I already know the irony of this, trust me. I am in love with storytelling and have been all my life. Writing short stories, characters, and worldbuilding was my escape growing up from some hard stuff. I know a lot of non reading writers are about production or at least say they are to excuse laziness, but for me, I just never got into reading. I loved making stories. Even when I watch shows, movies, or play games, good writing inspires me more than engages me.
I read the hobbit in middle school and remember almost none of it, and same with Secret garden, though I remember that one better. That's the last time I really read any fiction. I know what makes a good story, I know how to make characters, well thought out character dynamics, dialogue, and any other type of storytelling you can possibly learn from shows, movies, games, and years of doing dnd and text and video game rp. I have never found a type of storytelling I did not like.
I need books that show me what books have to offer above other mediums so I'm not just writing movies in written form when I write, but actual books that utilize the bounds or lack their of that comes with book writing. Preferably sci-fi and/or thriller since that's my go to genre to create in. I don't need beginner books with simple stories or anything, the more complex and layered the better. I want the very best there is to offer to jump into so I can learn what makes a book unique from a movie, show, or game. And something that can hook me into reading as a regular hobby going forward.
If it helps, for reference, my favorite shows are Severance, Star Wars the Clone Wars, The 100, You, and Pluribus.
I have no clue where to start with books, so I really appreciate any responses I may get. Thank you for your time regardless.
by -_-GAME-_-
2 Comments
Read Hugo and Nebula award winners.
Try Veriner Vinge and CJ Cherryh
I’d recommend trying a few different formats instead of only jumping into big novels.
For fast, addictive sci-fi: Red Rising by Pierce Brown. For more “idea-driven” sci-fi that really uses the strengths of books, try Philip K. Dick (Ubik, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, A Scanner Darkly). His stories rely a lot on internal perception and reality-bending concepts that work especially well in prose.
Also, you could try graphic novels if you’re trying to get into reading. Saga and Watchmen are both incredible sci-fi stories and might be easier to get into than novels.
Edit: typo