heartfelt

(From L to R: Sylvia Plath, Iris Murdoch & Edna O'Brien

These three writers, probably influenced my craft more than anyone else and this too, - when I devoured their works voraciously - some years ago.
Sylvia Plath influenced my poetry. I learnt not to be afraid to express my feelings with a dark, daring courage.
Iris Murdoch taught me the precious heartbeat of detail and how with patience and time, it would add vivid colour to my stories. Meaning the clear, crisp details of everyday elements that surrounded a plot. She also encouraged a no-nonsense straightforward structural approach to plots, though I have often chosen to digress from this.
Edna O'Brien influenced me strongly, with her fearless attitude to a brazen sensuality while maintaining a strict literary prose. Her descriptions of sex stay subtle and almost surreal but wonderfully effective on the senses.
I must also add on the works of Dickens, who surrounded me with the kind of fantasy that stems directly from the imagination, with a view to everyday life; meaning its comical ironies and prejudiced cruelties.
All the rest I've read, have added on dreams and scents to my spirit.

(They were just influences of course, that would recreate the discovery of my own style).

Today, I feel I want to go back and re-read Plath, Murdoch & O'Brien. I need once more, my teachers.
There is a constant dissatisfaction in my spirit, that never lets me rest on my laurels.
I am convinced my writing abilities stay amateur by my standards. I see it as a shambles, even. It could be better, so much better than what it presently is.