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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 820
Average rating: 4.5 of 5
Don't wait for the muse...show up every day 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
I don't even read Stephen King books. I don't like horror books as I have nightmares - but I know Stephen is a writing legend so this book was fantastic to read.
He writes in that "real person" way that makes you feel he is not some writing super-hero that just creates a bestseller out of nothing. He is to the point in his advice, but behind it is his story. How he and Tammy came from nothing, how his drug use crushed him, and how his accident changed the way he sees the world. He knows the power of story.
Some top pieces of advice from the book:
- Close your door and make a serious commitment to write. Don't wait for the muse to come. Show up every day and "sooner or later, he'll start showing up, chomping his cigar and making his magic"
- Write what you love to read. Don't write in a genre to make money.
- If you don't have time to read, you don't have time to write.
- He writes by finding some characters and then putting them in a situation. They often surprise him by what happens.
- Write your first full draft with no input. Then let it rest for 6 weeks or so "like bread dough between kneadings". You will find it much easier to kill your darlings after a rest
- Revise for length. 2nd draft = 1st draft - 10%
- "Do you need someone to make you a paper badge with the word "Writer" on it before you can believe you are one? God, I hope not."
Great book!
Editorial Review:
Read by the Author
"If you don't have the time to read, you don't have the time or the tools to write."
On Writing begins with a mesmerizing account of King's childhood and his early focus on writing to tell a story. A series of vivid memories from adolescence, college, and the struggling years that led up to his first novel, Carrie, offer a fresh and often funny perspective on the formation of a writer.
King then turns to the tools of his trade, examining crucial aspects of the wriiter's art and life, offering practical and inspiring advice on everything from plot and character development to work habits and rejection.
King was in the middle of writing this book when he was nearly killed in a widely reported accident. On Writing culminates with a profoundly moving account of how his need to write spurred him toward recovery, and brought him back to his life.
