What influences authors

Genre fiction has been a staple of my literary diet for about 25 years now. Initially, it was just a passing fancy. I found books I liked, read them, and then moved on to the next thing. As I grew older though, I found that genre fiction carried with it a certain siren song of interest. I just can’t help being interested in it. No matter what the quality of writing is, I love it, and one of the things I like is to try to figure out, what’s driving the authors.

For example, I’m reading a book right now, and it is very pagan-y. The descriptions of the characters and their clothing, as well as the places are all reminiscent of what I’ve seen in neo-pagan literature. This leads me to believe that, regardless of what that individual author believes, there is a specific body of literature that fueled the world for the book I’m reading.

For me, being cognizant of this kind of thing is fun. I know that when I run games, what I am immersed works as fodder for my own games. I tend to read things that are oriented around tough moral choices. As a result, I have a hard time keeping this out of my games. I love throwing hard choices at my characters and seeing where they go with it. I’m rarely disappointed. Does the poverty-stricken character work for the unsavory NPC because they need the money, or do they try to uphold some kind of code to explain why they turn down a contact? I love this stuff.

What authors use to create their works is fueled by research. A question was asked, investigated, and bore fruit for a writer in the form of a story.  I suggest trying the same thing. Consider a topic you’re curious about, head on over to the library and see what they have on it, and then create. Likely, you won’t be disappointed.