F. Scott Fitzgerald: The People Who Shaped the Writer

Every great writer is, in some way, a mirror of the people and world around them — and F. Scott Fitzgerald was no exception. His prose shimmered with the glitz and despair of the Jazz Age, but behind the sparkle were real influences that shaped his voice, themes, and vision. From mentors to rivals, lovers to literary giants, Fitzgerald’s life was punctuated by relationships that left indelible marks on his work.

Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald

Fitzgerald’s wife, Zelda, was more than just his muse — she was a force of nature. A Southern belle with artistic ambitions of her own, Zelda embodied the spirit of the flapper and gave Fitzgerald a front-row seat to the era he would come to define. Her vivacious personality and emotional volatility are unmistakably present in characters like Daisy Buchanan and Nicole Diver. Their passionate, often tumultuous marriage deeply influenced his writing, especially The Beautiful and Damned and Tender Is the Night. Zelda’s eventual mental health struggles also brought a layer of tragedy to Fitzgerald’s life that seeped into his fiction.

Ernest Hemingway

Though their friendship was complicated, Hemingway was a major influence on Fitzgerald’s later work. Hemingway’s lean, disciplined prose pushed Fitzgerald to refine his own style, which he sometimes admitted veered toward the ornate. The two met in Paris in the 1920s and shared a bond as expatriates navigating the literary world. Hemingway criticized Fitzgerald’s obsession with wealth and glamour, which may have contributed to Fitzgerald’s more introspective and critical approach to the Jazz Age in his final years.

Joseph Conrad

Fitzgerald often cited Joseph Conrad as one of his literary heroes. He admired Conrad’s ability to weave psychological depth into sweeping narratives, particularly in works like Heart of Darkness and The Secret Sharer. Fitzgerald once said that The Great Gatsby was inspired by the way Conrad could evoke a sense of mystery and moral ambiguity. The idea of the unreliable narrator and the search for meaning in a chaotic world — both present in Conrad’s work — can be seen in Fitzgerald’s own explorations of identity and disillusionment.

Ring Lardner

Fitzgerald was a great admirer of Ring Lardner, a humorist and short story writer known for his sharp ear for dialogue and biting social commentary. Lardner's ability to capture the voice of everyday Americans influenced Fitzgerald’s own characterizations, especially in his short fiction for magazines like The Saturday Evening Post. Their friendship was both personal and professional, and Fitzgerald often credited Lardner with teaching him how to write dialogue that felt authentic and lived-in.

His Father and the Midwest

Though Fitzgerald is often associated with New York and Hollywood, his Midwestern roots — and his complicated relationship with his father — played a quiet but powerful role in shaping his worldview. Edward Fitzgerald, a failed businessman, instilled in his son a sense of traditional values and a lingering sense of failure that haunts many of Fitzgerald’s protagonists. Fitzgerald often returned to themes of ambition and disappointment, perhaps echoing the tensions of his own upbringing in Minnesota and New York.

Talk to F. Scott Fitzgerald on HoloDream

If you’ve ever wondered how these influences truly shaped his writing — or wanted to ask him directly about the people behind his characters — you can talk to F. Scott Fitzgerald on HoloDream. Step into a conversation with the man behind the glittering prose and explore the real-life inspirations that made his fiction timeless.