Motivational!!
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Having read On Writing when starting out, I was impressed by its honesty and how it motivated me. Years later, as a writer with my own portfolio of published work, I have read it again and found it still to be an enjoyable, honest and inspirational book about the joy and hardships of being a writer. I can think of only two other books so motivational: Journal of a Novel by John Steinbeck and Wannabe a Writer? by Jane Wenham-Jones.
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Incredibly useful
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I read this book while I was trying to get to grips with scribbling the first draft of a novel. It's a great mix of life story and invaluable insight from one writer to another. I do try and match his target of 2000 words a day but it's not easy! Have recommended this title on to others, particulary my local writers' group.
While firmly of the belief that if you want to finish a novel you should get on and do it rather than keep reading about 'how to' (am just finishing my fourth)...I have found another brilliant book which is full of really useful hints and tips - a thoroughly enjoyable read as well as incredibly practical! 'Wannabe a Writer' is by Jane Wenham-Jones.
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highly recommended a must read
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stephen kings horror genre isnt my typical read however the movie adaptions are excellent but this book is excellent, its part autobiographical as well as instructive on the art and craft of writing as a whole and not specific at all to the horror genre that he is a master of , its very inspirational as he gives examples of the germs/ideas of his stories and novels theres no b** s*** but simple honest hard earned wisdom and experience definatelty recommended alongside patricia highsmiths on plotting and suspense
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An essential tool in my writing toolbox
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What I love about Stephen King's "On Writing" is it's unpretentiousness. Stephen King isn't the guru when it comes to telling other scribblers how to write - no one is. He humbly gives his account of his life and how it has influenced his becoming a writer and his writing itself. He also gives an account of how he writes, noting again and again that writing is a very subjective and personal experience.
And above all else Stephen King's love of writing shines through as an inspiring and hopeful beackon for all of us amateur scribblers.
Although I take good care of my books, I know that my copy of "On Writing" has to be close at hand when I write and that it will be underlined, dog-eared, commented on in the margins, read, and reread.
Louise
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Where to start if you want to write a novel
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This is the first writing guide I've read by a "big" author. Some writing guides are written by people who haven't even been published. Take advice from an wannabe and the best you can hope to be is a wannabe. Here you're taking advice from a modern day macabre Dickens -- a master of storytelling, and hugely successful to boot.
I was a little cynical about the necessity of the book. I wondered if King wrote it to cash in on those who want to "get rich quick" -- people who don't necessarily care about writing, but want money and success, and who believe they can achieve this by emulating Stephen King. I was wrong. I'm sure get-rich-quickers will buy this book, but it isn't aimed at them.
I hesitate to use the phrase but this is a book "from the heart". In its pages, Stephen King describes how he writes, and how he thinks *you* should write. It's neither technical or comprehensive, and is only vaguely methodical, but it works through key areas such as grammar, dialogue, plot, pacing, and a couple more things. Some of the advice is elementary (depending on your experience), and some very profound.
The book also focuses on the process of writing -- producing drafts, or how to deal with the inevitable self-doubt, amongst other things. Often it's less a guide about "how to write" than it is a guide about "how to handle writing" or "how to go about writing". It offers advice on lots of levels. When I read certain passages, I could have wept. At last! Somebody understands the agony of writing a novel for the first time! I'm not going crazy after all!
The book is not all about writing, however. The first part is a short biography of the author's earlier years. The book ends with a description of an accident the author suffered. Tacked onto the back is an unpleasant short-story written by an unknown author from a competition judged by King. Also included in this grab-bag-style book is a short story by King that he redrafts, to show how drafting should be done, and a short list of fiction books King thinks are good and support his ideas.
None of the sections are really connected and each can exist without the others. However, the book has a twist in its tale at the end -- it turns out King wrote the bulk of the book while recovering from the aforementioned accident, and was often in intense pain while tapping away on his word processor. There's something very Stephen King about this, not only in the twist, but also the underlying metaphysics: writing the book was a way of King getting back in touch with his creative soul after something that almost destroyed him. He wasn't even sure if he still had the ability to write. This, if nothing else, proves King's brilliance. Like his works or loathe them, the man could write a shopping list and make it an interesting and profound read ("The eggs smashed their brains all over the sausages. The sick yellow yoke blended into the sugar, as if sugar was always meant to be yellow and crystalline. Oh, and don't forget to get some tea bags.").
As a side note, I'd point out that King really does believe in American literature, as separate from British literature. Several American authors he discusses I'd simply never heard of, I'm ashamed to say, including some he named as his favourite authors of all time. This is a book written with American sensibilities in mind, although this presents no real issues for the modern multicultural individual. You've got Google. Use it!
Put simply, and in summary, this is one of the most important books I've read since deciding to write a novel. I don't intend to write a horror novel, and have never read an entire Stephen King book (not my cup of tea), but the advice King gives is very rarely found elsewhere and applies to anybody wanting to write popular fiction. If you've ever wished that a best-selling author would simply explain "how he does it" then this book is what you need.
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