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Bryce's Reviews > On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
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I like to write, but I’ve never particularly wanted to write novels or short stories. Prose, man. I’m just not made for it. But I picked up On Writing because I knew that a writing guide from Stephen King (someone who may not be the best author of our time, but is certainly one of the most successful) would contain valuable insights but hopefully also some inspiration.
The book starts with a brief autobiography, where fans of King can read about many life incidents that clearly inspired short stories or scenes in his books. King’s life seems to be a mixture of the harsh struggles and wild blessings.
The meat of the book is filled with King’s thoughts on how to be a writer. He talks about the importance of being a reader � how you cannot be a truly good writer if you’re not a voracious reader. It’s an essential skill for picking up style, vocabulary and experiences that you yourself haven’t experienced. Then King talks about other things that a good writer needs in their books � pacing, theme, characters. Not plot; plot is a byproduct of all those other things. The real lesson in this book seems to be, to quote King himself from another novel: It is the tale, not he who tells it. The story’s the thing and writers should be true to that, above all the ego and bells and whistles and pretension that often accompany writing.
The book starts with a brief autobiography, where fans of King can read about many life incidents that clearly inspired short stories or scenes in his books. King’s life seems to be a mixture of the harsh struggles and wild blessings.
The meat of the book is filled with King’s thoughts on how to be a writer. He talks about the importance of being a reader � how you cannot be a truly good writer if you’re not a voracious reader. It’s an essential skill for picking up style, vocabulary and experiences that you yourself haven’t experienced. Then King talks about other things that a good writer needs in their books � pacing, theme, characters. Not plot; plot is a byproduct of all those other things. The real lesson in this book seems to be, to quote King himself from another novel: It is the tale, not he who tells it. The story’s the thing and writers should be true to that, above all the ego and bells and whistles and pretension that often accompany writing.
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Reading Progress
January 22, 2010
– Shelved
July 30, 2016
–
Started Reading
July 30, 2016
– Shelved as:
to-read
August 2, 2016
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Finished Reading
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Cecily
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rated it 3 stars
Nov 25, 2016 03:03PM
Yep, "The story’s the thing" - but not the plot (and unfortunately, I never quite understood the distinction he made).
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Cecily wrote: "Yep, "The story’s the thing" - but not the plot (and unfortunately, I never quite understood the distinction he made)."In film school, in a writing class, I was given this as an example of a plot: "The king died and then the queen died." Plot is a series of events. But story is about the motivations behind those events. So: "The king died and then the queen died of grief" would be an example of story.
I think every good story is really about characters. You may be laying down the most interesting series of events imaginable, but if they aren't driven by character motivation, or if the characters don't find meaning in the events, the story will feel empty.
Bryce wrote: ""The king died and then the queen died." Plot is a series of events. But story is about the motivations behind those events...."Brilliant. You explained it far better than King (and in very few words). I'll have to amend my review with a link to yours. Thanks.
Bravo for your clarification of plot vs. story (and clarifying King's use of both). Thanks.
