Authors Who Inspire me to Write
I mentioned this in my New Year’s resolutions blog post, but one of my goals for 2019 is to finish the poetry book that I have been working on for months. Another goal of mine is to finish half of the novel I have also been working on simultaneously – ambitious, I know. However, those are my goals and now that they’re out in the world I must stick to them otherwise I’ll be coming back to this blog post a year from now and feeling incredibly embarrassed that I didn’t achieve them (note the sarcasm).
With that being said, as a writer, besides my personal goals, there are many things that inspire me to write – one of the main things being other writers which is the purpose of this post.
Here are the top five authors – in no particular order – who inspire me to write.
- John Green
Ever since I read The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska I have been hooked on John Green’s writing. Even though I first read his books in high school, every time I re-read them instantly am reminded why I fell in love in the first place. Green’s ability to illustrate a story so vividly that a reader is able to get lost in it is incredibly inspiring and something I look up to as a writer.
- Patti Smith
I have talked about Patti Smith on this blog time and time again, and I probably will continue to do so. There’s a reason for that, Smith is not only one of the many authors who inspires me to write but also one of my favourite writers of all time. One of the main reasons she made it onto this list pertains to her autobiographies – Just Kids and M Train in both these books Smith tells the story of her journey as a writer. In Just Kids, Smith is trying to make it as an artist and a musician and despite her not being able to see all that she is achieving at certain moments, the reader is able to pick up how much she achieved throughout the book.
All of her accomplishments and achievements are incredibly inspiring to me.
- Ellen Hopkins
Ellen Hopkins makes it onto this list because of Crank – a novel that follows the story of a young girl who gets addicted to crystal meth. Hopkins’ ability to tell such a tragic story in one of the most beautiful ways I have ever seen is something I hope to accomplish one day as an author.
- Max Eisen
Max Eisen is not only an inspiring author but is also an incredibly inspiring person in general. His book, By Chance Alone, follows his personal story about surviving Auschwitz.
“Max Eisen is a Hungarian Jew who was deported to Auschwitz in the spring of 1944,” notes a CBC Books article.
“He is a passionate speaker and educator who volunteers at the Sarah and Chaim Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre and the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center in Toronto. He currently resides in Toronto with his wife, Ivy.”
- Orion Carloto
For some reason, a lot of people like to poke fun at poets – particularly young poets. I don’t know why this has become a common trend because, at least to me, younger poets are some of the most inspiring.
Orion Carloto was born in 1996 and is roughly two months older than me…two months. She published her first poetry book, Flux, in 2017. Achieving something so big at such a young age pushes me to write and inspires me to reach the same goal. Furthermore, Carloto is a perfect reminder to any aspiring writer that there are no rules as to when you can get published.
Paige Petrovsky 