Stephen King: On Writing

As a writer, people like to give me lots of books on writing, filled with self-help suggestions and theories on craft. Most of the time, I skim, then toss the books behind the first row of books on my shelf, never to be seen again. A while back, a friend gave me Stephen King’s “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.” It’s been out for years and I may be the last writer on the planet to read it, but better late than never, as they say.

I’m not really a Stephen King aficionado. In fact, I’m embarrassed to say I’m more familiar with the movie versions of his books than I am with the books themselves. I didn’t really know what to expect from “On Writing.” I wasn’t expecting to underline and highlight passages, that’s for sure. And underline and highlight I did.

The book starts with him talking about the band he’s in with other writers, including Dave Barry and Amy Tan. He says this about this group of writers-as-musicians: “We are writers, and we never ask one another where we get our ideas; we know we don’t know.” Ok, Steve (can I call you Steve?), you’ve got me interested.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:

·         “One of the really bad things you can do to your writing is to dress up the vocabulary, looking for long words because you’re maybe a little bit ashamed of your short ones. This is like dressing up a household pet in evening clothes. The pet is embarrassed and the person who committed this act of premeditated cuteness should be even more embarrassed.”

·         “Grammar is not just a pain in the ass; it’s the pole you grab to get your thoughts up on their feet and walking.”

·         “I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs.”

·         “There is a muse, but he’s not going to come fluttering down into your writing room and scatter creative fairy-dust all over your typewriter or computer. He lives in the ground. He’s a basement guy. You have to descend to his level, and once you get down there you have to furnish an apartment for him t live in. You have to do all the grunt labor, in other words, while the muse sits and smokes cigars and admires his bowling trophies and pretends to ignore you.”

·         On the importance of reading: “You cannot hope to sweep someone else away by the force of your writing until it has been done to you.”

·         “I distrust plot for two reasons: first, because our lives are largely plotless, even when you add in all our reasonable precautions and careful planning; and second, because I believe plotting and the spontaneity of real creation aren’t compatible.”

·         “My basic belief about the making of stories is that they pretty much make themselves. The job of the writer is to give them a place to grow (and to transcribe them, of course).”

·         “We’ve all heard someone say, ‘Man, it was so great (or so horrible/strange/funny)…I just can’t describe it!’ If you want to be a successful writer, you must be able to describe it, and in a way that will cause your reader to prickle with recognition.”

·         “Writing fiction, especially a long work of fiction, can be a difficult, lonely job; it’s like crossing the Atlantic Ocean in a bathtub. There’s plenty of opportunity for self-doubt.”

·         On editing: “Every story and novel is collapsible to some degree.”

·         “The scariest moment is always just before you start. After that, things can only get better.”

It’s a good read. If you haven’t already read it, I recommend it (and I don’t recommend very many writing books). You’ll get some of King’s life stories, as well as practical writing tips. You’ll find yourself nodding along, aware that you are one of a group of people on this Earth who are compelled, for some reason, to tell stories on paper. I like to be reminded of this, especially when I’m insecure about my identity as “a writer.”

Click here to get it really cheap on Amazon.