From Where do Influences Arrive?

I never cease to feel amazed whenever I realize where many of my ideas originate. I only rarely read, see, or hear something that I consciously decide to adopt it in some way in my own written works.

I often discover my influences while I edit. Once I notice one commonality between my stories and those of another author, I realize the influence’s entirety, as if I suddenly see the hidden image in a Magic Eye picture.

(I wouldn’t know. I never see a damn thing in those Magic Eyes. I suspect that the pictures serve as a joke to see how long a sucker will stare at one before she or he pretends to see the hidden image.)

In the “vomit draft” of Daughters of Darkwana (named, at that time, Daughters of Elsewhere), Wally Cook befriends seven kitsunes while he remains trapped in the world of Darkwana.

I eventually lowered the number of kitsunes in the Zenko Clan to five. However, while I edited my vomit draft, it occurred to me that Snow White also befriended seven dwarfs.

Now, I hate Snow White as a character for the same reasons I hate Oliver Twist and that soulless girl from the Twilight series. You can read why at:

http://stuffilllaughaboutafteripostbail.blogspot.com/2011/05/single-worst-role-model-for-young-girls.html.

I realize that, despite my distain for Snow White’s main character, Daughters shared a few unexpected commonalities with that story.

The Japanese, cartoon show, Tenchi Universe provided a lot of influences in the second and third book of my Diaries of Darkwana series . . . though I didn’t realize it until recently.

A friend mentioned that one of my characters, Buthaynah, reminded him of the Tenchi character Ryoko. Once he made that connection, I couldn’t help but connect the rest of the dots.

A character named Lakota (Darkwana) served as a similar character to Ayeka (Tenchi). A beaver-sized, safety-orange cat named Kyo (Darkwana) suddenly reminded me of Ryo-Ohki (Tenchi).

Adiba (Darkwana) possessed several character traits one could find in Sasami (Tenchi). Edward (Darkwana) reminded me of Tenchi, himself. Edward’s grandmother shares commonalities with Tenchi’s grandfather.

Many other influences exist. Japanese mythology stands as the most obvious, though I enjoyed a wide creative license with those tales.

Anyone who ever watched or read the Japanese cartoon or manga, Naruto will likely recall the Chunin Examines. Those fans will notice how that story influenced the forth book in my Diaries of Darkwana series.

You might notice that the third book in my series (due to hit Kindle this January) owes its influences to another story. Here’s a hint: a character named Wesley works to rescue a character whose captors frequently refer to her as “Buttercup.”

Do I feel like a thief when I identify these influences? Nope. Every story surfaces from something. Stories and their characters exist as creatures that evolve and blend together to create new stories.

The gods of ancient Greece became the X-Men.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde became The Hulk. It also became The Nutty Professor with Jerry Lewis (1963), which became The Nutty Professor with Eddie Murphy (1996), which became The Klumps and an episode of the television sitcom, Family Matters that resulted in a new, reoccurring character.

Westerns and samurai stories blended together to create Star Wars, and god knows how many stories surfaced from Star Wars (let’s start with Space Balls).

Influences happen. Embrace them, but don’t copy them outright. Blend things together, make something new from the recycled parts.

The best influences happen accidentally. James Cameron likely noticed that his movie, Avatar held much in common with Dances with Wolves, The Last Samurai, and other movies of the sort, but I doubt he set out to make another Dances with Wolves.

Direct remakes offer nothing new. The new Total Recall and Robocop failed to live up to their predecessors, mostly because their creators tried to rehash an old meal without new ingredients.

We roll our eyes when another “re-mastered” version of Star Wars arrives.

X-Men movies always offer the same plot—humanity fears and seeks to exterminate the good and bad mutants, but the good mutants protect humanity from the bad ones because that’s the way the good guys roll.

. . . Gets kind of old.

The Avenger movies speak to their audience about current issues and always offer something new.

When filmmakers smear lazy garbage across a screen and expect to make millions because their product carried a beloved brand name, I want to sharpen a pitchfork (looking at you, Amazing Spiderman 2).

Perhaps, one day, someone will write something influenced by me (the thought cracks a hopeful smile across my face). I hope such a person puts a new spin on things.