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The Grey Elf
Grey Havens
Jan 30 2016, 1:30pm
Post #1 of 15
(779 views)
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Calling all novelists and would-be novelists: How much has Tolkien influenced your writing?
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JRR Tolkien's work is often referred to as "seminal." How true is that regarding your own writing? Please note by influence, I am specifically referring to chosen genre, themes and especially style.
(This post was edited by Ataahua on Jan 30 2016, 9:54pm)
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Otaku-sempai
Immortal
Jan 30 2016, 1:38pm
Post #2 of 15
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Actually I have not yet written and completed a Middle-earth fan-fic, but I am working on a short story with (mostly) original characters set in the late Third Age.
I began and lost the story once when our previous computer crashed (I thought it was saved and it wasn't). This time, I've taken a slightly different tact with it.
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BlackFox
Half-elven
Jan 30 2016, 3:50pm
Post #3 of 15
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I'd just begun writing a fantasy novel when I discovered Tolkien a few years ago, which ended up quite heavily influenced by his works, especially The Silmarillion. A bit too heavily, I felt, so I put it aside after finishing it. Still, it was a fun journey and a valuable writing exercise.
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sevilodorf
Tol Eressea
Jan 30 2016, 4:01pm
Post #4 of 15
(720 views)
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burpingtroll.com occupied nearly 12 years of life. The archives are still there, the voices are still whispering but unfortunately drowned out by reality.
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Ataahua
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Jan 30 2016, 9:19pm
Post #5 of 15
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I've got two answers: I've written ME fan-fiction but as for my main fiction writing, I was heavily influenced by Tolkien to start with but not so much anymore. Given Tolkien's influence on fantasy fiction in general I don't think it's true for any writer of the genre to say they aren't influenced by him at all, but you've got to find your own voice rather than actively drawing on any writer whom you admire. Otherwise, it's still a flavour of fan-fiction.
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The Grey Elf
Grey Havens
Jan 30 2016, 9:46pm
Post #6 of 15
(694 views)
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many novelists start writing fan fiction before they develop their own voice. Feel free to change this poll to multiple votes! 
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Ataahua
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Jan 30 2016, 9:55pm
Post #7 of 15
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Gianna
Rohan
Jan 31 2016, 1:02am
Post #8 of 15
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I'm published, and my novel pretty much began as LOTR fanfic, just set in my own world. In the end the story changed completely, but it was still highly influenced by Tolkien. After all, it was LOTR that got me into writing fantasy in the first place!
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NManfredi
Rivendell
Feb 2 2016, 9:01pm
Post #9 of 15
(617 views)
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He has indeed influenced me immensely
[In reply to]
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In that I was inspired in making my own world of phantasy back in 2012, and it has grown to be much larger than I initially expected. That said, there are many other writers who have influenced me beyond all knowledge, the greatest of which is Robert E. Howard, and his Solomon Kane's stories.
I am not published but planning to publish some of my work by the end of 2016. It will be a collection of short stories ser in my created world to serve as complement to a series of comic books I'm preparing with a couple of friends.
But yes, J.R.R. Tolkien is without any doubt the reason why I chose to become a writer in the first place.
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dormouse
Half-elven
Feb 3 2016, 12:11pm
Post #10 of 15
(597 views)
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I voted 'other', so here's the elaboration..... ;-)
[In reply to]
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I'm a published historian and Tolkien has influenced my writing a lot - I suppose because Tolkien has influenced me a lot.
In nebulous things that are hard to pin down, but would, I suppose, come under the heading 'attitude and ideas'.
Occasionally in vocabularly.
And in the specific references to Tolkien or Tolkien's characters that I slip in occasionally!
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Kilidoescartwheels
Valinor
Feb 3 2016, 10:55pm
Post #11 of 15
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I do write fanfics, but they are pretty much based on the movie-verse. It's really hard, therefore, to determine how much of my writing is influence by Tolkien and how much is Jackson. I have read The Hobbit and LoTR only once or twice, so they really can't be that big of an influence - inspiration, certainly! Also, I have completed the first draft of an original-fic (which I SHOULD be working on instead of writing another fanfic), which definitely fits into the fantasy genre that Tolkien started, but I doubt my writing style is anything like his because I really don't care for poetry.
(This post was edited by Kilidoescartwheels on Feb 3 2016, 11:03pm)
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Aunt Dora Baggins
Immortal
Feb 8 2016, 4:52am
Post #12 of 15
(521 views)
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I've been writing novels for 45 years, pretty much as a hobby, though I have self-published most of them.
Tolkien was a huge influence on my early writing, but as the decades have gone by I've moved into other genres. Other early influences were Poe and Baum. I suppose all the authors I've loved through the years, Louisa May Alcott and Harper Lee and many, many others, have influenced me, but I think I've also kind of found my own voice.
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TaliaEmerald
Bree
Feb 10 2016, 12:17am
Post #13 of 15
(496 views)
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I write fan fics too, but I'm trying to write my own story! 
(This post was edited by TaliaEmerald on Feb 10 2016, 12:18am)
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Eruvandi
Tol Eressea
Feb 13 2016, 11:17pm
Post #14 of 15
(445 views)
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Hello.
I think I may be a little late for this thread given that it was posted two weeks ago, but I've been so focused on my writing this year that I haven't been checking TORn nearly as often as I once did. #irony
I think Tolkien has been pretty influential on my writing. In fact, I'd say he's the reason I started writing at all! I discovered Tolkien in summer 2013 and, with a little extra encouragement from our own Kili of the Happy Hobbits, first started trying to put together my own stories by the beginning of 2014. I had always sort of wanted to be a writer, but Tolkien sparked my love of fantasy, not to mention my imagination, enough that I finally actually had stories of my own to tell.
I don't write any fan fiction. I'm so picky about it, I rarely even read the stuff unless it's of exceptional quality and is a story that could actually fit within canon.
All of my stories are original works. They are all firmly in the fantasy genre (I credit Tolkien for that), but only one is heavily influenced by Tolkien, and that influence, I think, is done in such a way that I'd have to actually tell you what part of his writing influenced me in order for you to see it. The most obviously Tolkien-influenced thing in the story is the elves. (I lurve elves, in case anyone didn't know.) My elves are very Tolkienesque in nature: Tall, lithe, beautiful, ancient, powerful, passionate beings. But from there, the influences become less obvious. For example, there is not a singular Big Bad Villain. It appears that there is at first, but it turns out later to be a whole coalition of villains, and they're not as powerful as Sauron. However, as of this very moment, I think there will be nine members of this evil coalition, for reasons I don't think I have to explain. (I love it when ideas just pop up like that! )
There also are no special objects of power that must be acquired/destroyed in order to defeat the Big Bad Villain, nor are there hobbits, or orcs in my world. I just felt like those two types of beings belonged too much to Tolkien and if I used them it would feel like I was copying him, so I've tried to come up with races of my own, or use other mythological beings that he didn't use. There are dwarves in existence in my world (there's a brief reference to them in dialog), but as far as I have things planned so, they don't come into to play in this story, nor do my elves have any issues with them.
I'd actually say that the Tolkien influences mostly appear in the characters themselves. There is one evil elf who, in my mind at least, is vaguely reminiscent of Eol the dark elf. Eol was able to use his elven powers to make Aredhel get lost in his part of the forest and this guy has powers reminiscent of that, as does his son. However, he doesn't (directly) try to kill his son or wife like Eol did. And he walked out on his family rather than his family running away from him. He also doesn't meet his end by getting thrown over the wall of the city like Eol did. In fact, I'm not even sure if/how he meets his end yet.
I also have a married elf couple who was originally inspired by Earendil and Elwing. They live in a city by the sea like Earendil and Elwing did, they are very much in love like I always felt Earendil and Elwing seemed to be, and similar to how Elwing would fly out to meet Earendil after every voyage into the sky, this elf wife always runs out to (rather enthusiastically) greet her husband whenever he returns from a journey. Their role in the story is pretty different from Earendil and Elwing's though.
There's also some elf-human romances, some genetic experimentation that might be reminiscent of how Saruman came up with the uruk-hai, yet completely different at the same time, and probably some other things I can't think of.
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Otaku-sempai
Immortal
Feb 14 2016, 12:59am
Post #15 of 15
(442 views)
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My Blue Mountains story has stalled for a bit, but I just recently completed a home-brewed write-up of Tolkien's Shire for use with Cubicle 7's The One Ring Roleplaying Game. I had originally intended to leave it alone while developing my material for western Eriador, the Blue Mountains, the Grey Havens and Lindon, but it wasn't as much work as I had anticipated.
Check it out: http://forums.cubicle7.co.uk/...opic.php?f=56&t=4933
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