What Books Made You Become a Writer?

This isn't the first time I asked this on my blog.  Almost two years I ago, I posted this very question as the subject of a blog post, but to no avail.  It was inspired by this Goodreads list: The Books That Turned You Into a Writer.


Those who have regularly read my blog will know that Prozac Nation was what made me want to write my own memoir of depression and Prozac. I voted for that one on the Goodreads list linked above.

But even before that, I would find myself writing off and on as a child. One series of books I grew up with was the Little House series (I also loved the TV show). I think this may have been what made me want to write then. I seem to recall writing stories based on Little House--I may have been writing fan fiction before the term existed. I also read Charlotte's Web many times--that could also have been one book that made me want to write.

I noticed that the Hunger Games  and Twilight books are among those listed on the Goodreads list. I am now wondering how many people are trying to write dystopia or vampire novels. As much s I enjoyed reading the books, I have no idea how to even begin such a story. I know that the idea for Twilight came to author Stephenie Meyer in a dream. One dream I recently had seems like a premise for a story. I haven't begun one, but did write down what I could remember of the dream so I can possibly work on a story later. But I have never had a dream about a vampire that I can recall.

When I got first got the idea to write about my depression and experience with Prozac, I wasn't sure whether to write a memoir of a fictional account. But once I been writing notes, it began sounding like a memoir, so I decided it would be so. This despite my having read more fiction than nonfiction until recently when I got into reading true stories. I guess this was just writing what I knew.