Some thoughts on favourite storytellers

Most writers are also avid readers. A love for telling stories tends to grow from reading them – just check out any author bio and you’ll see a familiar recurring theme of a childhood spent lost in books.

I read for a lot reasons: to experience the beauty of words and powerful storytelling, to discover new places and ways of thinking, to be entertained, and – of course – to escape reality for a while.

Friends have asked me if reading other authors influences my writing. I guess on some level it must, but I like to think of it more as inspiring my writing. There are books and writers who have changed the way I think about the craft of writing, based on the way they’ve told a story.

There are a handful of books that continue to inspire me to not just want to be a good storyteller, but also a better writer. Of course, that’s a journey I’ll be on until the day I write my last word…

Anyway, I thought I would list some of the key books that have inspired me, and (briefly) why. I should point out, that my work resembles none of them… (Markus Zusak once talked about how he loved Ernest Hemingway, but Hemingway would probably hate his books; I fear Markus – one of my favourite writers – may feel the same about mine…)

Truth by Peter Temple
Temple always blows my mind with his ability to fuse literary and genre writing. And not just for his brilliant plotting and characterisation: he writes dialogue that sounds so real, it redefines ‘realism’. His prose is sparse, with a unique pace and rhythm. And Temple forces the reader to work, which makes the journey that much more rewarding when all the pieces fall into place.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Speaking of sparse prose… This is a tense, moving and heartbreaking story, and it’s made all the more powerful by the fact there are almost no adjectives in the entire story. It underscores the fact that simple prose is often the most effective (especially in a story so remarkably profound).

Life of Pi by Yann Martel
This book continues to challenge and frustrate people because of its ambiguous ending. I loved that ending. And the fact that so much more is going on with this book than what we read on the page. I had the chance to hear Martel speak at the Brisbane Writer’s Festival a few years ago, and he gave some fascinating insights into this book. I wrote about his session on Great Reads. It’s worth reading if you’re still scratching your head about the flesh-eating island…

The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
Like millions of readers, this was the story that opened up the world of fantasy to me as a teenager. The world building was so complete and unique, I was utterly lost in the adventure. And then I picked up The Lord of the Rings…

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Beautifully written, and narrated by Death. Need I say more?

 

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
A master class in creating a sense of place, tension and mood. And just beautiful writing.

(All of the above feature on my Favourite reads page and you can find my reviews for most of them there.)

A last note: these are some of my all-time favourite books, but it’s by no means an exhaustive list. There are many others I love as a reader. These are just a few that also deeply impress me as a writer.

Inspiration's a funny thing…

It’s a question authors get asked a lot: where does your inspiration come from?

Some writers have profound or witty answers, but most (including me) struggle to articulate how ideas arise. More to the point, we actually don’t want to analyse it too closely, for fear we’ll somehow corrupt it.

I’m not talking about the moment or experience that prompts a writer to tackle a particular issue or topic. I’m talking about the day-to-day inspiration that becomes the heart and soul of a good story.

Anne Lamott, in her fantastic book on writing, Bird by bird, talks about creativity coming from the unconscious, and the need to get out of the way and let it do its thing:

‘…everything you need is in your head and memories, in all that your senses provide, in all that you’ve seen and thought and absorbed. There in your unconscious, where the real creation goes on, is the little kid or the Dr Seuss creature in the cellar, arranging and stitching things together. When this being is ready to hand things up to you, to give you a paragraph or a sudden move one character makes that will change the whole course of your novel, you will be entrusted with it. So, in the meantime, while the tailor is working, you might as well go get some fresh air… Otherwise you’ll want to sit there and try to contribute, and this will only get in the way. Your unconscious can’t work while you’re breathing down its neck.’

It definitely resonates with me, this idea of trusting the unconscious.

I still have to plot my story, work on characterisation, polish my prose and know what I’m doing and where I’m going. But those ‘aha!’ moments that solve a problem or take my characters in a new direction, tend to arrive without warning – and usually not when I’m actually writing.

This ‘inspiration’ crops up when I’m driving (yes, listening to the Foo Fighters), cooking, cleaning or about to fall asleep. I write the idea/s down and then can’t relax until I’m back at the computer, working them into my writing or editing. Sometimes those ideas do come when I keep plugging away at a line or a paragraph, but mostly they arrive when I’m not looking.

And see, now that I’m writing about this tricky thing called inspiration (aka the muse, the unconscious, the temperamental inner child), I’m already worrying that I might have scared it away…

Latest Posts

Latest Comments

Categories

Archives

About Me

I’m the author of the Rephaim series and The Undercurrent.

For my day job, I’m a writer-journalist-professional communicator, where my writing involves a lot less profanity.

I grew up in regional South Australia and now live in the Scenic Rim with my husband and a retired greyhound.

If you’re interested in how I came to land a publishing deal, you can read the short version in this post from August 2011. There’s a longer version (in a guest post) here.

Paula Weston

Latest from the Blog

  • My first ‘best of’ list on Shepherd
    Have you heard of Shepherd.com? It’s a platform where authors provide book recommendations for readers who like their work. It’s a bit of a ‘If […]
  • Stagnation – and an epiphany
    As mentioned in my last post, I’ve been working on a new fantasy series. What I didn’t mention was that, for the first time in […]
  • I’m still here…
    Although I’d understand if you lost interest in this blog long ago. It’s been five years since my last post. I’m keen to get blogging […]
  • The Undercurrent – interviews and reviews
    It’s been a busy six weeks since The Undercurrent was released here in Australia. I’ve had the chance to talk about the new novel  on air, […]
  • Yes, the Undercurrent is a standalone novel
    The Undercurrent – out now in Australia and New Zealand – is a speculative thriller set in near-future Australia and, yes, it’s a standalone novel. […]