Whether they consciously realize it or not, every writer’s work includes evidence of the influence of a wide variety of authors. Halden Zimmermann, the author of several books that include a popular instructional text on high-impact blogging as well as a coloring book of scenic travel destinations, has often discussed the power of his personal writing influences and the effect each one has had on the choices he makes each time he sits down to work at his desk.
According to Zimmermann, the first author to inspire him to put pen to paper was actually the result of a high school history assignment in which he was asked to write about the bombing of Dresden during World War II. The assigned texts associated with the assignment included several letters and a selection from a book written by Kurt Vonnegut, who had been a prisoner of war in Dresden at the time of the bombing. Zimmermann enjoyed the straightforward style employed by Vonnegut as well as the author’s unique sense of humor, and Zimmermann has since tried to incorporate many of these stylistic choices in his own work.
