I have recently finished reading Plunder in Paradise - Geraldine McCaughrean, and now started reading Stamboul Train - Graham Greene.
What influenced you choices?
I have recently finished reading Plunder in Paradise - Geraldine McCaughrean, and now started reading Stamboul Train - Graham Greene.
What influenced you choices?
I forgot to mention (re: Harry Potter) the Godawful idea that some children are so special that people have been waiting for their birth, and have tried to thwart/destroy them [the EVIL ones] or protect and guide them [the GOOD ones] right from the word go. For me this is a drawback of Philip Pullman's otherwise excellent "His Dark Materials" series: the fact that SOME people (Lee Scoresby being an exception, bless him!) help Lyra not because she has a wonderful character, but because of a prophecy from thousands of years back.
@ Adrian: Then again, we perhaps learn most through our mistakes. Is it not possible that we also learn a lot through the mistakes of others? I read - on the strong recommendation of a 12-year-old friend of mine - the first 2 novels in the Harry Potter series. They gave me better insight into how (and what) NOT to write.
I can't remember what her prose was like. I was impressed (but very negatively: perhaps I should say that I was oppressed) by her politics. I mean the whole US against THEM crap. Our team has only GOOD guys. Their team has only BAAAAAAAAAAAD guys. OUR TEAM ***needs*** to win in order for GOOD to triumph over EVIL. George W. Bush would just love this stuff. And I hate it.
You take a piece of writing that really bothers you. Then you try to analyse why it bothers you. And yo avoid writing anything like that.
On the other hand, I can understand why Jonathan prefers to read no fiction from the period that he's writing about. He's unlikely to imitate the style of a non-fiction book and they're also necessary in order to learn what the period was really like. But it's too easy to copy the style of a writer that you admire or even subconsciously borrow a scene that would fit into your own book. The lesser danger is that you're accused of plagiarism. The greater is that you yourself come to realise that your book isn't entirely original.
Jonathan, I strongly believe that you should read as much fiction as possible about the period you're writing.
I've not read Game of Thrones or watched on television, but that's because I don't have a television.
Am I also the only person to have not read any Harry Potter apart from a few paragraphs from the middle of one of Rowling's novels? I wasn't impressed with her prose.
I read self-interestedly. Only award winning authors and finalists of prestigious awards. Learn from the best is my motto. I firmly believe that would-be authors should read the best adult and children's literature in their chosen genre. Whereas your average reader can read whatever he or she likes.