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A review by millennial_dandy
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
4.0
You can, you should, and if you're brave enough to start, you will. p.270
So ends Stephen King's turn of the century memoir 'On Writing.' And that more or less sums it up in terms of the crux of his advice to aspiring writers. This advice on its own is fairly generic and unassuming, but it's also true of any skill that one wishes to improve. And honestly, it's not what makes this book so popular or the reading experience so enjoyable.
Just like any of his better novels, it's the voice that had me devouring each section. This is Stephen King being unabashedly himself in writing. That very 'tell it like it is' style that people either love or hate. At his best, I really enjoy his voice, and since this was largely him at his best, I liked this book.
As much as he's known for being the King of Horror, I suspect it's his ability to turn what in another writer's hands could be mundane and boring anecdotes into fascinating case studies that makes his work have such staying power.
In 'On Writing' he talks about his thought process behind the plot research and development and how he starts with a sort of 'what if' situation: 'what if a mother and son were trapped in their car by a mad dog'? But interestingly, the part he didn't talk about: 'how did that mother and son get trapped in the car and why exactly can't they get away?' I think is the part that most writers of plot-centered fiction struggle with, and he didn't go into that here: connecting plot turns and creating believable and exciting plot twists. He does, however, spell it out nicely in 'Misery' when the trapped writer is chastised by Annie Wilkes for not playing fair in his first draft of his novel.
In many ways, 'Misery' accomplishes what 'On Writing' sets out to do: it examines the soul of a writer, his trials and tribulations, the writing process. And all wrapped around a simple but intense plot with high stakes.
So did the world really need 'On Writing'?
Need? Who knows. But though he does basically tell rather than show the underpinnings of 'Misery', thus making some of the craft sections feel dry by comparison, the biography section with memories specifically chosen to chronicle his life as a writer and explore where some of his thematic interests come from are well worth the price of admission, and feature (appropriately) some really nice writing:
The Yeats reference was kind of unexpected, but it was moments like this that showed (rather than told!) just how much King loves reading and language, and that sense of enjoyment that 'On Writing' is drenched in is infectious. By the end of it, you really do just want to pull up an empty Word doc, or grab a notebook and pen and get to it. And really, what's a better mark of a successful book on the craft of writing?
In terms of that craft from a technical perspective, his inclusion of his first and second drafts of the opening of '1408' with his notes on why he made certain changes is invaluable.
An unexpectedly cozy Stephen King book that calls for a comfortable reading perch and a cup of tea (and writing implements close at hand!).
So ends Stephen King's turn of the century memoir 'On Writing.' And that more or less sums it up in terms of the crux of his advice to aspiring writers. This advice on its own is fairly generic and unassuming, but it's also true of any skill that one wishes to improve. And honestly, it's not what makes this book so popular or the reading experience so enjoyable.
Just like any of his better novels, it's the voice that had me devouring each section. This is Stephen King being unabashedly himself in writing. That very 'tell it like it is' style that people either love or hate. At his best, I really enjoy his voice, and since this was largely him at his best, I liked this book.
As much as he's known for being the King of Horror, I suspect it's his ability to turn what in another writer's hands could be mundane and boring anecdotes into fascinating case studies that makes his work have such staying power.
In 'On Writing' he talks about his thought process behind the plot research and development and how he starts with a sort of 'what if' situation: 'what if a mother and son were trapped in their car by a mad dog'? But interestingly, the part he didn't talk about: 'how did that mother and son get trapped in the car and why exactly can't they get away?' I think is the part that most writers of plot-centered fiction struggle with, and he didn't go into that here: connecting plot turns and creating believable and exciting plot twists. He does, however, spell it out nicely in 'Misery' when the trapped writer is chastised by Annie Wilkes for not playing fair in his first draft of his novel.
In many ways, 'Misery' accomplishes what 'On Writing' sets out to do: it examines the soul of a writer, his trials and tribulations, the writing process. And all wrapped around a simple but intense plot with high stakes.
So did the world really need 'On Writing'?
Need? Who knows. But though he does basically tell rather than show the underpinnings of 'Misery', thus making some of the craft sections feel dry by comparison, the biography section with memories specifically chosen to chronicle his life as a writer and explore where some of his thematic interests come from are well worth the price of admission, and feature (appropriately) some really nice writing:
[My childhood] is a fogged-out landscape from which occasional memories appear. p.17
No one can be as intellectually slothful as a really smart person; give them half a chance and they will ship their oars and drift... dozing to Byzantium you might say. (p.143)
The Yeats reference was kind of unexpected, but it was moments like this that showed (rather than told!) just how much King loves reading and language, and that sense of enjoyment that 'On Writing' is drenched in is infectious. By the end of it, you really do just want to pull up an empty Word doc, or grab a notebook and pen and get to it. And really, what's a better mark of a successful book on the craft of writing?
In terms of that craft from a technical perspective, his inclusion of his first and second drafts of the opening of '1408' with his notes on why he made certain changes is invaluable.
An unexpectedly cozy Stephen King book that calls for a comfortable reading perch and a cup of tea (and writing implements close at hand!).