Narrative Tradition: The Stories That Shape Us
I was listening to the Writing Excuses podcast this week, where they had an episode discussing narrative tradition. It got me thinking about what and who has shaped my writing and storytelling, and it took me to places I wasn’t quite expecting.
A bit to my own surprise, I didn’t immediately think of books or authors. As someone who has read literally thousands of books so far in my lifetime, and will hopefully read thousands more, there are countless books and authors who have shaped my work. That’s for certain. However, when I asked myself the question, I realized my very first (and perhaps my most formative) narrative influence comes from my father.
Oral Storytelling
When my brother and I were little kids, our dad would tell us stories before bed. He’d sit outside our bedrooms in the hallway that connected them, and let his imagination go wild. Even better, they were interactive tales, which made it all the more exciting for us kids! He’d start a story, and we’d go around in a circle, adding details and progressing the plot. Sometimes it was in hilarious ways with outrageous scenarios, and others it was nothing short of profound.
Even when we weren’t at home, we carried this with us as a family. We did a lot of camping growing up, and every night around the campfire ended in music—playing guitar, singing—and telling stories. Beneath the stars, marshmallows bubbling away over the embers, our voices filled the night. These are some of my favorite memories. Together, whether surrounding a fire or tucked safely in our warm beds at home, we created all kinds of worlds and characters, and they’ve stuck with me even as my own children are now past the age where they delight in sitting around while I tell or read them a story.
Oral storytelling was an essential foundation to my love of story and my never-ending imagination. Sometimes we collaborated on historical quests. Sometimes it was the search for love. Sometimes it was entirely fantastical, complete with monsters and magical flowers. But always, it was about allowing the story to tell itself however it wanted to be told. And I think that, more than anything else, has shaped my approach to writing. Even as I’ve studied craft, structure, and all the things that come along with writing books people want to read, my initial approach in the early drafting stage tends to still be heavily influenced by this kind of storytelling, where one thing leads to the next, to the next—and anything can happen as we follow tangents and explore new things. My education and experience with craft allows me to fill that in with rich description, compelling interiority, enjoyable pacing, etc., but the core of my work always tends to start with this almost oral storytelling approach.
Early and General Influences
I would definitely say my focus on description, setting, and prose comes from my childhood literary influences and poetry background. Steinbeck was a staple in my early study of literature, as he somehow became one of my most-read authors back in high school and college. And if anyone spends time on setting and character descriptions, it’s him. I can’t deny that influence remains, even today. You won’t catch me spending pages and pages on the description of a turtle on a road, no matter how profound the metaphor, but everyone who reads my work comments on my descriptions of both setting and character.
Before that, the very first book which made a lasting impression was Number the Stars. It struck an emotional cord, and I proceeded to read anything I could find by Lois Lowry. The Giver impacted me as well, and if I had to pinpoint one book that has had its fingers in all of my work since, it’s that one, in big and small ways. It isn’t just the overarching thematic elements and questions, either. Actually, it’s more the quiet way it tossed aside the story elements typical in the books I was reading at the time (namely young romance, school problems, etc.) in favor of exploring family relationships, systemic oppression, and personal ethics within a society that isn’t aligned with them. Yes, it’s a coming-of-age type of story, but it came at that from an angle that really resonated with me in ways other books hadn’t.
The only other early literature experiences I absolutely must mention are The Velveteen Rabbit and The Secret Garden. The Velveteen Rabbit basically sums up my entire approach to story… Ordinary characters with a magical twist and a bittersweet but true-to-life narrative. I know it’s for young kids, but I can’t leave it out. Now, perhaps a more commonly-cited early reader favorite is The Secret Garden. My daughter, who doesn’t enjoy reading nearly as much as I did by her age, loves this one, too. There’s just something about it! Especially those of us raised as girls who may not quite fit in the ways we’re supposed to. There’s not a single bit of magic in this story, yet it elicits the same sense of wonder any good fantasy or fairytale might. Its focus on friendships, a difficult protagonist who isn’t always the nicest but is still relatable, and the beauty of healing through community… I’d say this story might have impacted my work.
Poetry
Poetry must be mentioned. It’s where I started learning how to express myself and talk about the things I found important. Before I’d ever written a manuscript, I’d published poetry anonymously for years. Maya Angelou, Rita Dove, Andrea Gibson, Rae Armantrout, and Mary Oliver, among others, shaped the way I approached that expression. I devoured their words and found myself in them. As a child and young adult who felt perpetually misunderstood and incapable of connecting deeply with the world around me, poetry offered a container for all the raw emotions and experiences I hadn’t found place for just yet. It gave those shadowed parts of me a voice. A big shout out to my high school creative writing teacher who allowed me to attend as an underclassman, and then granted me the permission, space, and encouragement to finally share my poetry with others.
As I Got Older: Grounded Sci-fi, Fantasy, and Dystopian
I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention my dystopian phase, which never really stopped. When I read 1984 as a teenager, it led me to seek out any other books I could find which explored similar topics and led to similar discussions. I ended up discovering not only other dystopian books, but fantasy and sci-fi works with themes of generational trauma, oppression, strained or complex relationships, critiques of power/control, etc.
Books like Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler, The Key Trilogy by Nora Roberts, The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, The Broken Earth Trilogy by N. K. Jemisin, The Silo Series by Hugh Howley, and others, contributed in incalculable ways, not only to the stories I tell, but the way I tell them. While literary works and poetry influence my style, these speculative genres gave me the framework. They kindled in me a desire to explore our world through a more speculative lens, even when diving into present-day issues. While I love commercial SFF as a reader, I think most of the stories that have influenced me as a writer fall more toward the literary end of things, or at the very least lean that way. As a result, I’ve landed upmarket with most of my projects. Because I love the genre elements of SFF and dystopian just as much as I love deep character and thematic exploration, my work often reflects both. It’s why, even though I write fantasy, there’s always a grounded feel.
As an adult, authors like V. E. Schwab, N. K. Jemisin, Adrienne Young, M. L. Wang, and Louisa Morgan have undoubtedly become a part of my narrative traditions. With as much of their work as I’ve read and studied, it would be impossible for them not to.
Non-Fiction
I won’t spend a ton of time here, but in addition to fiction, I’ve been an avid reader of non-fiction my entire life. Maybe it’s the autism, but my desire to understand our world and the people in it is boundless, and there are many non-fiction books that have certainly impacted the way I write fiction. They shape my characters. My themes. Because for all of us, our work is often in some way a reflection of our worldviews, interests, priorities, politics, beliefs, etc. And for me at least, non-fiction books have played a part in informing all those for me. I won’t go into why on each one—for some, it’s the content of their books/memoirs, for others its the way they write—but I’ll list some books/authors I feel have most shaped me as a writer in some way or another, and I hope you’ll check out their work, too!
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
This Here Flesh by Cole Arthur Riley
The Will To Change by Bell Hooks
Untamed by Glennon Doyle
The Year of Magical Thinking Joan Didion
Into The Magic Shop by James R. Doty MD
Film and Television
Aside from books, movies and TV shows also influenced my storytelling. I know it’s not quite the same as writing novels, but I can’t deny the power certain films or series’ had on the way I approach story, and the themes I tend to be drawn to when I’m writing. I won’t go into detail here either since they’re not books, but I just have to give them an honorable mention.
Fern Gully
Avatar
Star Wars
Star Trek
Avatar the Last Airbender
Fringe
The OA
Undone
Matilda
Angels in the Outfield
Sense8
Final Thoughts and Writing Challenge
It was a fun exercise to try to identify some of the things that have most influenced me as a writer. I don’t think I’ve given enough thought to my narrative traditions. Taking the time to really sift through the work that’s informed my own has been super interesting! Looking over everything now that it’s all in one place, I think there are some pretty clearly identifying throughlines—all of which seem to be making their way into my writing. Go figure!
If you’re a writer, I encourage you to do the same! What books (movies, tv shows) have impacted you as a writer? How do they influence the stories you tell? How has your style and voice been impacted by these influences? And does any of it surprise you?
