--Rosemary Royston, Program Coordinator
A Netwest member recently loaned me her copy of Stephen King’s On Writing. Even though I’m not a fiction writer, I’m always ready to learn, and I’m also a huge Stephen King fan. In a nutshell, the book blew me away. It is a “memoir” of the craft of writing, and King makes no bones about how he feels about anything. Not only does the reader learn about King’s life as a child and what shaped him as a writer, but she also learns specifics on what makes a good sentence, good dialogue, and a strong character. The advice in this book is simply excellent, and because of King’s tone, I found myself laughing quite a bit. He is brutal, honest, and wastes no words (in fact, he detests adverbs). One tidbit I found most interesting, not being a fiction writer, is that King is not a fan of “plot.” In fact, he warns writers against having a plot from the beginning and instead encourages them to have a situation, and then let the characters take the situation to its next level. For me, this was quite surprising, as I had the idea that most fiction writers thought of a plot first, and then shaped the characters around it. Not so, at least for King. Whether you are a poet, memoirist, or fiction writer, you will learn invaluable advice from this book. Borrow it, beg for it, check it out of your local library. You will not regret it.
Thanks for the heads up to beg, borrow or steal Stephen King's book on writing. I will certainly want to read it, cover to cover. I am surprised about the question of plot, also. You live and hopefully learn. Thanks for this info, Rosemary--You are doing a great job. Carole Thompson
ReplyDeleteI have a copy of Stephen King's On Writing and I read it often to refresh my memory with his gifts on writing. I, too, advise writers to read this book.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Rosemary, for this post.
I'll have to get my hands on a copy. I always have loved King's characters. I am a big fan of his, but I don't like some of the gory 'details'.
ReplyDelete