Comments on: Stephen King’s On Writing

By: Stephen Thorn

Stephen Thorn — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 20:01:51 +0000

SB, asking how to write a story is like asking how to cook and eat a meal — there are a million ways to do either, but not every one will be right for everybody.

In a nutshell, to write a story you choose (invent or report) a sequence of events and put them onto paper in the correct order. Something as simple as “I got up this morning, brushed my teeth, then sat down to read the morning paper and found my obituary in it!” is a story, albeit a very short one. Anyone who’s ever told a ‘this guy walks into a bar’ kind of joke or told about something they did, like take some friends to the movies, has told a story, and “telling” the story on paper is writing a story.

Now, doing this WELL is another matter. That involves things like proper word choice and use, grammar and punctuation, rewriting, character development, etc. There are many ways you can learn tips and ways to do these things, and I won’t go into them here.

For a short answer to your original question, “i’m lost at how to start a story, is there anything you could tell me how to write a story?” I’d suggest you start by writing about something that happened to you — a surprise birthday party, first date, time the principal called you to his office for something, when you almost got mugged, the day you moved out of your parent’s house, etc. — something that you remember pretty well so you can recount all the important details and steps. Write it all down, then start to edit and polish what you’ve written. Again, this is not the venue for a long lesson on that subject, but at least you’ll have taken the first step: you’ll have actually written a story!

By: Mikes

Mikes — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 01:11:24 +0000

This was the last book reharding writing I read and I think it will be the last. There’s really no need for me to carry, I think. It covers everything a writer needs to know about the creative process. As King notes, anything we do is really just putting off putting pen to paper.

After reading I realised what I was doing by collecting all these books on writing was procrastinating and allowing my fear of failure to take over. I took his advice ad set myself a goal of 1,000 words a day (1,000 over the weekend) come hell or high water. I won’t lie, it was hard in the first wo weeks. With a full time job and a small child I was limited to what I could do on the train commute and lunch break and sometimes went ot bed ater midnight when I wouldn’t let myself finish until those 1,000 words were on the screen.

But after 2 weeks I saw my manuscript jump by 12,000 words and it spurred me on.

In short – read this book. Sell you hamster for the money if you ahveto, but get this book.

By: S.B.

S.B. — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 18:29:23 +0000

i like stephen king also and i am learning about writing a novel or short stories right now but i want to be a writer but i know it takes
time and effort to learn how to write a book. i’m lost at how to start a story, is there anything you could tell me how to write a story? where can i go?

By: Phillip Morton

Phillip Morton — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 00:22:46 +0000

I love this advice, Stephen King is one of my favourite writers. I did not realise though that he had written a book giving advice to us who seek to take the writers path. Will definitely look into getting this book as soon as possible.

By: Stephen Thorn

Stephen Thorn — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:47:04 +0000

Ali, I agree that “On Writing” was a great book for a writer (aspiring or established). I do like King’s fiction (with some caveats, but that’s a blog for another day), and “On Writing” was enjoyable while being educative. I also recommend his “Danse Macabre” for anyone interested in writing in the horror genre (as I do). King examines horror fiction in in-depth, easily understood, detail. He focuses on movies, but the lessons apply equally well to written fiction.