h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Who (besides DNA, that's given) have been the greatest influences on your writing/desire to write?

For one, I would like to nominate Stephen Fry.

His novels, as well as his TV/Film work and his excellent radio essays collected in Paperweight, have all been of great help and inspiration to me, having been trying to make sense of the little unfairnesses of life, since I first read Hitchhiker when I was 11.
He has a very generous capacity in his writing for being able to
share the ups and downs of his experience and impart his wisdom
with humility, humour, and good old-fashioned British self-deprecation. Most importantly, it made me feel that he was not
trying to be some authority figure on truth, just giving it his best; which made it easier for me to exercise free will on deciding what
I believed or didn't, and hope that one day I could do the same.
This might explain why I find Will Self so hard to stomach...


Who have you to thank?

douglas adams, e e "doc" smith, isaac asimov, arthur c clarke, anne mccaffrey to name but a few. I have a collection of over 2000 sci-fi and fantasy books, almost all of which are well worth reading repeatedly. Looking at the quality of their work, and comparing it to some of the stuff you have to put up with now, it just inspires you to create.
The basic idea that comes out of some of the modern stuff, is "if they can get away with publishing that piffle, I couldn't do much worse". so you try and see what you come up with.

I'll try my best. Er, tomorrow OK?

Hello...

Just popping in on your little convesation...

I have to say that no writer in particular has inspired me to write.

I write because I have to, It´s in my blood, in my soul...

I do admire such writers as Douglas Adams, and Peter David who writes Star Trek Fiction. Peter David does have that certain effect on me to aspire to greatness..., unfortunatly I doubt I can reach his level.

Writers of TV fiction I have to say my big idol is Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the vampire slayer and Angel. That man can really write some seriously good s**t... Cuddos to Joss...

Well, that was just my five cents, hope you don´t mind me dropping in like that...

I kind of hate to write. The problem is that when I get so much stuff in my head, I have to spew it out somewhere, or I'm getting overload and shuts down, er, that is, go to sleep. But mainly, writing is a bitch.

One of my favorite writers, from a bookreaders' point of view, is, believe it or not, L. Ron Hubbard.... His "Battlefield Earth" story was a bit far-fetched, but another one I read was like, a statement about the futility of warfare, "Final Blackout" veerrry interesting...

As for favourite writers, I really dig fantasy. So its no big surprise that I find Tolkien to be right on the spot. Also, R.A Salvatore is a great writer, Terry Pratchett of Discworld fame is another.

If you like pratchett, then you would probably like robert asprin and piers anthony as well.

Thanks, I'll check them out!