50 in '08: 12
May. 17th, 2008 08:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sakon76Title: On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
Author: Stephen King
I don't read much King. I say this as a caveat, with the proviso explanation that what he's best known for is horror, and I... cannot handle horror. At all. I have read A Green Mile, and seen the film of it, and I've also seen (and loved) The Shawshank Redemption and Stand By Me, so I know horror's not all he does. That said, this was a book that was purchased as a requisite for a college writing class... and the class never actually got around to reading it. ^_^;; It was one of the ones I didn't sell back at the end of the term, though, and was still in my bookcase.
It's quasi-autobiographical, giving me insight into the writer and how he views himself, both by what he says and by what he doesn't say. For some, that alone would be reason to read it. What I found more useful, though, was what he says about writing style--dos and don'ts--and a bit of insight into how his writing style works. Most commonly the advice to writers is to plot out the story before writing it, to frame it in a series of 3x5s pinned to a wall. King... doesn't do that. He lets the story grow organically, and while I find his "digging up a fossil" metaphor clunky, I can see how it works. This is a relief to me since I find the rigid structuring of the plot before writing to be hinderance rather than a help. I also find his advice not to show the work in progress to anyone intriguing, as it essentially leads to leaving the lid on the pot, increasing the pressure, making the creative water boil faster.
I took away some validation from this book and some stylistic considerations, so it was definitely worth the read. Recommended.
Author: Stephen King
I don't read much King. I say this as a caveat, with the proviso explanation that what he's best known for is horror, and I... cannot handle horror. At all. I have read A Green Mile, and seen the film of it, and I've also seen (and loved) The Shawshank Redemption and Stand By Me, so I know horror's not all he does. That said, this was a book that was purchased as a requisite for a college writing class... and the class never actually got around to reading it. ^_^;; It was one of the ones I didn't sell back at the end of the term, though, and was still in my bookcase.
It's quasi-autobiographical, giving me insight into the writer and how he views himself, both by what he says and by what he doesn't say. For some, that alone would be reason to read it. What I found more useful, though, was what he says about writing style--dos and don'ts--and a bit of insight into how his writing style works. Most commonly the advice to writers is to plot out the story before writing it, to frame it in a series of 3x5s pinned to a wall. King... doesn't do that. He lets the story grow organically, and while I find his "digging up a fossil" metaphor clunky, I can see how it works. This is a relief to me since I find the rigid structuring of the plot before writing to be hinderance rather than a help. I also find his advice not to show the work in progress to anyone intriguing, as it essentially leads to leaving the lid on the pot, increasing the pressure, making the creative water boil faster.
I took away some validation from this book and some stylistic considerations, so it was definitely worth the read. Recommended.
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Date: 2008-05-17 10:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-20 05:12 am (UTC)