On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
I've never read a Stephen King novel. Strange, I know. It hasn't been a conscious choice...it just never occured to me to do so. I did, however, pick up his memoir On Writing recently at the book store and found his life fascinating. He has helpful insight into the process of writing and someday I will follow his advice... but I found the snippets of his life much more interesting. If you see this book the next time you're in Borders or Barnes and Noble and don't want to buy the whole book, just flip to the the last section called "On Living: A Postscript" and read those 20 pages. That's all I'm going to say. Well, it's inspiring. There, that's all I'm going to say.
I highly recommend this read for anyone who likes to write fiction (or even nonfiction for that matter). He provides philosophical advice for writers as well as concrete examples about how to improve your writing and get it published. I also recommend it if you simply like Stephen King. It has no buckets of pig blood or haunted hotels, but there are moments when his life is horrific enough.
Again, please share a book you have read and liked recently. I'm finishing up The Know It All right now, and then will probably read Born to Run with something else...so your suggestions would be fantastic.
My favoritest book in a long while was Water for Elephants - that was wonderful.
ReplyDeleteRight now I'm reading Olive Kitteridge. She's OK but not so much of a page turner as the Elephants were.
I read a lot too, though I once worked for a publishing company, so the bloom is off that rose. I loved Water for Elephants, suggested above and a great novel called Then We Came to the End, which may not be so attractive to those with job security. I read mostly nonfiction and recommend Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do, which is out in paperback by now.
ReplyDeletei didn't know King had a non-fiction out! i will definitely look for it. Have you read 'The Opposite of Fate', by Amy Tan? It's similar: a little bit memoir, a little bit 'on the craft of writing.' i've read it twice, liked it alot.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to venture into King's fiction, i'd start with 'Carrie'. It's written from multiple perspectives and has touches of stream-of-conciousness. i picked up an old copy (i think Carrie is his first-ever novel) at a used book store, mostly for the cool retro cover, and ended up loving the book. i loved 'Misery', too. It's a psychological thriller, and it's about a writer. i've read other King novels but those are my favorite; i was surprised to find that he's an excellent writer.
Other than that, i recently re-read 'Ella Minnow Pea', which is a gem for us language junkies and has touches of dystopian social commentary.
(didn't mean to leave such a long comment!)