I'm looking for books to read (teaching books or actual stories) to improve my own writing. I'm only really interested in reading and writing fantasy. To be perfectly honest, the only book I've read since middle school was Fallout Equestria and I still haven't finished it. Although it has inspired my writing quite a bit so far. I'm not sure if there's any other criteria or anything to narrow down what I'm looking for or what would be beneficial. Thanks for any suggestions.
What are some fantasy shows or movies you’ve enjoyed? If you’ve only read one book since middle school, reading just about anything will help improve your writing. Finding books that you’ll really enjoy is the best thing to get you back into the habit. I can offer you my personal favorites but no guarantee we have the same tastes at all.
Okay, I'll be somewhat blunt. If you want to get into writing, but you don't read pretty much at all, you're going to have a tough go of it. What I think you need is something more on the fast paced and fun side. Unfortunately, that happens to be my absolute polar opposite when it comes to fantasy. I think Ursula K. LeGuin's Earthsea series may be a good fit, as they're rather quick and entertaining fantasy novels, but other than that I can't help too much here.
What kind of fantasy are you partial to? High, low? Classic, modern? Sorry, I don't know much about the categories—that's about all I can think of but I'm sure there are more. There's always the classic Hobbit, and if you like it you could move on to the Lord of the Rings. This is the fount from which the fantasy genre was born.
The Hobbit is nice because it's so obviously made to be read a chapter at a time and it's got maps and riddles and secret writing and all that. Maybe Jim Butcher's Dresden Files or Ilona Andrews or someone like that for fast paced books that drop you right in the action. Oh, the Witcher! The first couple of books are like several short stories kind of strung together; it's a little like reading old King Arthur or other myths with side quests. I personally like The Black Company books by Glen Cook and Joe Abercrombie's First Law series.
Apparently it's 2000 pages long, so that might be a mercy. Others have recommended some fantasy books, so I'll make an off-piste suggestion that the world has far too many fantasy books written by people who only read fantasy books, and that actually that's causing the genre to become overly formulaic... and in-bred. I'd suggest to seek out stories that use the art-form to alter how the reader sees the world. If you can find them, your fantasies will be more interesting, and perhaps also your style and technique. I'm also someone who didn't read for pleasure for a large part of my life - in my case because I had to read so much for work - but I like these:- The Crying of Lot 49 (Thomas Pynchon) ; City of Glass (Paul Auster) ; Auto da Fe (Elias Canetti). They're easy to find and people have probably put them online. They have strong openings / get to the point quickly so it's quick to decide if they're for you ; they are speculative without being fantasy ; and they play tricks with the character-viewpoint. But you could go into any library, or Google a book-list, or see what wins awards this year. Do whatever works - have fun
Even if you're only interested in reading fantasy, going beyond that scope will nourish your work immensely. I suggest enduring some lit fic, horror, sci fi. Check out some top ten lists. You'll find greats/classics tend to have universal appeal. Historical knowledge is another thing that will keep a fantasy work from being overly derivative. I would check out some commodity histories such as coal, salt, and alloys. Investigating general histories of civilizations will also inspire a wealth of ideas as well as help maintain verisimilitude.
I have read fantasy books, such as Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, when I was much younger. All that I was reading was formative and inspirational, such that I would later want to write from creative ideas that kept forming. I didn't even know how much I would get into writing from my creativity until I started that, especially when being able to I give lots of time for that. If my reading started recently I don't see that I could have had the same thing. I do use a lot of what inspires ideas for me, with my creativity in that.
Steven Universe if that counts (maybe kinda counts), MLP, Lord of the Rings, I've been meaning to watch The Witcher. Wow, I can't really think of anything else right now. I think I mostly watch sci-fi shows and disney/pixar movies. The majority of my media time is gaming. Mostly fantasy games there too. Modern high and low I'd say. I do love the book, the world and the very dark theme of it. I just keep getting distracted by other things. Thank you all for your suggestions. I'll probably pick up LotR, The Hobbit, and The Witcher to start since those are things I'm already familiar with and enjoy. It'll help keep me interested. I'll take a look at your other suggestions as well and look at books from other genres.
The moment I started reading The Hobbit I was hooked in all the way. Thats the experience many people have with Tolkein, and I hope you're one of them.
I heard this same thought by many, but unfortunately that is exactly how I did not feel every time (of the many times) I tried to read it
I know that's the case for some people, but I personally found his way with words an absolute delight.
Sometimes it's easier to start branching out from stories you're already interested in. A lot of movies and tv shows nowadays are based on books. Other people have already mentioned the Hobbit, which is by the same author of LOTR. The Witcher was also originally a book series, so I would recommend looking into that. And even though they are technically Young Adult fiction, I also recommend the Harry Potter books, and Neil Gaiman who has written some wonderful fantastical stories, such as The Graveyard Book, or Stardust. I also agree with this. To get better at writing, you need to read!
My old life drawing tutor used to say you should spend twice as long looking at the subject as looking at your canvas. Given that everyone doing life drawing spends the rest of their life observing people anyway I would guess that for writing its probably closer to ten times as much time reading as writing.
