I have asked around for recommendations of good writing books and many suggested On Writing as one of the best. King himself noted on the Foreword that “most books about writing are filled with bullshit” and he would try to keep his short. In fewer than 300 pages, King just did that, and did it beautifully. Earnestly, directly, and precisely, King delineated his path to a writer and his childhood in Part I - C.V.; presented us the key skills for good writing, with lots of examples, good and bad in Part II, Toolbox; and illustrated what made a good writer to better writer by addressing common writing topics such as writing genre, techniques of narration, description, dialogue, plot, character development and theme…etc.
It is a quick yet insightful read. King really had done what he preached – omit needless words. There are a couple of other “commandments” or thoughts which I find tremendously useful or refreshing: -
· If you don’t have the time to read, you don’t have the time or the tools to write.
· The road to hell is paved with adverbs, and I will shout if from the rooftops.
· Stories are found things, like fossils in the ground. Stories are relics, part of an undiscovered pre-existing world.
· Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader’s.
· Starting with the questions and thematic concerns is a recipe for bad fiction. Good fiction always begins with story and progresses toe theme
· Writing fiction is like crossing the Atlantic Ocean in a bathtub (plenty of opportunity for self-doubt.) (So, King’s advice is to take story through at least two drafts – one with the study door closed and the one you do with it open)
· Life isn’t a support-system for art. It’s the other way around.
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Stephen King - On Writing
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