On Writing by Stephen King #
On Writing, Stephen King. This is (ironically?) the first thing I’ve read by Stephen King.test a sidenote. If it gets too long, then what happens? I’ve owned it for many years, buying it during one of those pangs of doubt near the end of grad school; maybe this would be the book that turned the pangs into a new self-conception. Needless to say, I’m not sure what prompted me to finally pick up after so long; even after I got tenure. Oh: probably the book I’m over 18 months late on and the grant application I had to delay as well. Anyways: great read. I see why Stephen King has had the success that he has. The book opened with a memoir section; a rather turbulent and fragmented childhood was mirrored both in the prose (short, punchy sentences) and in the structure (very short numbered sections) in a very satisfying way. I won’t go too much into the details of either his life or his suggestions (I think the four hours a day, every day, line has been repeated enough; and a small few things were a bit too specific to fiction writing), but will mention one other thing that stood out to me: his approach to writing as a craft (of course it is!), and the analogies to other crafts like plumbing. I remember during grad school reading the introduction to Michael Dummett’s A Logical Basis of Metaphysics, as erudite and obscure a book as exists (look at that title!), and being struck by the line, “Philosophy, after all, is a craft, as plumbing is”. Several similar moments met me in King’s book.How about a margin note? And what if I make it really really long? Great read. Not the last of his for me. Grade: A-