On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft | Stephen King | An excellent book on how to write narrative...

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft | Stephen King | Nice

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On Writing: A Memo...

	On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft Stephen King Scribner, 2000 - 288 pages average customer review:based on 819 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

An excellent book on how to write narrative fiction

With nearly 600 reviews of this book there is very little need for any new reviews. I mainly want to record my five-star vote for the excellence of this book. I have to confess that I'm not a huge fan of Stephen King. I read very little horror fiction and as a result have only read a couple of King's books. Nonetheless, I have lately been toying with the idea of writing a fictional work of my own (all of my previous work, without exception, has been nonfiction, and within that virtually all academic). I thought this would provide a good practical guide to someone like myself. Regardless of one's opinion of King, he clearly has no trouble putting pen to paper. I have to say that as a practical aid this book far surpassed what I was hoping for.

The title is a slight misnomer. King does not discuss writing in general, but very specifically narrative fiction. He wants to help someone who wants to write a yarn. His advice is perfect for someone like me, who wants to take a first stab at creating a new story. I actually have a rough idea of what sitting down to write would be like and approximately what I need to do need. If I actually write what I hope, this small book could play an important role in that.

The book is, however, more than a writing guide. As the title makes clear it is also a memoir of King's life as a writer. It isn't a full-blown biography, but a record of what his life as a writer has been like. But because King famously suffered a near fatal traffic accident while he was writing this, he lingers a bit longer on this than other parts of his life. But, as Michael Scott might say, "It's all good." I enjoyed both the writing guide and the memoir. I highly recommend both.

Part of what led me to read this was reading King's columns in Entertainment Weekly. I've been quite surprised to discover that I share more interests in books, TV, and music than I would have expected. King is someone I think would be fun to argue with about all of these. One thing that surprises me in the book is how negative he is on TV. I've been arguing for years to anyone who will listen that one of the really big changes in popular culture over the past decade has been how very, very good television has become. I definitely prefer television to the movies. When he wrote this book King was clearly not a fan of television. He is now. I suspect that he began discovering some of the very good shows on the air. He has written with passion about such shows as BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, VERONICA MARS, and LOST. I'd like to know more specifically what caused him to see the light with regard to TV. But that would be a different book.

I recommend this book to just about anyone. It is hard to imagine that anyone wouldn't find something of interest in this. If nothing else, it will give the reader insights into the way one highly successful writer practices his craft.

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Nice

This is a great book. The first half or so of it is mostly autobiographical and informs the reader how Stephen got into writing. The latter part of the book is more of an actual guide on how to write fiction. The very last part of the book recounts his life-changing accident.

I really like how Stephen writes - throughout the book I had a sense of direct communication with him. He describes writing as telepathy - and his is very effective. His humorous, honest and straightforward voice is constantly present. I also like that he unabashedly describes his particular and peculiar interests and always sticks to his guns regarding what he believes works.

If you're looking to learn how to write good fiction from a bestseller, and want to be entertained and engaged in the process, you ought to read this book.

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On Writing

I found this book by Stephen King both interesting and useful.

It allowed me to see what style of writing he has and how he came about.
I wansn't a big Stephen King fan but decided to buy the book and I learned a lot about him and his career. I am very gald that I came accross it. The most important thing that I learned was to just write, write, write on your first draft. Then revise and edit on your 2nd draft.

An enlightening read!!

I love this guy

I read this book 3 0r 4 times. His fiction is a little tacky. I ignore it,mostly. This book just fills me with joy. Why? Because Steve is a man.He gives you the reader the life of a man,who also writes. His taste in fiction,is not my taste. I avoid his books and I bless him for making a lot of money.Stephen is a beautiful guy,as far as I can discern.In America,writers have no dignity anymore:Writers are either cheap whores or celebrated whores.This is just wrong.Steve is both cheap and celebrated.Hemingway wrote great stuff in cable-ese, then killed himself.Steve writes a bunch of stuff I ignore and I hope and pray he does not kill himself.In sum, I don't read American fiction anymore-not even The New York Times:America's premier fake-news publication.
This book is a little light-weight and yet I love it.Steve is a fine man who wasted his life writing schlock.I,however, have never published anything.So, maybe I am a putz.Maybe I should try publishing for a change.God Bless You,Steve King.

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Constant reader left wanting

After finishing this book, I wasn't quite sure how I felt about it.

It is seperated into three parts. The first are some brief snapshots of the author's life. Telling memories from his childhood, early jobs, first book publication, and even descent into addiction. The second part is strictly about writing. These are the pages that I found had trouble keeping my attention. The third section talks about his accident. He was hit by a motorist while walking on the shoulder of the road. He describes his experience in suprising detail.

When he shines a light on his own work, giving us an inside perspective on the books we've already, it is extremely interesting. When he is talking about the use of adverbs, not so much.

I understand that this is a book about writing. Myself not being a writer I wasn't fully able to enjoy it in its entirety. This book isn't off limits to you if you are, like myself, simply a constant reader. However, you should temper your expectations.

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