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  What have you read recently that really inspired your writing?

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  I love it when I read a novel that gets my creative juices flowing -- usually something that I could never possibly write, but which inspires me to create just the same. Janet Fitch's "Paint It Black" is a terrific novel that in my wildest dreams I could never write -- the language is poetic yet effective as narrative, her evocation of mood is stunning, and her metaphors and similes are beyond belief -- but just seeing the possibilities of prose, wondering how close I can get to those techniques and abilities is exciting and inspiring. Per Petterson's "Out Stealing Horses" and "Man in the Dark" by Paul Auster also inspired me in much the same way.

  What have you read recently that inspired you and your writing? In what ways? Craft-wise? Subject matter? The way the characters were drawn or the mood evoked?

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  Justin McFarr started this discussion 4 years ago. ( reply | permalink )

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  breid 

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  I read pretty voraciously (this weekend while I was recovering from the flu I reread The Beginning of Spring by Penelope Fitzgerald, and Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson, finished reading How to Write Like Chekhov, started reading Chekhov's short stories, started another Jan Karon novel, oh -- and Still Alice -- the novel by I forget who about a woman with early onset Alzheimer's). But I love how-to-write books and always seem to have a new one in my bookbag. I recently discovered Heather Sellers' Chapter After Chapter and have been carrying it around and quoting from it to people. Okay, so I'm a little obsessive.

  Of all of these, Sellers and Fitzgerald are probably the best inspirations, with Petterson coming in there to make three.

  posted 4 years ago. ( permalink )

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  Justin McFarr 

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  "Out Stealing Horses," yes, what a terrific book. So simply written, yet rich with depth of feeling, of character, atmosphere and action. I haven't read Fitzgerald or Sellers, but it sounds like I should check those out. Thanks for sharing, Breid.

  posted 4 years ago. ( permalink )

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  theloise f 

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  I am just now getting to Pat Conroy's South of Broad and am enthralled at how he evolks a sense of place. As I told one of my students to whom I presented a poetry prize, it is writing I wish I had written. I am drawn to books with poetic prose: Fugitive Pieces, The God od Small Things, Giliad.
  Thanks for Out Stealing Horses--I'll put it on my list.
  ~Jo (short for Theloise)

  posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )

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  Justin McFarr 

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  Thanks, Jo, for joining the discussion. Congratulations to your student. I'm taking a class at USC now with 3 poets, and I just read one of their books of poetry: Nan Cohen's "Rope Bridge," which I enjoyed more than I imagined I would. I'm normally not a poetry fan, but her language was so crisp and precise, vivid and full of simmering emotion. I just got caught up in most every piece. Would definitely recommend it. It even inspired me to sit down and write some poetry of my own, which is rare motivation for me to have.

  posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )

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  te11uride 

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  Theloise, if you like Pat Conroy's "South of Broad", you really should read "The Prince of Tides." Excellent! Characterization and sense of place equal or better than "South of Broad". Ditto for Jane Austen's books. Nothing beats "Anna Karenina" for omniscient character development. Although Russian in origin, the story is both timeless and universal.

  posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )

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  Holly Weiss 

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  I could not put down Russian Winter by Daphne Kalotry. She uses language and mystery beautifully. I was struck by how she wrote her flashbacks in the present tense.
  Here is my reivew. http://bit.ly/bA26Nt

  posted 2 years ago. ( permalink )

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