you must not come lightly to the blank page…
Mar 21st, 2007 by B.
Prior to kicking off the writing of my novel-length work of fiction (notice it’s never called a book… takes the pressure off that way) I’ve been devouring books about, well, writing novel-length works of fiction. The shot below represents this week’s reading.
My favorite, by far, is Stephen King’s memoirs on the craft of writing. Now I know all the literary hags out there hate folks like King. He’s too popular… too literal… too… lowbrow. The snobs.
I’ve read many authors through the years, some I’ve loved and some I’ve tolerated. From every professor’s wet dream, Ayn Rand, to one-hit-wonder Harper Lee to (tsk, tsk perish the thought!) Jacqueline Susann to Stan Lee. Still, it was sitting in a quiet corner lost in the world of King’s The Stand that I first thought “this is it… it just doesn’t get any better”. Did it get better? Maybe, but you never really forget your first time.
As with any King novel, ‘On Writing’ is a real page-turner. It’s filled with humor, wonderful anecdotes, practical advice and more than a little inspiration. Plus… and this is the part that gets me giddy… a writing assignment! I mean, come on, it just doesn’t get any better. Most writing prompts/’creative writing’ projects (especially any that begin with “write about a time when…”) I find boring and mundane.
But a writing challenge set up by none other than Stephen King is just soooo effing cool! I wish all of you would decide to be aspiring novel-length work of fiction writers with me so we could collect our assignment, gather our thoughts, retreat to the safety of our creative corners (whatever & wherever they may be) and come together again to compare notes.
Of course with my luck one of your stories would far outshine mine and I’d get all pouty…
On this day..
- Just say no. - 2007
- Money, murals and moving. - 2006
I love that Stephen King book, I’ve read it more than once. He’s a strange guy but he knows what he’s talking about.
I’d also recommend If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland, and as mentioned before, Bird by Bird from Anne Lamott. But I tend to get carried away reading about writing in order to avoid the actual, um, writing, so you may not want to listen to me.
If You Want To Write, along with Ray Bradbury’s Zen In The Art Of Reading and Orson Scott Card’s Characters & Viewpoints are all next week’s reading.
I’ll also have to pick up a copy of Bird By Bird… thanks for the tips as well as the encouragement/commiseration.
Stephen King’s On Writing is the best book on writing I’ve read. I think even if you don’t like King’s novels, you’d learn a lot from it. I’d also recommend the Chicago Manual of Style.
B, I had a similar reaction to The Stand. I know King is not the greatest Writer writer in the world, but he’s such a great storyteller. I also think he is one of the coolest guys in the world: motherfucker wakes up, rolls over, and it’s a bestseller. He makes in-jokes about the Ramones, scares (or moves) the hell out of his readers, and he seems to have so much fun doing it. Much more of a bad-ass than, say, Mick Jagger.
For me, Elements of Style reads like a stand-up comic routine by a guy named Merriwether. A very funny book.