On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.34 (868 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0671024256 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 288 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2016-04-22 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
The author shares his insights into the craft of writing and offers a humorous perspective on his own experience as a writer.
--Tim Appelo. Lovecraft's arcane vocabulary, Hemingway's leanness, Grisham's authenticity, Richard Dooling's artful obscenity, Jonathan Kellerman's sentence fragments. King gives us lots of revelations about his life and work. This was a child who dug Yvette Vickers from Attack of the Giant Leeches, not Sandra Dee. He explains why Hart's War is a great story marred by a tin ear for dialogue, and how Elmore Leonard's Be Cool could be the antidote. The memoir is terrific stuff, a vivid description of how a writer grew out of a misbehaving kid. Short and snappy as
Steven Black said The Grail Book. The Grail Book, it is that good. Let me start by saying I have read dozens of books "on writing" and they are all mostly the same. They talk about plotting your book, outlining it, which voice to use, first person, second person, etc. In essence they all talk about the mechanics of writing which is all fine and good if you are planning to write a "literary novel" which nobody will ever read and you will be lu. Aptly Titled Debi C. I enjoyed this book thoroughly, and took my time reading it. I could "hear" Mr. King's "voice" in my head as I read this on my iPad Kindle app. I felt like I was reading something from a friend---as if he had written a personal letter to me--- to give me an understanding of what he went through to become the person he is today. I think that his directives about the "how-to's" and "don't do's" were very practi. Mixed Bag This is far more interesting as a memoir on King's return to hope and life after a tragic automobile accident (as well as insights into his own books) than as a primer on how to write fiction. He gives a lot of advice that's misleading. He disparages "workshops," saying most are run by charlatans. I don't totally disagree with that but the truth is most writers have a hard time finding good readers and really