When I was a kid, there were some books that really fired up my imagination. I loved Alice in Wonderland. The White Rabbit made a huge impression on me and I remember wishing that Alice would just hustle her bustle a little bit and catch up with him. What was he late for? Why was he in such a hurry?
My parents and grandmother read The Wizard of Oz series to me in elementary school and I loved them. Baum’s world was so colorful that I felt I was right there with the strange creatures that populated it. The characters were almost like friends to me (the Scarecrow was my favorite.)
It was around second grade that I got hooked on mysteries and I’ve been buying them ever since. I read everything, but my favorite books are mysteries. I cut my teeth on Nancy Drew. (The Clue of the Dancing Puppet was the first one I read. How I remember this and can’t remember what I did last week is anyone’s guess.) Then there was Trixie Belden. She wasn’t quite as mature as Nancy, but a lot of fun.
So I was wondering—when did everyone realize they wanted to write? Were there books that made you say “I want to write like that!“? And, do you write the genre that you read the most growing up, or have your reading/writing interests changed through the years?
I have always loved writing and telling stories. I think Rowen of Rin was probably the first fantasy and the first time I really started leaning that direction. Certainly I had read alice in wonderland and others, but I don’t think they made me aware of fantasy as a genre because I think I considered them fairy tales. Then of course R.L.Stein introduced me to gentle horror (which in itself is much of a fantasy), and I followed that with animorphs (some would say sci/fi but they were definitely fantasy). The real problem started when I was eleven. I had read every book I considered worth reading in my school library and I was having trouble finding things to read. It was as though the gap between really kiddy and simplistic stories and adult works, was too great. I read V.C. Andrews and enjoyed FLowers in the Attic and the like, but found some of the themes confronting. I started getting into David Eddings, but his use of language sometimes challenged me a little too much at that age. Obviously I adapted, but I decided I wanted to write YA novels that would help fill the gap. A writing style that treated the reader as a mature and sensible individual but a simple enough vocab and stories that inspired and elicited emotion, without being disturbing or confronting. Kind of changed my mind over time and write some stuff for adults, some for the young and everything in between, but that was the real, I want to write moment. I have remained absolutley true to the fantasy genre though I traipse all around high fantasy, urban fantasy, fantasy romance, fantasy horror, etc, etc and I’ll read anything (except biographies).
I love this point — I can totally relate to it! I was a huge reader when I was a kid. I absolutely loved Roald Dahl. But it’s funny, I’m good at telling stories, but not made-up ones like him. Still, he inspired me!
Good post and excellent question. Mark Twain stirred a love of books in me as a youngster, but it was probably James Clavelle’s “Shogun” that inspired me to want to be able to utterly captivate and transport a reader to another world with the printed word.
The Old Silly from Free Spirit Blog
That’s a great question.
As a kid, I read all the “classics:” Danny Dunn, Freddy the Pig, Homer Price, all the Beverly Cleary books.
But I’d have to say it wasn’t until I read Dean Koontz that I thought I’d like to write someday. Then, when I got a hold of his book on writing, and he made it seem so simple (!), well…
I enjoyed reading most everything as a kid and that hasn’t changed much over the years. I don’t think it was one book or writer that encouraged me to write. It was more like the evolution of the love of reading turning into the love of writing.
Jane Kennedy Sutton
http://janekennedysutton.blogspot.com/
I’m afraid there was no seminal moment, and no catalyst book. I always like to read and, since I’m a cheapskate, spend a good bit of time at the discount book shelf. Some of these books were simply remaindered by big name authors and were a good deal. Others however were so badly written that I began to wonder if I couldn’t do as well?
As it turns out, no, I couldn’t do as well, but, that’s kinda how I first started down the writing path.
Best, Galen
Two kinds of books made me want to write. One, those that provided interesting historical information, such as biographies of the early settlers. I loved them in school. Two, books that transported me to another world. I think they are valuable b/c they help us envision a better world right where we are.
I love this post. Favorite authors for me, as a child, were Elizabeth Enright and Loula Grace Erdman. The worlds they created were as real to me as could be. I practically memorized them and they influenced my life in ways that still amaze me.
Wow, memories just came flooding back of the classics: Wizard of Oz, Peter Pan, Alice Through the Looking Glass, Winnie the Pooh, Nancy Drew…the list goes on and on. I loved to read. We had a school fair every May and my favorite thing was to head over to the “white elephant” stand to see what treasures I could find in books…and the throw a ping pong ball into a fish bowl thingee was good too, lol.
Great post!
Nancy, from Just a Thought…
I don’t have a great urge to write, especially creatively before. But I’m alway fascinated by novels of different genres, The Adventure of Thomas Sawyer, The Merchant of Venice, Pride and Prejudice etc, until I settle down with romance.
In Quest of Theta Magic