Monday, July 14, 2008

A Writing Guide for the Common Joe

Stephen King’s On Writing:A Memoir of the Craft gives readers and writers a look into the mind and process of one of America’s most successful fiction writers. The genius of this book is that it succeeds on so many different levels: as autobiography, how-to, and humor writing all at once. King is unflinchingly honest with both personal information and writing advice – and usually extremely funny in his truthfulness.

King begins his book – after three short forewords, of which number two most successfully sets the tone (“This is a short book because most books about writing are filled with bullshit”) by giving a streamlined and highly entertaining overview of his life in the CV section. This is useful as it allows the reader to see how King’s early experiences shaped him as a writer. He then moves into the more hands-on section, “Tool Box,” which refers to his successful metaphor that a writer’s necessary skills – vocabulary, grammar, etc. – are things that must be collected, stored, sorted through, and hefted with the skill and muscle borne of practice.

The next section of the book, simply titled “On Writing,” uses multiple examples from King’s own fiction along with the words of other authors to drive home simple yet useful points about adverb abuse, reading to become a better writer, and writing for the sheer joy of it. Although this last tenant may seem to veer toward the sentimental, King maintains his straightforward, practical, and humorous style in a way that keeps the reader as grounded and comfortable as the famous author seems.

As far as usefulness as a writing manual, King offers sound advice on the concepts of revising – cutting out at least ten percent of a first draft – and the “Ideal Reader,” an individual familiar with the author’s writing style who reads the manuscript when it has gone through its first revision. He is unflinchingly honest about the usefulness – or lack thereof – of writing classes or seminars, expressing his belief that participants seem to be “looking for a magic bullet or a secret ingredient or possibly Dumbo’s magic feather, none of which can be found in classrooms or at writing retreats.”

The final section of the book, “On Living: A Post-Script” successfully brings to front and center King’s near-fatal Maine accident at the hands of a deranged driver ("a character right out of one of my own novels," he memorably says). It is a fascinating tale that brings the focus back to the author, humanizing and humbling him to the reader even more in the process. As King was working on the title book at the time of the accident, the reader gets a full measure of the persistence and determination he displayed during a long and painful recovery – the same qualities he credits with making him a successful writer in the first place. The accident, as terrifying and almost-tragic as it was, therefore serves to bring the reader – and King also, as he sagely comments toward the end of the section – full circle and fully realized within his own narrative.

One possible drawback: some readers may find the book noticeably short on agent information and other particulars related to publication. This is, however, as prominently pointed out by the title, a book on King’s writing process and not the writer-editor-publisher dynamic that some aspiring writers may wish he had covered in more depth. Another possible problem is King’s advice that serious writers compose 10,000 words per day. While this is all in a day’s work for King, a professional writer who makes a very healthy living from his words, it seems an unrealistic goal for the average working class individual contending with a full-time job and other myriad responsibilities.

Overall, this is a solid, earnest, and entertaining book. King hold to his no bullshit rule throughout and the reader is left in the more-than-capable hands of a master storyteller whose first and foremost goal is to entertain. It goes without saying that writers everywhere should strive to follow his example, and this book is a witty, wise, and accessible guide on how to do just that.

1 comment:

Amy Hudock said...

Good review! I like the specifics you bring in. Good work!