

I devour books, though I tend to read nonfiction more often than fiction. It's like having a giant reference library, and a reminder of days I used to be a history major before life got all topsy-turvy.

I do manage to ingest some fiction, but nothing compared to the amount I read growing up. I've never shied away from writers who do fantasy/sci-fi humor. It's a small list. One that keeps getting smaller as time goes by.

While writing A Beast Requires, I tried to avoid reading anything in the realm of humor or police procedural. It seriously limited my selection of fiction, so I tried my hand at those classics everyone should read that end up gathering dust on a shelf. It did not go well. Many classics were purged and sold to Comparative Literature majors.

I've never read 50 Shades, or any of the Twilight books. Just not my thing. Before putting A Beast Requires on Inkshares, I was working on an urban fantasy, so I've been avoiding Jim Butcher, Jennifer Rardin, and Laurell Hamilton.

Damn shame too. I could use a little Anita Blake in my life right now.

[Joe]

It takes a special kind of talent to write funny. It's not something I would touch. I respect the craft and skill required to make it work. I imagine as a comedy writer it would be easy to absorb accidently another writer's flow, but maybe it is easier to avoid if you have experience in the style.

[Jae]

Writing comedy is juggling across a tightrope on top a hippopotamus.

No joke. You're balancing your own voice, ensuring that the comedic bits hit, and making sure the story itself is strong. Some of the jokes I thought hysterical, had to be cut. Entire background plots were erased. It's a small pool of fantasy/sci-fi humorists, so you need to make sure your writing can stand on its own.

As hard as it can be, it's so totally worth it. Making people laugh is akin to tickling the divine.

[Bekki]

I'm starting to notice myself intentionally avoiding YA books. I avoided Harry Potter because it came out in my "it's popular so it must suck" phase in high school, and didn't read it until the summer of 2009 (in one week straight, knocking out a book a day during a summer stretch where I was unemployed). Then, after I became a total Potterhead, I avoided Twilight like the plague out of loyalty to HP and the fact it was extremely insulting to any self respecting female. While I never read it, I did follow a blog where a girl was reading it, reviewing it, and then inevitably hate-reading it, but that was mostly to be able to hold my ground in arguments with Twihards. I felt super underground and cool when I got in on Hunger Games before it was a thing, and I got fifty or so pages into Divergent before I just couldn't do it anymore. I don't know if it is because I just turned 29, or because I teach high school and find the drama of teenagers exhausting. Why would I want to read about a love triangle when I am dealing with keeping a fight over one from breaking out in my homeroom? I also think it was starting to hurt my voice and plot development.

[Thomas]

I've never read Harry Potter, and still don't feel particularly compelled to. Just part of my general avoidance of British children.

I've also still not gotten around to reading any of George RR Martin's stuff despite intending to for nearly 2 decades now.

[Christopher]

I haven't avoided anything out of any fear of influence or accusations of being derivative; on the contrary, my stuff is all very heavily influenced by this, that and the other. It's all about the personal spin I can put on it.

There are works that I tend to avoid though, but for other reasons.

I find it very difficult to get into science fiction. Something about it makes my eyes glaze over. It would have to be something like Douglas Adams, where it's more about the humour than anything else, to really hold me. And I'm not all that keen on traditional fantasy either (again, I need some sort of twist) though in this case it's less of an aversion and more of an "enh, take it or leave it."

It's ... a little weird considering that I always seem to be surrounded by people whose first and second loves are those two genres.

[Julian]

I have a confession...

When I say I am a voracious reader I want you understand I read Stephen Kings The Stand 1153 pages, all 520,000 words in six hours. Apparently it runs in the family. My nephew Rhys is the same. Drives our family nuts, but at least they always know what to buy at Christmas time. Give me dead tree's with ink and I'm happy.

When you read like that you read anything and everything to feed the monster that is your brain. Constant wordage is the only thing that satisfies it. So those shameful admissions above like Twilight, yup - been there done that. In my entire life, I've ever only put one book down in disgust halfway through.

Only now that I am writing can I appreciate how much hard work sweat and tears goes into a novel, but I am seriously jonesing for some reading of anything.

[Christopher]

Come read my novel, Julian. Remember to pre-order (when I go to pre-orders) several copies for your nephew and everyone at home.

Seriously, though: have you considered offering your services as a beta reader?

[Julian]

Preaching to the converted Christopher.

Receive my first novel swap on Friday, and I've recently joined two critique groups attached to Nanowrimo.

Not sure about the crit groups. Most people seem only to be able to handle a few thousand words a week. (Five people in one group is 15000 words a week). For me it's too slow, others seem to find it a challenge. At that pace it'll be over a year before my book is fully critiqued.

I'd be up for more novel swaps if anyone is interested, for a quick and dirty high level beta read.