Scan barcode
A review by vertellerpaul
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
4.0
I'm ashamed to say I've never read anything by Stephen King so far. Most important lesson from this book: go read Carrie, go read The Stand...
Don't expect to find a detailed, turn-by-turn description of the process of writing that will work for you. This is not a magic wand to learn the craft. (There isn't any.) This book is as much an autobiography, a memoir (that's in the title!), a description of King's writing process, a celebration of his successes and his personal history that led to that. Expect a lot of fun, a rare opportunity to look over a successful writer's shoulder and many valuable tips.
King is a no-nonsense writer. Write fast, revise later. Fancy stuff like symbolism, theme and linguistic ornamentation are reserved for a second draft. Story comes first (and second and third) and then characters. Plot is optional, but often springs from situation (what if...?) and characters.
This book is a somewhat disorganized jumble (there is no table of contents, almost no chapter titles, no index, no logical order), tied together by little themes that spring up all over the book. The chapter on finding an agent was probably correct in 1980, but no longer in a digital age that seems to have largely passed King by. Manuscripts are handed in through e-mail. Thick guidebooks to publishers and agents really are a thing of the past.
It doesn't pretend to be a guide book for aspiring writers. King just says: this is how I do it, these are the things that work for me. Take what you can use, start writing and have fun. I had fun reading this.
Don't expect to find a detailed, turn-by-turn description of the process of writing that will work for you. This is not a magic wand to learn the craft. (There isn't any.) This book is as much an autobiography, a memoir (that's in the title!), a description of King's writing process, a celebration of his successes and his personal history that led to that. Expect a lot of fun, a rare opportunity to look over a successful writer's shoulder and many valuable tips.
King is a no-nonsense writer. Write fast, revise later. Fancy stuff like symbolism, theme and linguistic ornamentation are reserved for a second draft. Story comes first (and second and third) and then characters. Plot is optional, but often springs from situation (what if...?) and characters.
This book is a somewhat disorganized jumble (there is no table of contents, almost no chapter titles, no index, no logical order), tied together by little themes that spring up all over the book. The chapter on finding an agent was probably correct in 1980, but no longer in a digital age that seems to have largely passed King by. Manuscripts are handed in through e-mail. Thick guidebooks to publishers and agents really are a thing of the past.
It doesn't pretend to be a guide book for aspiring writers. King just says: this is how I do it, these are the things that work for me. Take what you can use, start writing and have fun. I had fun reading this.