When I think of being an author, of writing, I can’t help think about all the work of others I have read over the years, about the things that inspire me, about the works that have touched and moved me.  I know it’s a cliché to talk about standing on the shoulders of giants, but in many ways the cliché rings true.

If I do ever become successful as an author, then it will be, to a greater or lesser extent, due to the works of various authors who have inspired me to put pen to paper – or rather, finger to keyboard.  I want to take the time to talk about a few of these literary heroes, and will probably do so again so don’t be fooled into thinking what I say in this post is by any means an exhaustive list.

Stephen R. Lawhead - An author of immensely evocative imaginative fiction and mythic history, including the Pendragon Cycle, – Taliesin, Merlin, Arthur and Pendragon, a re-imagining of the Arthurian legend to incorporate Lawhead’s fascination in Celtic studies.  In particular, the narrative style of Merlin told in the first-person from the titular character’s perspective was an immense inspiration of how the moods and motivations of a character can colour the prose.  One of Lawhead’s other early works is the Empyrion saga, which demonstrates brilliantly how an immensely well-developed world can be gradually opened up to a reader.

Read widely, not just the stuff you think you’ll like or with which you will agree. Keep an open mind. Pay attention the writer’s style, the way he or she puts the point across or tells the story. Analyse what various writers are doing and learn from it.