Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Top Ten Tuesday: FREEBIE (Writers to Emulate)


http://www.brokeandbookish.com/p/top-ten-tuesday-other-features.html 

As always, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

So today's topic is a freebie, so I get to pick whatever I want! I've decided to throw some writing into it today, and do Top Ten authors I wish to emulate, and who inspire me.

A lot of times these authors have many wonderful skills - good a plotting, characterization, description, etc. But for the purposes of this list, I'm focusing mainly on the ones that I'd like to particularly learn from that author.

Basically, if I could have a private writing class with an author, these are the teachers I would pick, and the topics I'd ask them to teach me.

1. Maggie Stiefvater.
Not only are her characters fabulous and her plotting wonderful, but her writing style is just so unique. She uses metaphors to full advantage, and doesn't slip into cliches. We SEE everything she describes. I want to be able to write like this so badly.

2. F. Scott Fitzgerald.
This man is able to fully describe a scene in one sentence. Short, sweet, and dreadfully evoking. He, like Maggie, ditches cliches entirely and I think this is what helps him to evoke such clear images in our minds with so few words.

Also, he created Jay Gatsby. That takes skill.

3. Erin Morgenstern.
I don't consider her plotting to be the greatest, but she is seated along with the previous two in the glorious thrones of cliche-less and scene-evoking description.

4. Elizabeth Wein
I would like her plotting skills, please. Of course, her characters are awesome, but... gosh. Plots. Timelines. Flashbacks. This woman is master.

5. Arthur Conan Doyle.
This is the man who created the mind of Sherlock Holmes. He must have been quite clever himself. I so want to learn how to plot a good mystery, and Conan Doyle is the one to teach me. 

6. Charles Dickens.
I know I struggle with reading Dickens - he tends to go off on about some virtue or another, and for some reason that bugs me more that Hugo's digressions. But there is no doubt that Dickens created some of the most colorfully memorable characters in all of Literature (he also gave them awesome names). Think about it - Ebeneezer Scrooge? Miss Havisham? There are also a bunch of smaller characters that pop in and out of his novels who are just plain out WEIRD.

...plotting...
He's also an excellent plotter, and I need all the help with plotting I can get.

7. Victor Hugo.

HUGO HAS EVERYTHING
CHARACTERS PLOT WRITING
TEACH ME EVERYTHING MONSIEUR

8. Alexandre Dumas.

Another plotter. I think that The Count of Monte Cristo has some of the most impressive plotting in all the classics I've read. I want to plot like that.


The words "plotting," "plot," and "plotter" are starting to sound very strange to me. I've been saying them too much. :-)

9. George R. R. Martin.

This is an interesting one, because I don't ADORE his books. I read the first two and quit- I didn't feel involved. But I will admit without hesitation that his worldbuilding is some of the greatest in fantasy literature, and would love to hear about his worldbuilding process. Also, plotting. Of course.

10. C. S. Lewis.

I'm not sure what I'd ask from dear old Jack. He was one of my first writing inspirations, and I think I'd just like to tell him thank you. :-)

What authors would you like to learn to write from?
Or if you're not a writer - what authors (living or dead) would you dreadfully love to meet?
And what was your TTT topic? Link it in the comments!

~Sophia

15 comments:

  1. This is a great list! I would love to meet Maggie Stiefvater too. I've also always wanted to meet Shakespeare and I feel that Roald Dahl would be an interesting person to have a conversation with.
    My Top Ten Tuesday - http://thebookishraven.blogspot.ca/2015/01/top-ten-tuesday-freebie-top-ten-books.html

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    1. Oh Roald Dahl would be spectacular at a dinner party :-)

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  2. YES! This is a fantastic list!! :)
    Check out my TTT.

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  3. Those are great! I haven't heard of a couple of these so I'll be sure to check them out. :) Elizabeth Wein I know wrote Code Name Verity which I've heard rave reviews of and I hope to read this year or next. :)
    I did my top ten favorite book to movie adaptations. :) http://youmeandacupofteablog.blogspot.com/2015/01/top-ten-tuesday-book-to-film-adaptations.html

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    1. You absolutely MUST read Code Name Verity - you will love it, I know. :-)

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  4. Ooo, cool list!! I like it. Here's my TTT post for the week: http://captivatedreader.blogspot.com/2015/01/top-ten-tuesday-authors-id-like-to-meet.html

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  5. I really need to read a Maggie Stiefvater book, because I've heard amazing things about her writing, and I love unique description. I love Elizabeth Wein's writing. Her characters and her writing in general are so real. Also, Charles Dickens IS THE MASTER OF LITERATURE. His stories and characters are so complex and resonant, which results in books that beg to be reread.

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    1. You DO really need to read a Maggie Stiefvater book. What are you doing with your life? :-P

      What is your favorite Dickens novel? I love Great Expectations, and did enjoy Tale of Two Cities, but have started - and quit on - both Old Curiosity Shop and Bleak House. Recommendations, please!

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  6. CHARLES DICKENS, he is one of my greatest inspirations! Along with C.S Lewis and J.R Tolkien.
    I really need to read a Maggie Stiefvater book. Number one, you love her. Number two, Cait loves her. And that's pretty much all the recommendation I need! Both of you say she writes quirky characters; people with quirks are the things I love most to write and to read!

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    1. YES. Read a Maggie Stiefvater book. Read them all.

      I am quite honored to be ranked with Cait. She is one of my top recommenders too, and one of the main reasons I started reading Maggie Stiefvater.

      Also- give me Dickens recommendations, please. I seem to have some slight difficulty getting through his books.

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  7. Looks like an awesome list! Personally, I'd like it if Harper Lee could teach me how to write because To Kill a Mockingbird is probably the closest any of us will ever get to reading a perfect novel. :-)

    I'd also like a few pointers from Ray Bradbury. I kind of feel the same way about him that you do about George R. R. Martin: I don't *adore* his books exactly, but he was certainly a talented author. His descriptions sound like poetry and he's very good at dropping the reader right into the middle of a scene. Then again, Bradbury wrote so much about writing that it almost is like having him there to teach you!

    I'd also like to be taught by Shakespeare because, really, who doesn't want to be as good as Shakespeare? ;-)

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    1. I have never read To Kill a Mockingbird but it is most definitely on my list. Neither have I read any Ray Bradbury. I need to get on top of things, don't I? :-)

      Oh yes. Shakespeare. Definitely.

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  8. Good list! I love Maggie Stiefvater and Lewis Carroll. I'm currently reading the Great Gatsby! I haven't read Code Name Verity yet, but I've heard great things about it,
    Ariel @ Bookish Confessions

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    1. Thanks! Oh I hope you like the Great Gatsby. And Code Name Verity is pure genius and you should believe all the wonderful things you've heard and more :-)

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