On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
Stephen King
ISBN: 0684853523
Read December 15, 2013
Nonfiction: personal and professional memoir of author Stephen King.
I have had this book on my To-Read list forever it seems, and finally decided to pick it up. I don't know that I feel the same way about plot (he doesn't like the idea of plotting) and I'm not sure that I'm right there with him on "excavating" existing story ideas, like revealing the David hidden inside the marble. However, those two little personal approaches aside, he has presented an excellent and compulsively readable treatise.
He's also presented a fairly intimate portrait of himself, and I was a bit shocked at the forthright nature of his confessions of drug and alcohol abuse. Him including a biography of sorts wasn't necessary to the theme, and I thought it was very brave and open of him to do so, in the hopes that background information would help to make the advice ring more true.
When I put a book to the side for a long time, especially if it's one that I have expectations about, I'm often disappointed when I finally get round to it. This time, I wasn't let down in the least, and instead, I'm heading into the holidays with a more determined attitude towards my own creative outlets and my commitments to them.
No comments:
Post a Comment