The Old and the New

by M. L. Buchman

"What writers have most influenced your writing?"

As a writer, I get that question all the time. And I've had an answer that I've liked for a long time:

"Well, I'm not sure who influenced me, but I can tell you the writers who I've read almost everything they've written: Arthur C. Clarke, a lot of Heinlein and Asimov, the complete fiction of Ayn Rand and Herman Hesse (read in order), James Clavell (the only author I consistently bought in hardback even when broke because I couldn't wait), a lot of Nora Roberts and Susan Wiggs, Anne McCaffrey, Ursula K. LeGuin... That's the heart of it. There's also King and..."

I'm a great re-reader too. Tolkien each decade, Atlas Shrugged every 5 years (my favorite book that probably changed my view of the world more than any other along with Clarke's The City and the Stars). Lucifer's Hammer by Niven and Pournelle is another fav along with the Earthsea Trilogy.

Only recently have I noticed a real problem with that list...most of those writers are dead. Yes, I look forward to the next Susan Wiggs book, but partly its because I know just what kind of story I'll get.

Then I begin to think about my own writing. I feel like I'm just at the very beginning of my career. I'm starting my 60th novel this week, and I finally feel as if I'm getting some idea of what I want to ultimately write.

It's not that I'm not thrilled with what I've written. #59 hits the bookshelves on October 30th and I love it! It has a level of characterization and storytelling that I'm terribly pleased with (well, as pleased as I am with any title I've written).

www.mlbuchman.com/books/midnight-trust/

For me, my discovery of story (probably best as a topic for another time, so I'll just dip in a little here) is done by telling stories. Some writers think, some outline, some plan... I write and see what happens on the page. As I'm building craft (and fans--thank you very much), I'm also slowly unwrapping the core stories I want to tell.

Is it a voyage of self discovery? I think it is, and that's actually the key to my thoughts about writing at the moment.

I have been reading the (mostly) past masters and perhaps exploring my past self. But now, at the take-off point of my writing career, as I move forward into the next stage of my writing and my life, I realize that I need to read the new writers. I need to explore Ken Liu in science fiction. I just finished the latest William Gibson (yes, he's been writing a while, but his writing still pushes hard at the edges). Neal Stephenson's Anthema is one of my favorites from the last decade. But still, I need to find newer and fresh voices.

So, I'm moving soon. And I've decided it was a perfect opportunity to be lightening my load. After a lot of debate...I sold all of my fiction books. (Okay, I kept Atlas Shrugged.) Whole bookcases went away. Ninety percent of the fiction I still own in paper is now my own.

Why did I do this? Because I wanted to open the space in my mental shelves for new writers as well as my physical ones. For new words. I want to find people who are exploring the limits of their craft and the outer reaches of story. I've tried reading the "fiction as art" books as I think of them. I find them to be too disjointed, perhaps simply not to my taste.

For me, fiction must be accessible and filled with heart. Be it a romance, a thriller, SF, or high fantasy is less of an issue. The fiction I write will always meet those two criteria. But I wouldn't have read those "art" books if I hadn't been seeking "the new." I want to hear fresh thoughts in storytelling.

Everything evolves. From The Illiad's poetic capture of an until-then oral tradition to Hao Jingfang's Hugo winning Folding Beijing, storytelling has evolved immensely. She (the 7th bestselling book of all time--ahead of The Da Vinci Code and all but the first Harry Potter--once the most popular book in the world) is nearly unreadable just a hundred and thirty years later. It's not that the language is too arcane, rather that the style of storytelling has evolved so drastically.

I want the new. I need the new!

...any suggestions?

M.L. "Matt" Buchman has over 50 novels, 70 short stories, and a fast-growing pile of audiobooks out in the world. M.L. writes romance, thrillers, and SF&F…so far. Three-times Booklist "Top-10 Romance Novel of the Year." NPR and B&N "Best 5 Romance of the Year." RITA finalist. As a 30-year project manager with a geophysics degree who has bicycled solo around the world, he is awed by what's possible. More at: www.mlbuchman.com.