Creators: who's your biggest inspiration?

[Mavaxis Starburner]

This one should get some interesting replies.

I'm making this thread for all of the people on this forum who do creative writing, or anything else along that line. Heck, you could be a songwriter for all I care, as long as you can answer one question: in making whatever you make, who's your role model for it? Who inspires great ideas in you?

Personally, I've become an amateur screenwriter as of late, and I have two: Quentin Tarantino and Hiromu Arakawa.

Tarantino, the director of Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill, is someone I have a bit in common with as someone else who loves messing around with pop culture and black comedy. I also take heavy inspiration for my narrative style from the first Kick-::dolphin noise:: movie, which I feel is as close as anyone has come to recreating Tarantino's feel in recent years.

Arakawa is the creator of Fullmetal Alchemist, a manga/anime franchise that I've hailed for just about all of its attributes. Most outstanding is Arakawa's fondness for layers upon layers of symbolism and pure irony, much of which I never figured out until long after finishing off FMA Brotherhood. She's also excellent at creating amazing, three-dimensional characters, a skill I've been trying to build on since I first rewatched Avatar last year.

As strange as it may sound, I've been using this odd mix-and-match artistic vision these two have given me to slowly craft a sequel to, of all things, My Life as a Teenage Robot. Progress is slow, but you know what they say...you can't rush perfection.

Do any of you reading this have any similar stories to tell?

 

[MrColeslaw]

Great topic idea; surprised it hadn't been done already.

Hawk, you already guessed this, but one of my biggest inspirations is, without a doubt, Jim Henson.

Jim often had the idea to take a well known idea (ala a sketch comedy show, or just the idea of puppets, albeit at the time marionette puppets), and give em a new or modernized spin (felt puppets, which were relatively unheard of when The Muppets started their run in Washington, DC).

He was also an innovater, something I feel our world lacks in nowadays; being one of the first to perform wireless puppets (Gorgs on Fraggle Rock come to mind) is just one of MANY new ideas he helped to become a reality.

On top of these things, Jim's personality (based on interviews and those who knew him) is something I really admire. Not treating your coworkers as just that, but as friends. I personally feel that friends get more done than a group of unfamiliar faces shoved in a room together, and it definitely feels like Jim had a similar opinion. He was a hard worker, but a fun worker; he find ways to balance the two.

These are all things I like to keep in my head, when drawing or writing; never stop growing, try new things. Just because improvement is tough, doesn't mean its not worth it. On that note, I'd like to leave a quote from him, and something I'd like to do.

"When I was young, my ambition was to be one of the people who made a difference in this world. My hope is to leave the world a little better for having been there."

 

[Vuvuzela Smasher]

Honestly, I don't think I have any major inspirations. I just make whatever pops into my head. I guess the world itself is my inspiration.

 

[Moxley♥]

My biggest inspirations are my mother, Hideo Kojima, and Hayao Miyazaki. Pretty easy answer with the first one, this woman has helped me be molded into the person I am today, and I thank her. Her strength is what inspires me to write some of my more personal short poems in my spare time.

Hideo Kojima is more of an idol than an inspiration, but I will lump him in here just because I can. He is what fuels my story telling and action oriented side of creativity. What he has done for the Metal Gear Solid franchise is something that I can only wish I could accomplish with story-telling.

Last but not least is Hayao Miyazaki, my imaginative side. His vision for animation is what fuels my creativity fire. The wondrous worlds he has created, the amazing characters, and the ever so expanding idea of anything is possible.

 

[TopSheep]

I'm in the process of writing and drawing a little manga series for fun. I think my biggest inspirations are Kurt Vonnegut, Keiichi Arawi, Naoki Urasawa, and Ray Bradbury. I admire Vonnegut, who authored Slaughterhouse-Five and a host of other excellent novels, for his intensely satirical writing. I look to Arawi, the writer and illustrator of Nichijou, for his oddball humor and his simplistic art style, which mine has noticeable similarities to. I also take inspiration from Urasawa, the writer and illustrator of works such as 20th Century Boys and Monster, for his intricate plots and his incredible use of suspense in his story-telling. Finally, there's Ray Bradbury, the author of numerous works like The Illustrated Man and Fahrenheit 451; I'm most inspired by the social commentary present in his writing.

However, for the most part, I tend to look to specific works rather than individual people.

 

[PinkPearl]

I also look at more specific works. Sometimes the stories I write take on the style of other authors. Sometimes it's intentional; sometimes it's not, but it's still fun to play around with different voices and tones. Sometimes it's the plots that inspire me too.

For bullet journaling and smashbooking, Pinterest is the best. I get to look at what a lot of other people are doing and come up with my own stuff from there.

 

[EmployeeAMillion]

Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons. He went from underground comic strip to television icon in the span of 5 years, proving that success can happen to anyone with the right sense of humour.
Various different people enter and exit my interest, but none have been so influential as Groening to me.

 

[the real todd phillips]

greg farstey,he created the bionicle comics and lego helped with the creation of the lne.

 

[Old Man Jenkins☣]

Chuck Palahniuk: This man's twisted craziness has fueled my own brand of violent/horror/dark comedy/satire-laden crazy for years. The man's got no filter and he makes violence and taboo subjects look and sound like freakin' art. I can't hope of even coming close to his level. Some of my favorite works of his being, of course, Fight Club, as well as Haunted, Survivor, Rant, and Lullaby.

Dr. Seuss: I've always admired his penchant for social commentary, but I especially admire his ability to take some of the toughest subjects and convey them in way that a child could understand. And the dude had his crazily infectious and creative flair of doing things. An absolutely timeless creator, one of the all-time greats.

Edgar Wright: Watching Shaun of the Dead was what first got me into comedic/parody writing. The dude really knocks it out of the park whether it be in a zombie, buddy cop or sci-fi setting. Or even much more recently in a crime setting with Baby Driver.

Akira Toriyama: With DBZ having been such a huge part of my life, really, I always look to it for inspiration whenever I find myself delving into action. While the story itself might not be the greatest, it did show me some of the best fight scenes I ever witnessed both in print and on the screen.

 

[Nicktoonsummersplash2001]

(Late reply is kinda late I know.)

Danny Antonucci: I adored the cartoons he's made at A.K.A cartoon. ("The brothers grunt," "Ed Edd n' Eddy") With all it's surrealism, and illogical scenes.

John Callahan: Despite being disabled due to getting in a car accident, he still went on making cartoons ("Pelswick" and "quads") and comics by gripping a pen or pencil with two hands.

Peter Hannan: From being a book author to making a nicktoon about a conjoined cat and dog, now that's kinda impressive.

Jhonen Vasquez: Proving that anyone that makes comics about homicidal maniacs, introverted little boys, and other dark stuff can make a Nicktoon about an irkin invader for the older audience.

 

[RtU - Renegade the Unicorn]

I have many influences in both my ideas for music and in my writing, so picking a few out of many is a very difficult choice. Though, if I were to pick three of each, these are who I'd choose.

Music:

Daniel Johnston - One of the most famous outsider musicians, Johnston has struggled with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia for most of his life. The majority of his music, often recorded on lo-fi cassette tapes, is generally simple in terms of melody, often using chord piano and basic guitar chords. His lyrics are usually extremely direct, focusing on themes such as unrequited love, mental illness, and loneliness, all of which he has personal experience with. I admire him because he's endured so much throughout his life, and has made use of what he has on hand. He's proved to be a big inspiration to me, especially lyrically.

Brian Wilson - The famed leader of the Beach Boys, who has also struggled with mental illness, is a major influence on me musically just as Daniel Johnston is lyrically. Wilson is an excellent producer, having created some of the most experimental music of the 1960s. His greatest work, in my opinion, is Smile, an album which languished is development h-e-double hockey sticks from 1967 to 2004. While I prefer the original by the Beach Boys, his solo effort is not without its merits. While his rendition of Smile sounds somewhat different, it is nonetheless faithful to its original blueprint.

Les Claypool - Les Claypool, he of bass innovations and silly vocals, combines what I love about the two above influences: innovative instrumentation and mostly direct lyrics, though Claypool's are of a more humorous, Frank Zappa-esque variety. What I draw from Les Claypool is my taste for experimentation and strange, eccentric humor.


Writing:

James Axler - Though this "author" doesn't exist as a person, the various writers who have written under this house name for Gold Eagle Publishing (the action-adventure division of Harlequin) are the ones who got me fully invested in the pulp genre. Whenever I write action scenes, I always draw on Axler for inspiration. Not too over the top, but just enough fast-paced action and fanservice to keep readers interested.

Monica Gilbey-Bieber - A personal friend of mine, Monica (or as he's really known, James C. Smith) is one of my influences because he's shown me how to write good Mary Sue parodies and well-written intimate scenes.

Stephen King - One of our time's greatest horror and fantasy writers, Stephen King's excellent worldbuilding and unique writing style has influenced my own to a degree.

 

[Jai The Guy]

Vincent Waller and James Gunn.

 

[Hazmart]

I'm going to study animation, actually I do animations in my free time, and here are my biggest inspirations:

John R. Dilworth - I love his way of writing stories in realistic but funny way.

John Kricfalusi - His drawings are so crazy, he really knows how to capture the expressivity of the characters in each situation in a awesome way.
Also his animation is very well done.

Aaron Springer - I really like his storytelling, has a very quiet pace, and he knows where to put a joke in the perfect moment, not to mention his drawings, he has a very a very peculiar but creative style.