Three influences and..

[lovecraft68]

Three influences and what did they influence in your writing in either style or what you like to write.

These are mine hardly highbrow, but then again neither am I.

1-The Destroyer series by Warren Murphy-Fight scenes. mostly in my off lit writing, but I have a couple on here.

2- Taboo-the Original with Kay Parker which I saw at a young age courtesy of a older cousin with a hell of a VHS porn collection. It instilled the kink in me and obviously that's still there.

3-60's-70's Marvel comics...for dialogue and humor. Marvel was at its finest in that era and as a young avid reader I loved how the characters spoke to each other, since there were visuals it was easy to 'see' a conversation and how it worked.

The one liners delivered(especially by Spider-man and the Thing) to razz their opponents were hilarious and my writing is full of both self deprecating one liners and baiting insults during fight scenes.

I guess I can say that going by this list 52 year old me is still 14 year old me.

 

[RejectReality]

1. Video games. If it wasn't for Gladiator ( Taito Arcade ) and Dragon Warrior sparking an obsession with fantasy, I never would have developed my PnP game, which was the basis for the first real writing I did. First, for the game, and then stories based upon the adventures. Without getting started in fantasy, nothing that followed would have happened.

2. Fantasy novels. Beginning with the Chronicles trilogy in Dragonlance, but probably most influenced by Eddings and Feist. In particular, the Mallorean, Polgara the Sorceress, and Belgarath the Sorcerer have influenced the way I write everything — not just fantasy. Solitary emphasis lines are what comes up in nearly everything.

I honestly can't nail down a third. There's a mixture of Weird Al, 80s fantasy adventure movies like Highlander, Mel Brooks, Marvel Comics, and a lot of other things in there.

It should probably be girls. When I lay out the various turning points directly related to writing, there's a girl involved in all of them.

 

[lovecraft68]

1. Video games. If it wasn't for Gladiator ( Taito Arcade ) and Dragon Warrior sparking an obsession with fantasy, I never would have developed my PnP game, which was the basis for the first real writing I did. First, for the game, and then stories based upon the adventures. Without getting started in fantasy, nothing that followed would have happened.

2. Fantasy novels. Beginning with the Chronicles trilogy in Dragonlance, but probably most influenced by Eddings and Feist. In particular, the Mallorean, Polgara the Sorceress, and Belgarath the Sorcerer have influenced the way I write everything — not just fantasy. Solitary emphasis lines are what comes up in nearly everything.

I honestly can't nail down a third. There's a mixture of Weird Al, 80s fantasy adventure movies like Highlander, Mel Brooks, Marvel Comics, and a lot of other things in there.

It should probably be girls. When I lay out the various turning points directly related to writing, there's a girl involved in all of them.

Just for mentioning Weird Al you are today's winner of the interwebz

 

[UsuallyPresent]

1) Tolkien's world building. His work in the timeline and languages behind the scenes affected what became classics, and formed a hidden skeleton that maintained the coherence of much of his body of work.

2) Comparative mythology. The commonalities and differences in the stories we humans have come up with across time and space have great fascination for me.

3) Holywood, for good and ill. The ability to augment or wreck a tale, the ability to weave additional layers to a narrative, the complexities of fantasy and real-world interactions - all are fascinating to me at a metanarrative level, even if the resultant narrative either draws me in or disgusts me.

 

[GroverLang]

Three influences and what did they influence in your writing in either style or what you like to write.

These are mine hardly highbrow, but then again neither am I.

I’m certainly not highbrow either, my musical tastes go from ELO to Verdi, and my taste in reading for relaxation are the crime and thriller type of books because I want to disappear from my normal life for a while.

1. I didn’t discover Literotica until very late in life, about five years ago, and after reading stories for three years I was inspired to write and submit. In those three years, and since then, I’ve read some very good stories but many more have been crap in so many ways. I thought I would never be as good as some but I could do better than many.

2. Many years ago I began visiting ladies of ill repute (but stopped because 90% were a waste of time) and began meeting mistresses which I enjoyed more. I became enamoured of two ladies, one a professional domme and the other a member of the oldest profession, both of whom I saw several times but no longer although we still keep in touch occasionally. They inspired my first stories.

3. After a few stories I decided to write a multi-plot story inspired by crime/thriller stories. I was dubious because it was much harder than anything I’ve done before but, several months later, it’s at 4.68 and I’m very happy. But I want my next one to be better, even if the score is lower.

I’m rather hoping someone will say Dr Zhivago inspired them to write in Loving Wives.

 

[NotWise]

I've been influenced by other authors, but my biggest influences have been my teachers.

1. My composition teacher in High School. I disagreed with almost everything she said, and she inspired me to write things that "proved" her wrong.

2. My college freshman English teacher, who encouraged my evident insanity.

3. My college creative writing instructor, who taught me to have respect for the work of others.

 

[Blind_Justice]

1) Role-playing games, the pen&paper kind.

I quickly came to a point where I wasn't quite satisfied with the pre-made worlds TSR/Wizards of the Coast put out and began to build my own. The first one was a happily stolen-together mix of Warhammer Fantasy, the best of D&D and a few weird ideas of my own, but over time, I rebooted "my" world until it was truly mine. I learned a lot about believable worlds and characters doing that.

2) Heavy Metal music

It's more an attitude thing than any particular band or song. Fuck the rules. Don't let anyone tell you what to think, what to do, how to behave. I may have mellowed a bit since the early '90s, but that attitude still permeates my writing. "Don't write GM in your Fantasy stories!" Why not? I received tons of praise for the m/m scenes in both "Gheeran" and "Faceless Executioner". "Your typical Lit story shouldn't be longer than 3 Lit pages." Um, "Rembrandt Legacy" wants to have a word. 16 pages, 4.85, overwhelmingly positive reviews.

3) Terry Pratchett

Granted, I don't have his way with words. I also have no sense of humor - any jokes in my stories are happy accidents. But his writing is incredibly inspiring.

 

[TxRad]

Boredom got me started once I had a computer to work with. Typing was a dead art and I couldn't afford all the whiteout I needed for corrections.

Getting rid of all the voices in my head spurred me on.

And third, I found sex to be easy to write.

I have a hard time writing scifi since i read so much of it earlier. I couldn't and still can't to some extent tell what is memory and what is mine.

There is so much there, it is hard to limit to just three.

Life in general is a lot of it.

 

[lovecraft68]

1) Role-playing games, the pen&paper kind.

I quickly came to a point where I wasn't quite satisfied with the pre-made worlds TSR/Wizards of the Coast put out and began to build my own. The first one was a happily stolen-together mix of Warhammer Fantasy, the best of D&D and a few weird ideas of my own, but over time, I rebooted "my" world until it was truly mine. I learned a lot about believable worlds and characters doing that.

2) Heavy Metal music

It's more an attitude thing than any particular band or song. Fuck the rules. Don't let anyone tell you what to think, what to do, how to behave. I may have mellowed a bit since the early '90s, but that attitude still permeates my writing. "Don't write GM in your Fantasy stories!" Why not? I received tons of praise for the m/m scenes in both "Gheeran" and "Faceless Executioner". "Your typical Lit story shouldn't be longer than 3 Lit pages." Um, "Rembrandt Legacy" wants to have a word. 16 pages, 4.85, overwhelmingly positive reviews.

3) Terry Pratchett

Granted, I don't have his way with words. I also have no sense of humor - any jokes in my stories are happy accidents. But his writing is incredibly inspiring.

I'm with you on metal, the louder, faster and more chaotic, the better I focus. Its the engine that powers the muse

 

[RejectReality]

I couldn't afford official TSR material when I started my game, or even special dice. Everything was based upon D6 and assorted fantasy media in the beginning.

Even once I started incorporating official material, it was more often adapted from novels rather than rule books. My core gameplay was too radically different from official to directly pull in anything. Everything got its own spin to fit with my existing rule sets.

1) Role-playing games, the pen&paper kind.

I quickly came to a point where I wasn't quite satisfied with the pre-made worlds TSR/Wizards of the Coast put out and began to build my own. The first one was a happily stolen-together mix of Warhammer Fantasy, the best of D&D and a few weird ideas of my own, but over time, I rebooted "my" world until it was truly mine. I learned a lot about believable worlds and characters doing that.

 

[Enchantment_of_Nyx]

Tolkien. My current writing projects aren't terribly reflective of this, but as a kid, Tolkien's work and the work of similar authors taught me things about the value of fantasy. I realized that it not only provides escape and freedom, but that Truths with a capital "T" are told in fiction. I started viewing fiction as more powerful than nonfiction, which generally tells truths with a lowercase "t." I don't mean to run down non-fiction. They're both terribly important. But, to a 12 year-old, it's a bit of a revelation to discover bigger truths in fiction than in biographies.

Eric Van Lustbader. This is NOT a recommendation of his work. Fourth-grade me found one of his books hidden in the back of a closet, so naturally she scoured it, marked the pages of the naughty bits, and reread them obsessively. Really, really obsessively. It's always disconcerting recognizing the sexuality of children, even when I was the child. But, since I was that child, there was nothing jarring about it at the time. What I was reading was a manifestation of things I felt only vaguely and abstractly. Seeing those feelings reflected in a concrete way made me understand them better.

Literotica. I discovered the site more than 20 years ago. I met my husband here. (Yep, surprise! I didn't just drop from the sky the moment I signed up to be able to participate on the discussion boards.) The stories here span a much larger gambit than what you can find at the book store. Bodice-ripper romances have their place, but for me, they offered titillation without substance or satisfaction. On Lit, I've found stories that have resonance, emotional heft, and pure celebration of lust. Even stories that aren't written anywhere close to professional standards can offer these things. The stories on Lit really expanded the way I think about the function of sex in a story. People in the publishing industry often say that if it's a sex story, anything that doesn't advance the sex doesn't belong. I think many of the stories on this site demonstrate why that isn't true. It's hard to find the good stories, but they're here, and I'm grateful for their influence.

 

[HeyAll]

In terms of erotica, which is basically all I write, two stories have really inspired me:

With Mom's Help
https://www.literotica.com/beta/s/with-moms-help

And a story called "Mother and Son" by Ann Douglas (not on Lit)

I learned formatting, proper build up, and playing with the taboo from those stories. Particularly character motivations and how to tease things out.

I highly recommend reading them. The same principals apply to all stories, not just taboo.

I'm also inspirsed by one of my favorite crime writers, Simon Kernick, in terms of moving at a fast pace and writing in that sort of casual way, as if telling a story to a friend.

 

[Enchantment_of_Nyx]

1)

2) Heavy Metal music

It's more an attitude thing than any particular band or song. Fuck the rules. Don't let anyone tell you what to think, what to do, how to behave. I may have mellowed a bit since the early '90s, but that attitude still permeates my writing. "Don't write GM in your Fantasy stories!" Why not? I received tons of praise for the m/m scenes in both "Gheeran" and "Faceless Executioner". "Your typical Lit story shouldn't be longer than 3 Lit pages." Um, "Rembrandt Legacy" wants to have a word. 16 pages, 4.85, overwhelmingly positive reviews.

The lyrics of so many heavy metal songs are beautiful poetry by themselves. So beautiful that I unknowingly gave the Editor's Choice award to plagiarized lyrics in my high school's Literary Annual.

 

[lovecraft68]

The lyrics of so many heavy metal songs are beautiful poetry by themselves. So beautiful that I unknowingly gave the Editor's Choice award to plagiarized lyrics in my high school's Literary Annual.

There's lyrics? All I tend to here is the music, mostly.

I'm more a fan of angry primal type songs or in the case of a group like Cradle of Filth I couldn't understand everything if I actually tried.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Old school here...

1. Robert H. Heinlein - all of his books and others of that time. Loved sci-fi. Never got into fantasy too much.

2. Taboo - yes the original way back when. Actually saw it on 16mm way back when. Then there was the film The Color Yellow, saw it in the theater. And who could forget Marilyn Chambers the Snow White girl?

3. 60s and 70s swinging films. Plus some books I found... in a major sellers store... that were pretty raunchy for the time. There were of course authored by Anonymous. No, they really were.

 

[lovecraft68]

Old school here...

1. Robert H. Heinlein - all of his books and others of that time. Loved sci-fi. Never got into fantasy too much.

2. Taboo - yes the original way back when. Actually saw it on 16mm way back when. Then there was the film The Color Yellow, saw it in the theater. And who could forget Marilyn Chambers the Snow White girl?

3. 60s and 70s swinging films. Plus some books I found... in a major sellers store... that were pretty raunchy for the time. There were of course authored by Anonymous. No, they really were.

I found a bunch of those anon books in an attic in an old abandoned house me and some friends had broken into They were hardcore to say the least, most of them were taboo, but there were some insane orgy stories too.

 

[Enchantment_of_Nyx]

There's lyrics? All I tend to here is the music, mostly.

I'm more a fan of angry primal type songs or in the case of a group like Cradle of Filth I couldn't understand everything if I actually tried.

Yep, that's why nobody caught on to the fact that it was plagiarized. It didn't just get through me. It got through the entire group of students working on it and our faculty advisor. Those of us who had heard the song never understood the lyrics. Only one student caught it after the Literary Annual came out. I wish I could remember which song it was, but it wasn't obscure.

After that, I started reading heavy metal song lyrics, and I was just stunned by the quality of a lot of them. Perhaps the bands appreciated the irony of singing them to not be heard.

 

[gordo12]

I’m rather hoping someone will say Dr Zhivago inspired them to write in Loving Wives.

LOL, can't quite make that claim, it was more like Lucy in Peanuts. The psychology behind what people do fascinates me. That'll be 5c please!

But a lot of the LW authors here (and other categories) inspired me over the last twenty years. I found top notch people writing for free and butchers that shouldn't have been allowed near a story. But the stories from the good ones don't always go the way I would have written it.

Scifi and all the greats like Heinlein and Burroughs were an enormous inspiration when I was young. I also like adventure, westerns, paranormal, historical, mystery, or detective stories. Authors like Cussler are a favourite.

I've never been fond of the classics.

My first story here was Scifi. Even my LW stories sometimes have a tinge of Scifi.

These days I study other authors here and on Amazon. There are a lot of amazing people writing here.

 

[SamScribble]

1. My father’s ‘library’.

My father was an accountant, a part time farmer, and, for a couple of years, a Fleet Air Arm pilot. But he was also a pretty serious bibliophile. It was through his library that I got to know the works of Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, Anthony Trollop, Mark Twain, Jerome K Jerome, Joseph Conrad, E M Forster, H G Wells, Winston Churchill, Laurie Lee, W Somerset Maugham, Graham Greene, and many, many military historians. And, through discussing these books with my father, I got to learn that, whatever you are writing, it is usually best to keep your prose clear and simple.

2. J P Donleavy

I bought my first copy of The Ginger Man while sheltering from a sudden thunderstorm in a now long gone corner shop. According to Dorothy Parker: ‘The Ginger Man is the picaresque novel to stop them all, lusty, violent, wildly funny.’ She was not wrong.

3. Wampeters Foma & Granfalloons

A collection of ‘opinions’ by Kurt Vonnegut Jr, Wampeters Foma & Granfalloons reminded me that, whatever you are writing, it’s usually best to keep your prose clear and simple.

 

[vanmyers86]

1. Anne McCaffrey. (Dragonriders of Pern) I first read one of her Pern fantasy books when I was 12, and I was hooked! My vocabulary, character types and romantic style trace directly to her.

2. Diana Gabaldon (Outlander) A friend gave me three of her books in 2007, and her sensual/cerebral style engaged me right away. For writing erotica, it's hard to beat her guide, "I Give You My Body: How I Write Sex Scenes." It greatly improved my writing.

3. Neil Peart, late drummer and lyricist for the rock band Rush. I started listening to them in college, and over the years, he put words to a lot of ideals and concepts I had whirling around in my head and heart, but couldn't verbalize, including the kind of man I wanted to share my life with.

I'm also over 50, so I've had a LOT of literary influences over the years, including Heinlein, Dick Francis, Agatha Christie, P.G. Wodehouse, Cynthia Heimel, Connie Willis, Andrew Greeley - the list goes on. But I consider these to be my Big Three.

 

[Enchantment_of_Nyx]

1. Anne McCaffrey. (Dragonriders of Pern) I first read one of her Pern fantasy books when I was 12, and I was hooked! My vocabulary, character types and romantic style trace directly to her.

2. Diana Gabaldon (Outlander) A friend gave me three of her books in 2007, and her sensual/cerebral style engaged me right away. For writing erotica, it's hard to beat her guide, "c." It greatly improved my writing.

3. Neil Peart, late drummer and lyricist for the rock band Rush. I started listening to them in college, and over the years, he put words to a lot of ideals and concepts I had whirling around in my head and heart, but couldn't verbalize, including the kind of man I wanted to share my life with.

I'm also over 50, so I've had a LOT of literary influences over the years, including Heinlein, Dick Francis, Agatha Christie, P.G. Wodehouse, Cynthia Heimel, Connie Willis, Andrew Greeley - the list goes on. But I consider these to be my Big Three.

I loved Dragonriders of Pern. I haven't thought of it in so long. Thanks for making me remember.

 

[vanmyers86]

I loved Dragonriders of Pern. I haven't thought of it in so long. Thanks for making me remember.

Fantastic series while she was the one writing it. I've often wished my imagination worked like that, but alas! I can't write sci-fi/fantasy worth a damn.

 

[TheStoryTeller2342]

My influences?

I read neo noir growing up and the brooding, sarcastic first person writing really influences my writing style. I feel there's no better POV to describe what a charger is feeling. Every other POV feels mechanical.

Bluedragonauthor: I've not yet come across a better author on this site. Descriptive, emotional, hot stories.

My own dead bedroom: The wife introduced me to BDSM, then went frigid about 6 months after we got married. I took my fantasies about other women during that time and decided to fit them into a framework of an actual novel. Only intended to write one... And then it kind of got our of hand. 3 23 chapter novels later, and a 10-12 chapter novel in the works, and then I think I'll be done. I've got a story percolating in my head about a former freighter captain that has devoted his entire life to hunting pedos, that will get posted elsewhere.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

I found a bunch of those anon books in an attic in an old abandoned house me and some friends had broken into They were hardcore to say the least, most of them were taboo, but there were some insane orgy stories too.

There was one that had a bunch of short stories in it... one was just sickening... it was about two women who molested a baby girl! Yuck. That's when I stopped buying them and tossed the rest in the trash.

I do have to say, that they might have been the thing that started my path down incest and loving wives type stories.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

1. Anne McCaffrey. (Dragonriders of Pern) I first read one of her Pern fantasy books when I was 12, and I was hooked! My vocabulary, character types and romantic style trace directly to her.

Dragonriders of Pern, is the only set of fantasy novels I have ever read, yet they weren't really fantasy stories. It was futurist, sci-fi with gene modification of a native species of animal on another planet.

Loved those stories.