Though many novels have been called classics throughout history, whether a work is truly “Classic” or just old is personally subjective. To read everything good ever is a great undertaking, but I’m going through with it anyway. Sometimes you find a stinker that has no business being on a list with some of the greatest and most influential works of all time, but they can’t all be winners. Ultimately, read whatever you want to read. If you want to write better fantasy, read more fantasy, the good and bad. I learned a lot about how to improve my own writing after sitting down and forcing myself through the Harry Potter novels.
I think the best sign that a book is a classic is when it becomes so influential, you can’t talk about a certain topic without bringing it up. You can’t talk about stories where someone is artificially created without bringing up Frankenstein, Pinocchio, and Astro Boy. You can’t talk about stories about revenge without bringing up Moby Dick. You can’t talk about horror stories without bringing up Dracula, the movies it inspired, how society has played with the myth of the vampire and twisted it to mean different things. Don’t get me started on Lord Of The Rings. Lord Of The Rings is like what Mount Fuji is to Japan. If you don’t see it in the art, right up close or somewhere in the distance, even when it probably shouldn’t be there, it’s because an artist made the intentional choice to not put it there despite the temptation, and despite tradition. The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer, truly ancient stories still worth reading today. Don’t get me started on Brave New World.
Then there are stories that inspired things in video games. Like how The Cask of Amontillado influenced Fallout New Vegas: Dead Money, along with some other sources and old movies. Fortunado! A gamer friend of mine started his literary journey there, with the books that influenced the best games he played as a kid.
If you’re looking for somewhere to start, this list is pretty good.
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Thanks man. I still think LOTR is the greatest piece of media/literature in existence but I do have a clear fantasy bias and still play LOTRO, the World of Warcraft ripoff haha
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I’m big on fantasy and over-the-top action. I mostly just come up with whatever I can think of. But it takes certain things to shape this.
- I was a massive fan of the Beyblade Metal Saga as a kid and that was a big influence to my writing.
- Some of the earlier Marvel movies influenced me, too. Same with the LOTR trilogy. Princess Bride is another classic movie that helped me shape some of my comedic moments. But I try not go overboard like some modern movies do nowadays.
- Some games I played also influenced me, including Fire Emblem. Most notably the Elibe games. Shadow of the Colossus inspired my Minecraft survival maps, the Treasure Hunters series. Treasure Hunters 4 would later be adapted into the first romhack I released here, also named Treasure Hunters. So that’s another influence.
- I’ve also been influenced by friends. I did a lot of roleplay as a kid, often acting out make-believe stories in the schoolyard during recess with my best friends. For 3 years I did an online roleplay with a small friend group where we built an entire story from the ground-up. I’d say it turned out pretty well, too. These were the most fun moments of my entire life.
Despite priding myself with my writing, I shockingly don’t read too many novels. But I’ve also been writing since I was quite literally an infant, so nearly 14 years of constant practice is one way to develop writing skill. The sheer amount of time compensates for how little I read professional works.
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I can’t exactly comment much on inspiration for “writing style”, per say, but for my hack, I can pinpoint six core franchises that have heavily influenced its universe and lore: Fire Emblem, Pokémon, Zelda, Elder Scrolls, MCU, and Ben 10. An odd assortment of things, for sure.
I think I’ve figured out at least three things I enjoy integrating into my work due to being influenced by such sources:
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The idea of ancient civilizations that have left traces of advanced technology unearthed by present day people. It’s an idea I first encountered in West of Loathing with its El Vibrato subplot, but as I played more games and watched more things, it began to crop up more and more. The Dwemer in Elder Scrolls, the Sheikah/Zonai in BotW/TotK, that dungeon in FF1 which was a frickin space station in the NES version, even Ghibli’s Castle in the Sky. Overall, I feel like the concept of ancient technology is interesting and could serve as a way to break the traditional medieval fantasy mold.
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The idea that magic and science can work together instead of being at odds. A quote from Thor (2011) by the titular character claims that in Asgard, magic and science are one and the same. While some may complain that this retcons their magical nature into just hyper-advanced yet ultimately mundane technology, I interpret it as the Asgardians having studied both to a degree that they can integrate them together. And if we look at the advanced civilizations from the other franchises I mentioned, the Dwemer/Sheikah/Zonai all also seem to use a mix of both. To me, it isn’t “science so advanced it seems like magic”, it’s “science and magic working together like two sides of the same coin”. In my head, a better understanding of science could make magic more potent, while magic could provide shortcuts for technology that would otherwise be scientifically impossible.
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Aliens. Just aliens. They’re cool and make the wider universe as a whole feel less empty, at least in my opinion. Maybe throw in some magic-using aliens! 
I hope I haven’t been rambling too much, especially regarding things that not everyone understands or enjoys, and I’m a bit worried I might’ve veered too off-topic. I just have a lot of ideas in my head and I’m not exactly the best at conveying/explaining/executing them. 
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I wouldn’t say I ever look to it for direct inspiration for romhacks in regards to characters but generally the balancing act and tone for Ace Attorney and Avatar the last Airbender are def things I very much value and appreciate. Just that everyone has their own distinct voice and opinions on matters is always very excellent to me.
And my crippling addiction to the quirky earthbound inspired indie game genre.
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This is actually a good question. I had to reflect a bit… and the first thing I can think of on the top of my head are films. Being surrounded by friends and people who are dedicated on the creative field, I have a fair share of movies and our personal takes about the films we watched. Other than that, Anime will always be my first love when it comes to media that influenced my life. I’ll list down what I believe are the medias that influenced me as a writer (Maybe 5-8 each of the major media forms that influenced me).
Movies
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind (2004)
- Real Steel (2011)
- The Harold and Kumar film series
- Perfume (2006)
- The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Anime
- 5 Centimeters per Second (2007)
- The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2006)
- Joshiraku (2012)
- Kokoro Connect (2012)
- To The Abandoned Sacred Beasts (2019)
- Frieren (2023)
- Adachi and Shimamura (2020)
- Guilty Crown (2011)
TV Series
- Brooklyn Nine-Nine
- Family Guy
- Game of Thrones
- Alice in Borderland
- Young Sheldon
Books
- The Secret Garden
- To Kill a Mockingbird
- The Joyluck Club
- The Wild Boy
- Lord of the Rings
Man I wish I could nerd out about all of these. But the common line between all the titles I was influenced in all of these are how they weave different story elements (Especially characters) to tie in the world they step in and how it contributes to the worldbuilding in general. Sure there are a few comedy titles here and there but I also find joy in finding purpose in the characters and their dialogues on how it contributes to who they are and why are they there in the story. I can talk about these titles for hours if I wanted to but that’ll be an out of topic post LMAO.
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