Search - On Writing

When I sat down with this book I was expecting a manual on writing. Do this, don't do this kind of thing. But that is so not what this book is.

The beginning of the book tells the story of Stephen King's life. Then he goes into some of the things he thinks every writer needs to know (vocabulary, grammar, and basic concepts for dialogue). As he continues through the writing process he doesn't say "you should do this" he simply states this is what I do.

I was amazed that Stephen King could write a book about writing and make it something I couldn't put down. But I guess that's the beauty of how he writes. I think he makes his writing interesting by making it simple. Sure there were a few words I didn't expressly know, but I used my vocabulary toolbox to figure out their meaning.

This book also gave me a ton of new reading recommendations. Will I make it through them all? Probably not anytime soon, but I'm glad that I made a list of them so that I can keep referring back to them.

I don't know if I'll ever write a book, but after reading this book I think I'm more prepared if I ever decide that I do want to try writing.

I loved this because it was so personal from King. The first part is a mini-biography. The rest is a sort of "this is what I've done" and "this is what I recommend". I expected it would be more of a "manual" but I was pleasantly surprised to find that was not the case. A must for King fans and aspiring writers as well.

Part memoir, part how-to, this is my favorite book about the nuances and elements of writing.

King's an every-man, he doesn't pretend to be anything fancy and he doesn't consider himself to be the end-all, be-all of writing. He simply explains how (and why) he writes.

"Long live the King," hailed Entertainment Weekly upon the publication of Stephen King's On Writing. Part memoir, part master class by one of the bestselling authoris of all time, this superb volume is a revealing and practical view of the writer's cragt, comprising the basic tools of te trade every writer must have. King's advice is grounded in his vivid memories from childhood through his emergence as a writer, ..." USA Today

Can't get it away from my 92-year-old mother, who reads it over and over again. Although I am not a fan of the horror genre, I did appreciate the insight into the making of Mr. King.

I have never been a Stephen King fan. As part of some class in high school I had to read a short story about a possessed dry cleaning machine (or at least that's what I think it was) and that put me off him forever. It wasn't the writing - I probably couldn't have identified good or bad writing at the time - it was the subject matter. I was not interested in horror then, and still don't care for it now. In fact it generally irritates me.

In hindsight, that judgment - made when I was about 15 - might be too harsh. Maybe that story was simply a poor example of his work, or I woke up on the wrong side of the bed that day. Whatever the case, I am forced to reevaluate King now.

Those who know me well know I have a desire to be a writer. I suffer from some of the usual writer's problems, though, and haven't done enough writing to make me happy as a result. (That said, this blog is an excuse to write, so I am at least making strides in the right direction.)

Recently I decided to chase this dream a bit more aggressively, and this book came up as a recommendation. I'd never heard of it - I'd ignored King for roughly 25 years - but sometimes a search engine can point you in a surprising direction.

In On Writing King gives us several things:

* The experiences in life that made him the writer he is.

* Some tools (his metaphor) you need to write: vocabulary, grammar, etc.

* How to write. The actual day-to-day process of writing and editing, discussed clearly so you know what you're in for.

* An example manuscript before he edited the first draft and what the marked up pages looked like.

* Permission to read and write 4 to 6 (or more) hours a day.

All of this is useful information, at least to me. The craft of serious writing is one of those things whose attraction may not survive my actual attempt to pull it off, but King gives me information, permission, and hope.

Anyone looking to write should consider reading On Writing. And I will reconsider King's work. Anyone want to give me some recommendations for things that aren't horror?