On Writing
by Stephen King
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Book Reviews of On Writing
Book Review: My Favorite "How To" Book
Summary: 5 Stars
On Writing is a little different to most of the other texts out there on writing fiction. SK starts out the first third of the book in almost autobiographical fashion so you can maybe gain some insights into his head space when he writes. Lets just say for someone who is oh so very famous now he came from oh so very humble beginnings. A very poor family, terrible ear infections, dead end jobs and even alcoholism and eventually drug addiction to boot (can't even remember writing Cujo). The one constant he had through all those times was writing. Writing writing writing and a never say die attitude. I think this is one of the things I admire about him most, despite all the rejections, despite all the setbacks, despite being truly dirt poor white trailer trash, there was always writing.
The middle of the book talks about how SK writes today, his regimes, his thoughts on the craft and his utter, utter disdain for the adverb (have I used one yet? God I hope not...) and his ideas behind plot and story. It's interesting to note that SK is another author who doesn't do a lot of pre-planning or plotting before he starts to write. He just gets his initial idea, shuts the door to his office, and dumps everything out of his head in his first draft. It's the second draft when he "writes with the door open", when he lets others see it. But that first draft, it's just one big ole purge.
The end of the book talks about almost dying after being hit by a car while on one of his daily walks. This man came so very close to death, and then crawled back from it. Maybe it was payback for the author he tortured in Misery :-)
I really enjoyed On Writing as SK talks about most of his writing coming from a gut feeling, an instinct, and not worrying too much about what is going to happen next because your characters will let you know. He talks about doing his 2,000 word a day quota and if he is done by 10:30am then great, if he is still plugging away at 3:30pm it doesn't matter, just as long as he gets that 2,000 in.
If you are keen to buy another book about writing, but are a little tired of the same ole "You must know the book's premise" etc (not that it doesn't have it's place) then On Writing is something you can enjoy a bit more for it's very readable quality and advice.
Book Review: Do as I say, not as I did
Summary: 4 Stars
This book is for people who are both aspiring writers _and_ Stephen King's fans. If you are one _or_ the other, the book is conveniently divided into `C.V.' and `On Living', the autobiographical parts; `Toolbox' and `On Writing' itself, the master class part, sandwiched between the other two. The autobiographical parts are enjoyable (the guy knows how to tell a tale), and that gives credibility to what he'll say on the parts about writing. However, the only advice aspiring writers will get from King's autobiographical musings is, `don't do drugs while writing - it will spoil the good moments of performing the craft.' Because of this, I will concentrate on the longer `On Writing' stuff.
King constantly complains that he's always asked `where do your ideas come from?' and never about the language in his stories, so he continues by focusing on the language. He touches a bit of everything: narration, description, dialogue, the pitfalls of prose (repetition, overuse of adverbs, passive voice), the writing market, etc. This makes it a good introductory book if you'll want to read more books about writing after digesting this one. `If' because, as King informs us, most of the other books aren't worth your money; the only exception is Strunk Jr.'s and White's 'The Elements of Style'.
You can sense an underlining boastfulness in King's prose so strong that I decided to pick up his `It' after having read `On Writing'. I was somehow disappointed by the language in that book. There was an expression (`quagmire of mud') too often repeated, and I was able to catch a few `Swifties' (adverb-laden dialogue attributions such as `"The Losers," Mike Hanlon said softly.' and `"But of course," Rose said demurely.'). I don't know if those were intentional or not, but I could spot fewer of those blunders in King's more recent works like `Dreamcatcher.' Do as I say, not as I did.
Speaking of advice, there is a moderate amount of practical advice in `On Writing.' Rather than giving advice, King tells us about how _he_ writes, and then you take from that whatever you find useful. For example, as I'm not much of a first-draft-second-draft writer, the formula `second draft = first draft - 10%' didn't make much sense to me.
Book Review: The Master Reveals His Secrets
Summary: 5 Stars
Best selling author Stephen King has taken a foray in the world of non-fiction and has written a brief guide on how to be a better writer. King's book begins with a autobiography describing the events in his life that led him to writing and how his "career" as a writer evolved from writing for his mother, to selling short stories to magazines, to writing best-selling novels. King deals candidly with his own personal demons and his personal relationships. The next portion of the book is King's guide on how to be a better writer. In it he offers everything from how to write better dialogue, to tips on description, to the best environment to write in. The next section of the book was added on in the wake of the author being struck by a van. Just like the rest of the book, King does not pull any punches describing the accident or his recovery. Most importantly he relates the accident to his writing and the reader goes away with the feeling that if King can go back to writing after his accident surely we can make it through our first book.I've read quite a few books on how to become a better writer (I'm an aspiring author myself, and I'm going to be honest, I'm not very good. I'm not going to try and tell you I'm writing the next great American novel because I'm not) and most are written by authors with one novel to their credit and I can almost guarantee its one you have never heard of. This is a book written by a man who has sold more novels that almost anyone else. I'm willing to bet that if you go up to anyone the street and ask them to name five Stephen King books off the top of their head they can do it. That alone makes this book worth buying. Kings candor in speaking about his early life and the accident with the van also help keep the readers interest and make this more then just another how-to-write book. The section that deals with writing is also very good. You have to accept some of King's tips, he obviously know what he's doing. This section changed my perspective about how-to-write.
If you are an author or a fan with more then a passing interest in Stephen King I would advise you to pick up this book. This book offers an overview of how a man becomes a best-selling author and a valueable how-to on writing.
Book Review: The only Stephen King Book I have read...
Summary: 5 Stars
I personally do not write fiction and have no desire to write fiction. I do write technical articles and I have a strong desire for them to be well written and interesting. This was a valuable and enjoyable read even though I have never read a Stephen King novel. I read a lot of fiction but I am not into the scary or sci-fi.
Mr. King's reputation alone warranted me reading this book. You can go wrong when you study excellence! The following take-aways from the book were very useful to me.
1. "Good story ideas seen to come quite literally from nowhere, sailing at you right out of the empty sky: two previously unrelated ideas come together and make something new under the sun. Your job isn't to find these ideas but to recognize them when they show up" He then shares examples of how this worked in his life. This is a very true statement so true in fact that you could almost substitute any word for story in the quote. I have found the same to be true for business ideas.
2. "Write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open." The message being don't seek criticism (including self criticism) when you are working on the first draft. Complete it first. Later in the book he states to let the first draft age (6 weeks) before going back to look at it again.
3. "You must not come lightly to the blank page." He states writing is serious and must be taken seriously.
4. "Construct your toolbox and bring it with you" Some tools being vocabulary, grammar, form and style.
5. "The road to hell is paved with adverbs."
6. "The paragraph not the sentence is the basic unit of writing."
7. "Good description usually consists of a few well chosen details that will stand for everything else."
8. "Second draft equals first draft minus 10%."
As someone who hated grammar in school and takes great pleasure in ignoring it as an adult, this book and Mr. King's examples have convinced me to stop ignoring it and embrace it.
This book is worth the read regardless of what kind of writing you do.
Dr. James T. Brown PMP PE CSP
Author - The Handbook of Program Management
Book Review: Very Personal Book... Inspiring and Insightful
Summary: 5 Stars
Do not expect this book to be a technical manual on writing fiction. It will not give you rigid rules for writing. However, if you go into it with that understanding you will surely be pleased with "On Writing" by Stephen King.King said it himself that he wanted to write a book about writing, but he wanted it to be conversational. He wanted it to feel like you're listening to him answer questions at a conference.
He opens with an oddly-charming and inspirational auto-biography. If you are even marginally interested in the man's writing you will enjoy this section. He talks about himself as a young man and his single mother and genius brother moving around the country and making ends meet. He discloses the relationship he built with his wife Tabitha whilst a hippie writer in college. He describes the feelings of losing his mother, rearing his own children, and the elation of his first major success in fiction writing.
The second section is "On Writing." King speaks generally about the craft of fiction writing. He describes his work day routine and contrasts it with some others (most interesting to me was Vonnegut, I think, who never edited because he would put the words on the page exactly how he wanted them, typesetting and all).
King's key is to read a lot and write a lot. Beyond that, I read between the lines to see a man who is fascinated by humanity. He talks to people, experiences life, and he uses that in his writing. He may not have come out and said it that explicitly, but it is apparent and really sort of inspiring.
King's remarks on language, dialogue, and editing were very enlightening and thought-provoking for me. I will certainly remember what he said as I read fiction in the future. He has given me some new ways to analyze what I read.
Finally King concludes with the tale of the van that hit him as he walked along the highway. He describes the injuries and the rehabilitation. I was underwhelmed by this final section, but perhaps that is because we already know so much about what happened.
In summary, "On Writing" is:
a) a unique and memorable book you can breeze through in an afternoon,
b) an absolute must for King fans,
c) recommended to everyone.