3.10.2015

What Speculative Fiction Shows & Movies Influenced You As A Writer?

Today on Untethered Realms, we're sharing a speculative fiction television show or movie that helped to shape the writers we are today.  What movies or shows influenced you?

Ellie Garratt



Star Trek: The Original Series started my passion for science fiction television shows, movies, and literature. As a young child in the 1970s, I remember begging my parents to watch the show that opened up strange new worlds and alien characters. It was like nothing I'd seen before. The earliest stories I wrote were a kind of fan-fiction, sending Captain Kirk and his crew on yet more adventures. They weren't very good, but they did open me up to the idea that I could write my own stories. More than that, Star Trek made me realise I was different from my female friends, who spent their time playing with Barbie dolls and air stewardess play sets. I didn't want dolls, I wanted a Millennium Falcon and storm troopers. As I look back now, I'm forever grateful to my parents who gave into my begging, though I never did get that Millennium Falcon.

River Fairchild



Among the many decent specfic shows on TV over the years, Star Trek is number one on my list. I love all of the series…well, except for the last one. My favorite, though, is Deep Space 9. It’s so different from the rest of the franchise. The grittiness, the problems, the characters - all converge to grab my imagination and inspire my writing. There are so many non-Federation types on this show, each with their own quirks, flaws, and various agendas. The female characters are strong and unconventional; the struggles are relatable to the viewer. At its core, the theme is about humanity’s survival in an often dangerous environment. This isn’t a nice, clean ship filled with disciplined scientists. It’s a crossroads in space, with cutthroats, thieves, and an ill-mannered assortment of characters guaranteed to win your sympathy as they collide with each other.
And Avery Brooks is certainly easy on the eye…

M. Pax




Although I fell in love with space adventure with Lost in Space at the age of 3 (I remember my parents, older brother, and I gathering in the family room, sitting in certain chairs, and holding the tin foil a certain way to get reception), it was in 5th grade when I saw 2001: A Space Odyssey at the theater that blew me away. The story made my jaw drop and say, "Wow." Then I read the book and kept saying, "Wow." I loved the discovery and mystery. Most of all, I loved how the story made me think and view the universe differently than before.

Christine Rains



Mystery, horror, comedy, and the supernatural. Well, most of the time the villains turned out to be human, but there was always something creepy going on. Scooby-Doo was one of my favorite shows when I was a child. I had a yellow Scooby-Doo lunchbox all through elementary school. I wanted to be the one investigating the haunted houses and monster sightings. So I wrote stories about it. The short tales I wrote as a kid had all the elements of a Scooby-Doo episode including the corny joke at the end. These days, my writing still contains these elements. Except my humor is much drier and there's no joke at the end.

Cherie Reich


Although most of my ideas revolve the realms of fantasy, my first successful story was a paranormal horror tale titled Once upon a December Nightmare. Based off true events that happened to my friends and me and with a paranormal and much more horrifying twist than what happened to us, this novelette also owes a lot to The X-Files. For nine seasons, I faithfully watched The X-Files on Sunday night. I loved delving into the paranormal, supernatural, and the alien as well as watching the great chemistry between Mulder and Scully. I'm a huge fan of the show and own all the seasons and the two movies and some of the books. Most of all, I share Mulder's optimism. I write because I want to believe.


Cathrina Constantine



I wanted to be Jo from Little Women. To cozy up in the attic, writing and putting on plays. As young as 12, I'd write plays, silly plays. My friends and I would have fun acting them out. I don't know if it was due to the death of poor Beth, but I had the tendency to write tragic tales.






Movies have been a big influence in my writing. Especially paranormal, fantasy, sci-fi, and dystopian. I like many genres and could never pick just one as my favorite.



The Harry Potter Series; Marvel Movies, the television show, Supernatural, and the movie, Constantine (0f course) I could go on and on. They light the flame of inspiration.




T.F. Walsh



Werewolf movies... I'm pretty certain I've seen almost everything out there related to the furry beasts. I grew up watching a lot of horror, mainly monster related. My friends and family were subjected to Underworld, An American Werewolf in London, Dog Soldiers, The Howling, Blood and Chocolate, The Monster Squad, Ginger Snaps, and so on. Yep, I can keep going. Anyway, the thing about werewolves is that one could be hiding anywhere, even next door to you, in his or her guise. Whether a person's lycanthropy is beyond their control, or whether they maintain their control, when they change, they are equally frightening. Traditional movies of werewolves were used to inspire fear, but they have since been romanticised in popular culture. I love both of these sides of wolf shifters, and if there's a new paranormal or horror movie, you can bet I'll be there watching it.


Julie Flanders


Source
I've been totally in love with all things vampire ever since I watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer during its original run. I was initially hesitant to watch it because I thought it was just a silly show for teenagers, something I was a long way away from at the time. I got over that quickly though, and Buffy became one of my favorite shows of all time. My favorite season of the show is the second, the poster for which is shown in the above photo. I was blown away by the story of Buffy and Angel's evil alter-ego Angelus, and to this day the season 2 finale is one of the most heartbreaking things I've ever watched. I re-watched the show a few years ago and when I got to that finale I thought, that's the kind of story I want to tell. To me, the writing for that arc is as close to perfect as it gets. While my vampire stories are not at all like the Buffyverse, I did enjoy writing my own evil, sarcastic vampire as an homage to my beloved Angelus. I can't deny that when it comes to fiction, I love the bad boys. :D 


Gwen Gardner

  I didn't know I wanted to be a writer when I was a child. But I was an avid reader and some of that spilled over into television. Books, comic books and cartoons sparked my imagination and made me crave more. Wendy the Good Little Witch, Casper the Friendly Ghost, Scooby Doo. I loved those worlds. What inspired me most to write as an adult was first the Harry Potter books and then the Harry Potter movies. I love them all. The world of possibilities really appeals to me.


24 comments:

  1. I love hearing some of what fed your writing mojo.
    For myself I am a greedy and eclectic reader. Television and movies have never really cut it for me, with a couple of exceptions.
    The Flip Side of Dominick Hyde, and Blake Seven. And Doctor Who.

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  2. I love reading how these shows and movies affected everyone. I'm fans of them all. And Elephant's Child, I'm a huge Doctor Who fan too!

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  3. Oh yes, for Doctor Who. Definitely a current influence.

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  4. I enjoyed reading about what inspired us. There's so many movies, TV shows, and books out there that get the creative juices flowing.

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  5. Vam9ires and Werewolves and Witches, Oh My! Loved reading everyone's ins9iration! Sorry about the 9s. All of a sudden the real letter that's su99osed to be there isn't working.

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  6. We all have something that ignites the flame and gets our muses burning hot! Nice to read these!!

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  7. What a fun post! It's so cool to see the different kinds of inspirations you guys have. I especially love the mention of Buffy. Such a classic show. Season two is one of my favorites, too!

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  8. This is a great post. I think one of the things I enjoyed about it is making connections between stories and books I've read by all of you and the shows and movies you chose. It was really cool to make those connections and see the influences more clearly. :) I was a huge fan of the original Scooby Doo and so much of Star Trek (although not all, I admit), but I think my biggest and earliest influences had to be Star Wars and the animated Peter Pan - I started making up my own fan fiction extras for those stories when I was five or six years old.

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  9. This was enjoyable to read what everyone listed as their favourite inspiration. From those "damm Kids" of Scooby -Doo riding around in a van with no parents in site and Shaggy looking like he just smoked some weed to the great 2001 Space Odyssy. I watched almost all of these including Lost In Space(hahaha) but I came onto Buffy later on and it is quite a good show. Star Trek is my favourite-all of them plus the movies. The original Frankenstein and The Werewolf films scared the heck out of me. I would also watch all the B films from the 1950's from Attack of the 50ft Woman to Attack of the Killer Shrews. Someone mentioned Blake 7 and I loved that show! Amazing what motivates us

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  10. It was wonderful reading about the shows and movies that influenced my fellow writers. Such passion!

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  11. This was fun. I loved Deep Space Nine, where it was often difficult to tell the good guys from the bad guys. X- Files, and latter "Fringe" really influenced me. For the vamp scene, I must add dark Shadows. When I finally saw those episodes I knew what scared was...

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  12. Well said, you Trek fans! My first published fiction was (original)Star Trek fan fic. River, Avery Brooks was easy on the ear as well as the eye. I have a DVD somewhere with him narrating War Of The Worlds. That velvet voice could read the phone book and I'd listen! IF you enjoyed DS9, check out Babylon 5.

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    1. Sue - I love Avery's voice as well He has such a commanding presence. Thanks for the Babylon 5 tip. I actually have never seen it!

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  13. And how could I have forgotten about Outer Limits? That show really fueled my imagination as a child!

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    1. Oh yes! Outer Limits and the Twilight Zone. Plus there was a show called Amazing Stories that was a bit like those shows but I think was supposed to be about real happenings.

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    2. And Twilight Zone! :) I think my brain is dropping the older shows.

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  14. Great list, ladies! There are so many good SFF shows and movies. I'm especially a sucker for Farscape.

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  15. I almost forgot about Buffy. I used to watch that show religiously!!! Loved Angel, still do!!!

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  16. I still dream about some Twilight Zone episodes. Rod Serling was a hugely talented writer. Loved all of the books and movies you listed.

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  17. Oops, I've been so busy I never posted! That said, I can still comment... LOST taught me so much about plotting and injecting weird twists. Even the old Twilight Zone was great, as Lee says. Loved Penny Dreadful and Orphan Black and Fringe.

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  18. Loved reading everyone's movie influences... Oh I can relate to so many of these, especially Buffy:)

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  19. Since I'm not a writer, the original question doesn't pertain to me. However, reading this post has brought up so many memories from childhood...from X-files to Buffy...I loved all of it!

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    1. TheCyborgMom - And I'll bet they influenced your reading preferences! :)

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