Authors that Inspire Me
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Authors
I’d like to talk about other authors today, those who share in my craft and toil and burning need to get the words out of their heads. No author gets enough love. There are a lot of us, to be sure, a fact compounded by years and vastly saturated by the Internet. But the truth remains that it’s good for us as authors to be aware of those around us, past and contemporary, and learn from and encourage each other.
So today I want to talk about a few authors for different reasons.
The first person I want to talk about is Ann Voskamp. She is a wonderful Christian non-fiction writer whose best-selling books have vastly influenced my spiritual life. I highly recommend them for that reason alone. However, I’m here to talk about her writing style. It’s unique, I must give it that. A lyrical, flowing, very-given-to-spiritual-puns, re-making words ala Shakespeare style. I’ve never read anything like it. It forces you to slow down and really pay attention to what she’s saying. You can’t skim Ann, no sir! She uses the events of her life to weave together a narrative that encompasses her chosen theme so brilliantly, even if it doesn’t seem like the stories make sense together at the outset.
I think when her first book came out, the entire Christian non-fiction writing community said something along the lines of: I want to write like that. And they all tried it. And everyone pretty much failed. Because there is one thing that’s true about writing styles/voices, they are unique. They can be similar, just like siblings look like each other or like their parents, but these voices are as individual as the people giving them life. So while imitation is flattery, no one should try to be Ann. Only she can be who she is.
However, I will say that her voice helped me to discover my own. I’d been writing for years before I read a single one of her words and my voice tended to imitate that which I’d read last. I’m a bit of sponge that way. I often speak in the accents I heard in the latest movie I watched and when I watch figure skating, the hallway turns into my own (thankfully private) showcase for attempts at a triple salchow. So it’s not surprising that I’d want to imitate the writing styles I encountered.
I don’t think it’s a bad thing, either. I learn this way. I incorporate what works for me and discard the rest. When I’m writing humor, I’m probably always going to slant British. And when I write drama, well, Ann has taught me how to wring the angst out of my soul. I’ll never be her, but my true writing voice, the one when I’m most free and myself, sounds a little Ann Voskamp.
Skipping over to an entirely different genre, another author that I have spent a great deal of time reading is Jim Butcher. He is a prolific fantasy writer of our current age. His multiple series and wide use of sub-genres within those series is an amazing accomplishment. I don’t always agree with everything he chooses to write about and I will probably never forgive him for a certain decision enacted in one of his latest books. (He’d probably be happy to read that, the sadist!) But I admire him for his great use of originality, humor, and, most of all, his ability to plot!
Plotting is hard! There’s a reason plot holes are so prevalent. It’s because you can spend so much time in a story, that you can’t remember all the details. And if you’re building a vast world, well, that just makes it all the harder.
Jim is amazing at writing a good, well-rounded plot that ties up all the loose ends, even if he lays the groundwork for the next book or leaves some things open to address at a later date. I never fear that he’s going to forget something or contradict himself. I trust that he’ll do it at the time in the story he wants to. And with the amount he’s written, he should have gaping plot holes and inconsistencies, but he doesn’t.
Somehow, he holds it all in his head. I don’t know if he has a serial-killer bulletin board in his basement or just a really good spreadsheet. I don’t know if he makes it up as he goes along or has a ten-year plan, but whatever method he uses, God bless him. I have heard him talk about the template he uses to plot each book so I know he’s got some tools, but that still doesn’t explain how he manages to keep an entire series plot that consistent. I endeavor to follow his example as best as I can.
The last author that I want to talk about is L.M. Montgomery. Lucy Maude is one of my favorite authors of all time. Her books are second only to Lord of the Rings to me. They were a huge staple of my childhood and I love reading them to this day. I was obsessed with her, reading every single anthology, series, stand-alone, poem, journal, and biography I could get my hands on. I don’t dare talk about my favorites for the sake of time, but I do want to talk about her writing style and how it spoke to me.
Lucy is one of those rare creatives who take their darkness and turn it into light for others. Think Van Gogh. She led a harsh and solitary life in many respects. I can’t pretend to know her, but it feels like she had only few moments of true beauty in her life. But she certainly knew how to use them. Her books, even the darker ones, are full of humor, compassion, light-hearted children, romance, happy endings, and an appreciation of nature and beauty. Not everyone’s cup of tea perhaps, but I always drank them in like a thirsty plant, feeling some part of myself was nourished by the simplicity of days gone by.
Her descriptions always get me. I used to write them out by hand so I could savor the delight in her words, relishing the opportunity to let them further sink into my soul. Most of them were about the beauty of the outdoors, but many of them were about the quirks and foibles of human nature. They elicit emotion in return for the emotion they give. They made me want to spend more time outside wandering around in meadows, listening to the waves on the shore, and attempting to communicate with trees. And it has left me with an indelible desire to visit Prince Edward Island, the magical place most of her stories are set, and the true source of any joy in her life.
When I write, I try to evoke the senses as she does, helping place people in the moment, giving them the feeling of being there and letting their imagination run wild. Be kind to your reader—that appeared to be Lucy’s motto. And it’s a good one for authors to remember. We don’t have to run from difficult topics or necessary character death, but we should always remember that a good book helps us wrestle with those things without traumatizing us in the process. Our readers are intelligent and they will respond to quality, not shock-value.
Book update: I am still in the editing phase, though quite near the end. After that comes more editing and beta-reading by eyes that are not mine. In the meantime, I need to start the long arduous process of querying. Pray for me!
