Books and/or writers that have helped you

Zireael

Member
I'm a Belgian who - if I do say so myself - is pretty fluent in English by now.

This is because I've read plenty of books in English instead of my native language. Something I've been noticing since I started reading these books is that I've been getting a better grasp at descriptive writing. I'm not at all good at it yet, mind you, but I like seeing my own improvement over the years.

So, that's why I wanted to ask, in your experiences, are there any writers or particular books, or maybe even games or online tutorials, that have helped you grow as a roleplay writer? And if you're also not a native English speaker like me, please mention it! I'd love to learn more.

To answer my own question:
I'm someone who doesn't start on a book easily, but gets hooked very easily, so all I've read are mainstream popular books. But Tolkien seems to be a very descriptive writer, and he has widened my vocabulary in English a lot.
As a foreigner, George RR Martin writes books I can understand. It's a nice balance between being descriptive and thorough, but not as intimidating as Tolkien sometimes.
Finally, I've read a book by Andrew Pyper, which made me really admire him for his ability to set a mood in his writing.
 
Steven King, R.L. Stein and Junji Ito are all horror writers that helped me get the feel of creepiness in certain subjects. They also helped me learn to pace myself in building up to really scary parts. I owe them some gratitude for my inspirations for OCs!
 
Steven King, R.L. Stein and Junji Ito are all horror writers that helped me get the feel of creepiness in certain subjects. They also helped me learn to pace myself in building up to really scary parts. I owe them some gratitude for my inspirations for OCs!

Oh right, somehow forgot about King, I only read some short stories from him but I definitely see where you're coming from :) Thanks for the answer!
 
Oh right, somehow forgot about King, I only read some short stories from him but I definitely see where you're coming from :) Thanks for the answer!
No problem! This is a very interesting thread to make. I highly recommend any of King's larger stories. They are definitely skin crawling. Junji Ito is a popular horror manga artist who really knows how to draw from his demented imagination. R.L. Stein is a scary children's book author who manages to get past the censors with his eerie stories.
 
Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert A. Heinlein, JRR Tolkien, Terry Brooks, Terry Pratchett, Brian Jacques, Robert Jordan...
 
Kind of silly and ridiculous as it sounds, I think I draw a lot of my writing inspiration / influence from children's books? L. Frank Baum and Lewis Carroll have been huge influences on my style, as well as Norton Juster with The Phantom Tollbooth. If I'm being totally honest with myself I think some of my style also comes from Gail Carson Levine's Disney Fairy books, because those were my jam as a kid and I guess the style sort of stuck with me.

...

Yeah, that's kind of a ridiculous list, no idea how helpful this is.
 
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