This is my first book review on the site and I have therefore chosen a book naturally, on writing. I have shelves of these kinds of books and have made a promise to myself this year to actually dust them off and read them. Keeping this blog will hopefully motivate me to achieve that.
Now I'll start with a confession. I have never, ever, read any of Stephen King's books. Not one. I have seen one of his films though, Misery, which was fantastic. So why would I buy a book of his now? He is a prolific writer in a genre I'm not particularly fond of. Well, as you can tell by the title, On Writing is not a fiction, thriller or fantasy. Its many things but not one of Kings usual preferences. I'd read several snippets about the book, comments made by other writers and book reviews and decided that I would add it to my Amazon wish list. It stayed there for a year until I recently gritted my teeth and bought it.
On Writing is a mixture of things. The first part is definitely an autobiography - King refers to it as his 'CV' and it details his first exploration as a child into the writing process, the influence of his wife, his dabble into the darker sides of life and his commitment to writing is without doubt. This gives a useful insight into Stephen King, the man, or the life that has made him a writer. King believes above all that writing is a serious thing, and that if writers take their craft seriously, they may, may, just get something out of it. Not bad advice.
The large part of the book is Kings take on the process of writing. He refers to a writers 'toolbox' and makes some suggestions about what he personally believes are the essential elements; vocabulary, grammar (but without all the scary stuff); style, and he admits, a little bit of magic.
King writes every day, every single day and not just the odd word - he aims to write at least 2000 words per day. That's a lot of words come the end of the year. He views writing as a joy, not a drudge, a sentiment that writers often lose sight when they are stressed by deadlines, rejections and the blank page. King also makes reference to the great plot or character debate. He is very character driven, from whom the plot takes shape and he’s very clear about why. He uses his work and the work of others (Grisham, Clancy for example) and shares the struggles he experienced and overcame.
The final element of Kings book is about his accident and how writing helped his recovery from such a dreadful and shocking trauma. The injuries he sustained were significant but it was his desire to write and the encouragement and support of his wife, which enabled him to return to his desk. He ends the book with a list of books which 'worked' for him, some of them well known, others more obscure, but demonstrates his very broad taste in literature.
For me, the part that I really gained most from was his very thorough look at the editing process. This King learnt from one of his first editors and he applies the theory to every piece of work. Essentially it's about cutting the slack (by at least 10%), paying attention to every word and its contribution to the whole. King provides an example with text explaining what and why.
On Writing doesn't give any answers to the big questions about the writing process. Nor does it claim to. What it does is give an insight into one writer’s experience. One very successful writer’s experience. King doesn't preach, but he certainly voices his opinion. It is up to the reader whether to apply any of his methods to see if they work for them.
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