tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2676691386361883927.post7878611316046817160..comments2024-02-28T12:45:42.761-05:00Comments on Hoosier Ink: Writing for an EraThe ACFW INDIANA Chapter Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07282742986179364847noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2676691386361883927.post-7837097556052087012011-05-21T04:19:50.164-04:002011-05-21T04:19:50.164-04:00Rick, excellent post.
On a critique group, one pe...Rick, excellent post.<br /><br />On a critique group, one person used Agatha Christie as the example of someone who wouldn't be publishable today.<br /><br />The fact is that we are influenced by what we read and by our surroundings and unless we stay cooped up with Agatha Christie Ministries, John Calvin's Institutes, the Chronicles of Narnia, and the King James Version of the Bible, we'll reflect the contemporary time.<br /><br />To answer Rick's question, out of the writers I read a lot of the ones I find most inspirational and influential are Agatha Christie and Ellery Queen. Rex Stout is another example, though I didn't like Nero Wolfe mysteries as much because I always had the impression that two thirds of the way through the book Stout threw all the suspects names in a hat, pulled out one, and left you with the feeling you had no clues to figure it out yourself. <br /><br />Other authors I've read multiple novels by include youth baseball novelist John R. Cooper, George Orwell, Steven King, Allistair MacLean, Frank Peretti, C.S. Lewis, Randy Singer, and Amy Wallace. Non-fiction writers that I've read a lot by would feature Dave Hunt (including one of his two novels), Francis Schaeffer, and John MacArthur, and I've probably been influenced by the writing styles of newspaper columnists Cal Thomas and Debra Saunders as well as commentaries by Arno C. Gaeblein, Matthew Henry, and Dr. J. Vernon McGee. I can also consider Ron Benray on the list, after reading one book on writing by him and a novel in a similar genre to my own. I find that even though this group of authors are not ones I would compare myself to, they still make an impact and may have some unnoticed influences.<br /><br />JeffJeffrey C. Reynoldshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03260244563274650475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2676691386361883927.post-15367567231987789002011-05-21T04:03:19.581-04:002011-05-21T04:03:19.581-04:00Comment to Darren's last comment -- I found yo...Comment to Darren's last comment -- I found your sentence hard to understand -- it almost sounds like your saying that a person with talent "then" has less talent "now", and I doubt that's what you're trying to say.<br /><br />JeffJeffrey C. Reynoldshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03260244563274650475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2676691386361883927.post-6130482372371609732011-05-10T09:39:46.922-04:002011-05-10T09:39:46.922-04:00I do think if you had talent "then," tha...I do think if you had talent "then," that it means you have any less talent if you had been brought to the "now."Darren Kehrerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00277600931530139691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2676691386361883927.post-25147517554585561002011-05-06T10:58:34.369-04:002011-05-06T10:58:34.369-04:00Rick, I think, both then and now, it all boils dow...Rick, I think, both then and now, it all boils down to the old adage, "Don't just say something, have something to say." Sure, all things are important in their place, but a good story, told well, will win out every time.Kennethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03810032559627487890noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2676691386361883927.post-81841580822538152182011-05-05T16:31:33.325-04:002011-05-05T16:31:33.325-04:00Not so much the past, but Sharon Hinck's books...Not so much the past, but Sharon Hinck's books have inspired me.<br />Nice post, by the way. Really get's you thinking about all the "how-to" books I have read.Darren Kehrerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00277600931530139691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2676691386361883927.post-45256267727211160592011-05-05T08:18:19.996-04:002011-05-05T08:18:19.996-04:00I'm currently reading the children's book ...I'm currently reading the children's book "Countess Kate" by Charlotte Yonge, who was a prolific writer in the latter half of the 19th Century. The book contains a lot of sermonizing in the author's POV that brings you out of the story. I was thinking as I was reading yesterday that people were used to preaching then but wouldn't tolerate it today. <br /><br />I was also thinking how C.S. Lewis and the Narnia series are different. Lewis makes the same moral/Christian points without taking us out of the story, which is what today's reader expects. It's harder to do, but I can't believe that the person who succeeds will ever be out of fashion.<br /><br />Dickens was a genius. He probably would have changed his writing style and been just as successful if he were writing today.Kathryn Page Camphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03458122715766846442noreply@blogger.com