John Cleaver
I'm John...
And I'm a storyteller.
My goal is to craft narratives that create compelling conversation and examine the humanity in every little thing.
Inspirations
Most of what I write is Realistic Fiction, so I find myself inspired by History altogether. If it's from a time period I find interesting, I'll probably draw from it; I like to write Westerns, for example, because I consider the American Old West to be the most unique point in US history.
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I always think about the psychology of a character when deciding how they'll react to things, so I'd say the Mind is something I take a lot of inspiration from as well. Since most of my stories have to do with ethics and emotions, my own meditations on the human mind inform my writing a lot.
Favorite Stories
Certain stories are especially impactful to me. Here are some of my favorites...
Books/Graphic Novels:
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, The Road by Cormac McCarthy, This Boy's Life: A Memoir by Tobias Wolff, Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko, The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, Watchmen by Alan Moore, The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman
Films:
Wind River, Children of Men, The Revenant, all things Akira Kurosawa & Sergio Leone, Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, Logan, Indiana Jones & Star Wars Franchises
TV:
Andor, The Bear, Game of Thrones, Invincible, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Daredevil
Video Games:
Halo: Reach, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Spec Ops: The Line, Red Dead Series, The Last of Us, Ghost of Tsushima, God of War (2018), Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order