On Writing by Stephen King

[jessezzel]

I just finished this book last thursday at the beach. I thought that it was a really good book in general. It is part autobiography and part text on some really good tips to writing fiction. Even if you arnt a Stephen King fan you could still find some really good advice in it, and if you do like Stephen King it will be even more fun.

[Xamonas Chegwe]

I have yet to read this. I liked his earlier book, "Danse Macabre" which was a discussion on horror writing through the ages. It showed that he is more aware of his craft and it's background and themes than a lot of people, that dismiss him as a formulaic scribbler, give him credit for.

I am glad to see someone recommend it. I've been meaning to pick it up for a while.

[Chinaski]

I loved King when I was younger, but I reckon I ODd on Horror/Sci-Fi/Fantasy as a teen - I can't stand it now. Actually, it just occured to me that it's probably, partley, due to some literary snobbery! Whatever it is, it's too entrenched to change now!

[Zippy]

I too loved King when I was younger and have read 'On Writing'. I thought it was excellent, and, though it pains me to admit it, his last decent book.

I feel he's diminished over the years. Books like 'Misery', 'Salem's Lot' and 'The Dead Zone' were truly brilliant reads, but his later work just lacks something. I don't know if the formula is getting stale or perhaps as he gets older he's running out of ideas, but it's sort of sad - a bit like watching your old dad tottering around the house looking for his glasses when all the time they're on his head - it's disheartening to watch someone you so admire begin to lose it.

However, saying that, I haven't read 'Cell' yet and I always hope that he'll regain his old form - you just never know with King.

Zippy.

[davoarid]

I read it when I was younger (15 or so), and I think it was the absolutely perfect book for me at that time. Because, really, what would I learn from James Joyce's or William Faulkner's "On Writing"? What advice could they have? "Step 1. Buy a typewriter. Step 2. Be a literary genius. Reading a book like that by a guy like King--who was just another high school English teacher with an overactive imagination--taught me more about writing than anything else I've ever read.

[Poe_writer]

I agree w/ what Zippy said. I still think SK's earlier works were better. I haven't yet read Cell, which shows a lot, because I used to buy the SK books as soon as they were available. I stopped doing that after I read Gerald's Game.

[WilliamBlake]

I have always liked a good Stephan King book. I do have his book On Writing and I have read part of it. I think I just didn't have time (I'm really bad about starting projects or books and then never finishing them) but I remember being really into it when I picked it up two years ago. I don't know why I haven't finished it -- it's still in the upstairs bookshelf waiting to be finished. I'll probably have to start all over now. Speaking of books on writing -- one book on writing that I absolutely loved was Bird by Bird by Anne Lamont.