On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
BY Stephen King
BY Stephen King
King, Stephen. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. New York: Scribner, 2000. Print.
Summary:
King writes a part narrative and part instructional text which isn't necessarily a guide, but an anecdote of how one writer was molded. King shares his life stories that lead to becoming a famous novelist and speaks of troubles afterwards. All the while, he hints at what is important in writing and provides rules and techniques to abide by.
The Lesson:
The book jumps around but is chronological for the most part; and the first section is a narrative. If I could recognize a controlling value from this section, it would be associated to utilizing writing as a part of one's life, but not deeming it the center. Although writing can provide wonderful things such as intelligence and experience, it shouldn't drive your life. Instead your life should drive your writing. King explains that one should only write for the "joy and rush and excitement of writing," not to make money or reputation. This is the only way to write honestly.
King writes a part narrative and part instructional text which isn't necessarily a guide, but an anecdote of how one writer was molded. King shares his life stories that lead to becoming a famous novelist and speaks of troubles afterwards. All the while, he hints at what is important in writing and provides rules and techniques to abide by.
The Lesson:
The book jumps around but is chronological for the most part; and the first section is a narrative. If I could recognize a controlling value from this section, it would be associated to utilizing writing as a part of one's life, but not deeming it the center. Although writing can provide wonderful things such as intelligence and experience, it shouldn't drive your life. Instead your life should drive your writing. King explains that one should only write for the "joy and rush and excitement of writing," not to make money or reputation. This is the only way to write honestly.
Controlling Value 1
Purpose: Writing honestly will produce work that is compelling Context: Writing for the money will ruin your narrative |
Controlling Value 2
Purpose: Writing for you first and your audience second will help you achieve goals Context: Writing selfishly will not be attractive to an audience |
I recognize that the purpose of controlling value 1 and the context of controlling value 2 do not fit perfectly; however, I do believe these values are important because it shapes meaning and purpose. Robert Olen Butler explains a time of writing in which the writer is engrossed, is completely "in the zone". I believe that being in the zone cannot be accomplished if you have an audience on your mind. This is why kind says to write for yourself first, "with the door closed." Later drafts can be molded for an audience, but the focus, however, should be to fix plot holes, embellish characters, cut what is not needed, and piece together symbolism.
The Rules:
King gives a lot of advice in his memoir. He speaks of cutting down adverbs, adding meaningful descriptions, abiding by a writer's tool box which consists of skills in grammar and knowledge of vocabulary and so much more. I do not want to discuss these in detail because this would be a summary of the book. Instead, I would like to discuss the singular rule I some what disagree with.
King reveals that his writing style is heavily based on his characters, a very useful way to develop story. In fact, many authors claim to do use a similar style such as Steve Almond who speaks of "response[s]
to ... desire" (10) and Robert Olen Butler who says that "Yearning is always part of fictional character. Plot ... represents the dynamics of desire" (40). Deep thought about character and what their purpose and desires are can shape your plot. However, I am skeptical about the creation of character as noted by King. He believes that characters are not really created, but are waiting to be uncovered like archaeological artifacts. He usually starts a novel with some idea or premise and his characters develop over the course of the novel instead of being planned out from the beginning.
Uncovering character can work. In fact, I believe characters change constantly and can develop at any given time during drafting. However, it is the language King uses that scares me a bit. By saying characters aren't created, he has instilled in some amateurs mind that he or she should not create a character and instead should wait it out, discover the character. This can lead to a lot of waiting and very little creation.
Linda Flower and John Hayes speak about this distinction of discovery. They say it is a metaphor that disrupts thought processes in creating stories.
King gives a lot of advice in his memoir. He speaks of cutting down adverbs, adding meaningful descriptions, abiding by a writer's tool box which consists of skills in grammar and knowledge of vocabulary and so much more. I do not want to discuss these in detail because this would be a summary of the book. Instead, I would like to discuss the singular rule I some what disagree with.
King reveals that his writing style is heavily based on his characters, a very useful way to develop story. In fact, many authors claim to do use a similar style such as Steve Almond who speaks of "response[s]
to ... desire" (10) and Robert Olen Butler who says that "Yearning is always part of fictional character. Plot ... represents the dynamics of desire" (40). Deep thought about character and what their purpose and desires are can shape your plot. However, I am skeptical about the creation of character as noted by King. He believes that characters are not really created, but are waiting to be uncovered like archaeological artifacts. He usually starts a novel with some idea or premise and his characters develop over the course of the novel instead of being planned out from the beginning.
Uncovering character can work. In fact, I believe characters change constantly and can develop at any given time during drafting. However, it is the language King uses that scares me a bit. By saying characters aren't created, he has instilled in some amateurs mind that he or she should not create a character and instead should wait it out, discover the character. This can lead to a lot of waiting and very little creation.
Linda Flower and John Hayes speak about this distinction of discovery. They say it is a metaphor that disrupts thought processes in creating stories.
First of all, because discovery emphasizes the rather glamorous experience
of "Eureka, now I see it," it obscures the fact that writers don't find meanings, they make them. A writer in the act of discovery is hard at work searching memory, forming concepts, and forging a new structure of ideas, while at the same time trying to juggle all the constraints imposed by his or her purpose, audience, and language itself.2 Discovery, the event, and its product, new insights, are only the end result of a complicated int |
Reflection
I am very proud of the amount of intertextuality I brought to the reading of On Writing. I have used King's ideas in many blog posts and comments. I spoke of his ideas in class often; same with Butler. In this post alone I used multiple sources to strengthen my writing. This is something students must learn in Comp I and comp II, but I honestly don't believe I fully understood critical engagement until reading this book and associating other text to create a discourse that was useful, important to me.
I am very proud of the amount of intertextuality I brought to the reading of On Writing. I have used King's ideas in many blog posts and comments. I spoke of his ideas in class often; same with Butler. In this post alone I used multiple sources to strengthen my writing. This is something students must learn in Comp I and comp II, but I honestly don't believe I fully understood critical engagement until reading this book and associating other text to create a discourse that was useful, important to me.