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juliapeculiar's review against another edition
4.0
Pleasantly surprised!
I sometimes struggle with King's writing style and find his books a little hard to get into. This was very well crafted, many good writing tips and just overall a really good read. He sometimes is very blunt and forward in his opinions, some of which I agree with and others less so. Either: very interesting to read from an authors perspective, who was so commercially successful.
I sometimes struggle with King's writing style and find his books a little hard to get into. This was very well crafted, many good writing tips and just overall a really good read. He sometimes is very blunt and forward in his opinions, some of which I agree with and others less so. Either: very interesting to read from an authors perspective, who was so commercially successful.
strategineer's review against another edition
3.0
Stephen King tells you about his life and his advice on how you can become better at writing. This amounts to him basically saying "Just write a lot bro" but despite this, this was quite a fun read. And... He's not wrong.
On Writing by Stephen King is half part autobiography and half part a guide to writing. You probably know Stephen King's work and you've probably seen one of the thousands of movie adaptations of his books like It, Carrie or Shawshank Redemption). He is extremely prolific and he's one of my favorite writers so when I heard that he wrote this book on writing, I picked it up right away.
On Writing does not disappoint. He tells the story of his life and his road to becoming the writer he is today. As you would expect, it's a real page turner. Stephen King could write about paint drying and you would be glued to your seat.
Eventually, Stephen starts to give advice to people who want to become better writers. He mostly just says to write what you know and to practice every day? To be fair, I've become a better writer since I started following his advice soooooooooooo he must be onto something.
There's one passage in particular that has been stuck in my brain for a while now and here it is.
He says that "Writing is telephathy."
Look- here's a table covered with red cloth. On it is a cage the size of a small fish aquarium. In the cage is a white rabbit with a pink nose and pink-rimmed eyes. […] On its back, clearly marked in blue ink, is the numeral 8. […] The most interesting thing here isn't even the carrot-munching rabbit in the cage, but the number on its back. Not a six, not a four, not nineteen-point-five. It's an eight. This is what we're looking at, and we all see it. I didn't tell you. You didn't ask me. I never opened my mouth and you never opened yours. We're not even in the same year together, let alone the same room… except we are together. We are close. We're having a meeting of the minds. […] We've engaged in an act of telepathy. No mythy-mountain shit; real telepathy.
There's something very personal about writing and reading that makes it worth doing. It was nice to be reminded of that.
On Writing by Stephen King is half part autobiography and half part a guide to writing. You probably know Stephen King's work and you've probably seen one of the thousands of movie adaptations of his books like It, Carrie or Shawshank Redemption). He is extremely prolific and he's one of my favorite writers so when I heard that he wrote this book on writing, I picked it up right away.
On Writing does not disappoint. He tells the story of his life and his road to becoming the writer he is today. As you would expect, it's a real page turner. Stephen King could write about paint drying and you would be glued to your seat.
Eventually, Stephen starts to give advice to people who want to become better writers. He mostly just says to write what you know and to practice every day? To be fair, I've become a better writer since I started following his advice soooooooooooo he must be onto something.
There's one passage in particular that has been stuck in my brain for a while now and here it is.
He says that "Writing is telephathy."
Look- here's a table covered with red cloth. On it is a cage the size of a small fish aquarium. In the cage is a white rabbit with a pink nose and pink-rimmed eyes. […] On its back, clearly marked in blue ink, is the numeral 8. […] The most interesting thing here isn't even the carrot-munching rabbit in the cage, but the number on its back. Not a six, not a four, not nineteen-point-five. It's an eight. This is what we're looking at, and we all see it. I didn't tell you. You didn't ask me. I never opened my mouth and you never opened yours. We're not even in the same year together, let alone the same room… except we are together. We are close. We're having a meeting of the minds. […] We've engaged in an act of telepathy. No mythy-mountain shit; real telepathy.
There's something very personal about writing and reading that makes it worth doing. It was nice to be reminded of that.
ioanjoo's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
5.0
daed's review against another edition
4.0
Una gran obra, más para los que nos gusta Stephen King que para quienes empiezan en el oficio de escribir.
Me ha chocado solo un poquito que King defienda descaradamente su falta de esfuerzo en -por lo general- los finales de sus libros, (su ya conocido punto débil) y también me he quedado con ganas de saber cómo se creó It.
Por lo demás una muy entretenida biografía y una clase magistral de escritura. ¡A poner en práctica!
Me ha chocado solo un poquito que King defienda descaradamente su falta de esfuerzo en -por lo general- los finales de sus libros, (su ya conocido punto débil) y también me he quedado con ganas de saber cómo se creó It.
Por lo demás una muy entretenida biografía y una clase magistral de escritura. ¡A poner en práctica!
lostinthesound's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.75
jenmat1197's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
This book starts as a memori from King's childhood and becomes a master class for inspriting writers. Stephen recounts his childhood and early adult life before he sold his first big book (Carrie). He speaks freely about his struggles and how he choses to write (and where) and what he likes and doesn't like about writing styles in the books he reads. This book was published in 2000 and speaks to his writing up until that point.
This was a fantastic book. When I picked it up, my husband commented on how this book is known for being a great resource for writers. I personally loved that the first 1/4 of the book was him talking about his childhood and early career. His story of barely scraping by after college writing and working at a laundry mat until he sold "Carrie" just goes to show that you never know when a big break is going to come. His likes and dislikes about writing styles match mine which is probably why I like his books so much (for the most part). If you want to know more about King and get into his head, or learn his advice on writing your own story - you have to read this one.
wrightbookk's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed most of it, but I’m not a writer so a lot of it wasn’t the most interesting to me.
tyrannosaurus_lex's review against another edition
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
5.0
Every writer and every reader should check out this book. King’s forthright delivery and matter-of-fact presentation is likely more helpful than most classes on writing. Also this is just a great book in general.