Comments on: On Writing by Stephen King

By: beth Powers

beth Powers — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 13:12:45 +0000

Goodness! What a ridiculous reply! Let me guess, you must be a Sarah Palin fan because for an author and a book lover, you argue like a book banner. Don’t bother replying to this, I am removing this site from my bookmarks.

By: Rebecca Reid

Rebecca Reid — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 18:03:32 +0000

beth Powers,

I did read something by him: On Writing.

By: beth Powers

beth Powers — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:12:02 +0000

Rebecca,
“I have never read anything by Stephen King.” Your words! You can not then critique his works! How dare he? How dare You! I am not saying he is the greatest living writer, but he is good. Do yourself a favor and read, say, The Shining. If you still think he is not a good writer, THEN you are entitled to an opinion. How would you care for someone who has “heard of you” but has never actually read you making assumptions about your talent as a writer?

By: Rebecca Reid

Rebecca Reid — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:35:40 +0000

@Amanda: Yikes! If airport bookstores are the epitome of “success” then I don’t want it! @Jessica: I likewise have heard people rave about On Writing and I suppose that is why I was disappointed. There were some good reminders about the craft of writing, so it may be useful to read for an aspiring writer. Just keep in mind the author….Overall, I was simply shocked that King considers himself so “good.”

By: Eva

Eva — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:23:34 +0000

I’m shocked that King tried to compare himself to Harper Lee as well! Craziness!

By: Jessica

Jessica — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 04:08:46 +0000

Wow. This is a very insightful post. I’ve heard everyone rave about On Writing. However, I tend to agree with your assessment that really good writers have better things to do than write books on writing. (I also can’t believe the quote from King about Harper Lee!!) I generally love to read about writing, though, so I might pick this one up just to see.

Also, I agree with your assessment that the more books an author publishes and the faster the individual books are published, the less enthralled I’m going to be. Admittedly, I’m a Harry Potter fan and a Twilight fan, but I don’t think those books are well-written. In fact, a few of the Harry Potter books and Eclipse are just down-right terribly written.

In the end, I need both a good story and good writing to have the book be one of my favorites.

By: Amanda

Amanda — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 02:35:27 +0000

I’ve heard this book was good, but I’ve never read it, and I tend to be leery of best-sellers as well. A friend of mine said he wouldn’t consider himself a writer until his books were displayed in an airport bookstore, and to me, the idea was horrifying. I frankly don’t want to be lumped in with that category!

And, I must say, as a die-hard Harry Potter fan, I’m still with you: JK Rowling told a really good story, and her skills definitely needed to be improved. There’s a difference between good writing and good storytelling. Unfortunately, the reverse is true in a lot of current literary writing - you end up with authors who have crap stories and really good skill, and those books are frankly less interesting than the Harry Potter books of the world. It’s important to have both good writing and a good story, in my opinion.

Amanda
http://5-squared.blogspot.com

By: Rebecca Reid

Rebecca Reid — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 05:00:42 +0000

@Kelsey:

I have heard of Bird by Bird, and I have looked for it, but it is not to be found in Australia. When I return to the States in a few months, I’ll look it up. At least, I will if the sour taste of this particular “self-help” writing book has diminished…

By: Rebecca Reid

Rebecca Reid — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 04:58:49 +0000

@Amy:

Yes, I can understand the question. We’d all love to see another masterpiece by Harper Lee! What bothered me was Stephen King putting himself in the same category.

If you respect the influence Stephen King has, then you may enjoy his writing reminders in this book! Most writers seem inspired by it. Just not me…

By: Kelsey

Kelsey — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 03:39:29 +0000

I’m a lot like you. It’s difficult for me to trust any bestselling author or list of bestsellers because, as terrible as this may sound, I don’t trust people. I feel like reading to the vast majority of people has become a trend they follow.

I, too, want to be a writer (ever since I was in the 2nd grade and wrote a copy of that fairy-tale about the girl in the pumpkin…so our stories are kinda sorta similar!). Over the years, I’ve been given stacks of ‘How To’ books. Some that look promising, others that don’t. But I haven’t read one. It’s hard for me to pick up a book that intends to tell me how to do something as personal as write. I think every writer has to find their own path. I firmly believe this.

One, however, that has been recommended to me numerous times and one I really DO intend to read, is Bird by Bird by Annie Lamott. I have it on my bookshelf at school and even though I haven’t actually read it yet, I do find the ‘thesis’ of it to be inspiring….

By: Amy

Amy — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:16:01 +0000

I think some best-selling novels can contain good writing. I have never read a Stephen King book, but he certainly has had a lot of influence. I actually bought this book but haven’t read it yet.

I generally like to keep as open a mind as possible when approaching a book. I do agree that the quality of the writing diminishes the more books you are cranking out.

Some writers are better story-tellers than craftsmen, and some have both.

In all fairness to Stephen King why didn’t Harper Lee write more novels is a fairly popular question.

By: Do You Need a Jump Start?

Do You Need a Jump Start? — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 22:57:56 +0000

[...] come back to this blog for a week. I couldn’t bring myself to even think about writing. Read my review on my book blog to read my thoughts on [...]