Monday, June 4, 2012

Book Review: ON WRITING


ON WRITING by Stephen King

5 stars!

It took me awhile to finally jump into this book - - simply because I'm not a fan of memoirs or books of the biographical type.

I wished I would've started this book sooner! It was simply wonderful.

The first half is a memoir of King's life, and if you are a fan of his, you'll love it. From wiping his bum with poison ivy to being locked in a closet, the glimpses into his life will make you appreciate his writing even more.

The second half of the book is about the craft of writing. So if you're not interested in writing, you may want to skip that section, but if you are a writer, King offers many helpful tips, such as stop researching so much and just write the story:

"Remember that you are writing a novel, not a research paper. The story always comes first" (page 233).

The only downside to this book is King's language. If you're a fan of his, you already know he uses profanity. If you flinch at the F word, you may need to take a muscle relaxant before starting this book.

...

And YES! I achieved my word count goal of at least 2000 words Friday AND Saturday! I'm shooting for the same goal today. And frankly, the quote above from King has helped me. I have found the researching side of my WIP so interesting that it has become a huge time-suck. So focusing on achieving my word count goal without stopping to research a point or an idea has helped move me forward.

How about you?

Do you spend too much time researching topics for your writing?

7 comments:

  1. Ok, how did you know I was going to read your blog today? LOL! This post was written for me. I am the worlds most prolific researcher. If someone would pay me to do nothing but research I would be one happy little pup!

    Thanks for the reminder that the story comes first. Research is secondary. It's what makes the story come alive and exist in the real world. And thanks for this review. I've been wanting to read this book!

    Jen

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  2. I love this book too, and reading your review makes me want to read it again. I've been in need of some inspiration!

    Congratulations on meeting your goals, what a productive weekend.

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  3. I was thinking that I spent too much time on research the other day. I'm writing a steam punk story, and I had the idea of setting it in Russia, so I'll need to research that. Then I found this really neat analog machine that needs to be researched too. Then I decided I'd like my character to be a nihilist, so I'll need to do some research on that. Oh my, all for a 5K short story. Yikes.

    On the other hand, if I pull it off, I've got a feeling it will be a very interesting story. But I agree with King, story is more important.

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  4. I loved this book as well. Great jumpstart if you're feeling down about your own writing, too!

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  5. Congratulations on reaching your word count!

    I included you in the Versatile BLogger Award and the Lucky 7 Meme Award. Congratulations Again!

    I haven't read King's book, but am now interested in checking it out. Will have to go get a copy.

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  6. I received this book as a gift but haven't started it yet. I think I'll bump it up to the top of my TBR pile. Thanks.

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  7. I've heard of this book before; thanks for the review. I didn't know what was in it.

    Blessings and (gentle) Bear hugs from Canada.

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