Comments on: Stephen King’s On Writing

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.

By: Chad

Chad — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 22:55:01 +0000

I had to sigh when I saw this post.

Perhaps two weeks before you posted this blog, I was in the process of re-reading my copy of On Writing each day on the train to and from work. I was somewhere near the end of the section talking about the writer’s toolbox when suddenly I had to “push.” I went to the on-board toilet and as I was finishing up, the train pulled to my stop. I knew I was short on time so I grabbed my jacket and bag and rushed out the door, thankful that I wasn’t too late to climb off the train, and that I wouldn’t be late for work.

Moments after I stepped out, I realized that I had left the book next to the sink. However, by this time the door was shut and wouldn’t re-open. I watched in dismay as my book (and the train it was in) began to pull away.

I immediately went to the customer service counter at the train station, but they basically told me that there was nothing they could do. Later that day, I went back, and a woman gave me a website where I could register the missing book, in case it should turn up.

Six weeks later, I still don’t have it, and I feel hopeless about getting it back. If you had any idea how I feel about books, you might realize what a loss I felt, what a defeat it was to be meters away from retrieving my property, yet utterly helpless to do so.

It truly is an amazing book, thank you for blogging about it.

By: Ali

Ali — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 06:18:14 +0000

Thanks, Michael! And great points about how reading broadly is necessary. I’d encourage any writer to read as widely as possible — of course you need to be thoroughly familiar with the genre in which you’re writing, but you develop as a writer by challenging yourself in your reading, as well as in your writing.

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 03:02:16 +0000

“Read a lot”: that’s good advice but it shouldn’t be swallowed whole. What improves your writing is reading good writing (like Ali’s blog posts, I should point out). Read nothing but romance novels, and everything you write will smell of perfume. Read nothing but a single genre of literature and you will certainly become skilled at writing in that genre. But what if later on you want to outgrow it? Unfortunately, entire publishing industries seem to make their money from readers who don’t read anything else, by selling books written by authors who don’t write anything else. There’s a certain familiarity, but nobody knows if there’s any quality, because they are only judged by how much they resemble what’s already been published.

By: Gary

Gary — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 12:59:08 +0000

I too liked the quote:

“By the time I was fourteen … the nail in my wall would no longer support the weight of the rejection slips impaled upon it. I replaced the nail with a spike and kept on writing.”

So instead of being fearful of getting rejection slips I’m going to try to collect as many as I can. Remember, for every no you receive you are one step closer to a yes.