A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King . I'm not IN love with him, but I love his writing, his stories, his characters, and now, his advice: . Finally some advice I want to heed! OK, I should say that this is really only a small fraction of the wisdom he imparts in this book, and I neglectfully left out the . But I have never actually aspired to be a writer, so the reading part is good enough for me. I admire writers, sure, some more than others, but I've never thought about writing something of my own.
I never really had any ideas, and if I did, I never had any follow- through on them, so they just kind of withered and died. I did take creative writing in highschool, but that doesn't count. But here we have a revelation of sorts. Writing doesn't have to be so stiff and planned and diagrammed!
I always knew that King had a kind of . Sure, I knew that, academically. But I still rather thought that he had a kind of road- map in his head for which direction things would go, and that he filled in the details along the way. Point A to Point B to Point C to Destination D. It's rather inspiring to know that's not how he does it, and that his method WORKS. My highschool creative writing teacher would probably cry herself to sleep every night if she knew. I really enjoyed the way that this book was written.
I’ve not read Stephen King’s book about writing, but I have read Brenda Ueland’s, so I don’t know if the points are the same, but I suspect they might be. On Writing Quotes (showing 1-30 of 314) “Books are a uniquely portable magic.” . Download Free eBook:On Writing by Stephen King - Free chm, pdf ebooks download.
It didn't feel much like reading. Most of the time, it seemed as if I was having a one- on- one with Steve himself, and he was telling his tale and giving his advice to me alone. I also felt like this, as well as Lisey's Story, is a kind of tribute to Tabitha King, for all the ways that she kept him afloat through the years.
Short and snappy as it is, Stephen King's On Writing really contains two books. Stephen King lays down the law and then teaches it. He shares his techniques, his pet peeves, and his own personal horrific experiences. Download Stephen King On Writing PDF for free. Get the ePUB, MOBI and eBook format for your digital device! In August 2003, King began writing a column on pop culture appearing in Entertainment Weekly, usually every third week. Spignesi, Stephen (1991). The Complete Stephen King Encyclopedia. Download eBooks by author Stephen King. Guaranteed best prices. Stephen King eBooks Epub and PDF format. Stephen lives in Maine and Florida with his wife.
It was a little like peeking through the window into their lives. I could see their college days, their trailer with two small babies days, their slightly bigger but still small apartment with two small kids days, their big- break day. I could see the beer cans stacking up in the bin, and the drug- covered floor in the intervention.
When King described his various workstations, I could see them clearly in my mind, even though he'd give us only the barest description.. His description of his accident, and the aftermath especially, brought tears to my eyes because, even though I knew how close the world was to losing him that day, I didn't really KNOW until he showed me. I read this in one sitting, which is a testament to King's readability, as I am not by nature a non- fiction reader. He just somehow makes stuff, life, interesting.
Even something as seemingly mundane (even to a reader) as grammar rules, he makes it interesting. His personality and sense of humor shine throughout the book and lent it a personal feeling that other grammar and writing texts lack. Man, I wish I could have had him as a teacher. I hope they appreciated every red mark he ever scribbled on their work.
He's a gajillionaire and needs never work another day in his life, but he still writes. This makes me happy, because I can't imagine never reading another new Stephen King book. The day he is no longer able to write will be a tragic day indeed. But, hopefully that day will be very long in coming, and King will continue to do what he does best: Tell us stories.
Stephen King’s “On Writing” – A Comprehensive Review and Summary. There are plenty of books on writing out there, mostly by writers you have never heard of and probably never will. King raves about this book and mentions it more than a couple of times. In his view, all writers should read this short but essential book.
I need to get myself a copy. Characters. King’s writing style is based on characters. He’s simply talking about writing that is above competent and readable, and perhaps, publishable. I just can’t help myself, and I think it shows, even from this post! I do allow my characters to roam free a little, but it’s usually within the confines of a single scene as opposed to the entire story. Descriptions. Descriptions make the reader a sensory participant in the story.
Particularly useful is the advice to avoid too much description on individual attributes of characters. It’s easy to overlook it, but how you structure the length of your paragraphs can be very important.
King’s recommendation is to learn the beat and let nature take its course. It’s not something I ever gave much thought to, so I found this particular part rather instructive. Back Stories, Info Dumps and Flashbacks.
King says back stories and info dumps should be kept in the back of the mind. Writers need to read in order to improve, and it’s not only through reading good literature – you can learn just as much from reading a good book (teaching you what to do) as a bad book (teaching you what NOT to do).
What to do after the First Draft. King’s advice is to complete that first draft within 3 months. As he says, you cannot make agents/publishers like your manuscript, but you can make it easier for them to like your story. Writing Courses. King generally does not find writing courses to be very helpful on the whole as the creative flow tends to get stopped. I found Nightmares and Dreamscapes to be reasonable, littered with some good and some bad stories.