I recently finished Stephen King's 'On Writing' and was surprised to find it so helpful. I'm not a fan of his books, but was put onto this part bio / part collection of tips by a friend. Some useful tips in there that I found easy to immediately incorporate into my writing (avoid the past tense, omit needless words, avoid toxic adverbs, don't over describe a character etc).
Anyone else read it? Other books people would recommend for the aspiring writer?
I've only read excerpts - most of the ones you listed. I've got it on my short-list of to-reads. I'd be hard-pressed to disagree with the points made. An evocative word is almost always better than a flowery addon adverb. I've seen a lot of writers that think the adverb adds nuance, but often it's just murky.
I have a propensity for wordiness and sentences that run for miles. "Write to the Point", while rather dry, has helped me gain focus on my sentence structure. It's not specifically for fiction writing.
I read it and thought it was decent. Wish he'd follow his own advice though. I'm not a big fan.
I liked The Plot Whisperer. To me, it really explored the craft and made everything click in for me.
I read it a LONG time ago, and I don't remember much, so it must not have had a big impact. I really like his writing though. It's a great feeling to dive into one of his novels. I know he wanders off on tangents, but i like that about him. A great storyteller.
My favorite book on writing is probably Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott.
Not read it, primarily because I don't get on with King's writing (his movie adaptations are usually better, imo).
Speaking of movies, one book I did enjoy was Robert McKee's Story. Although it's subtitled Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting and is therefore aimed at screenwriters, the exploration of narrative and the art of storytelling is equally applicable to fiction. Insight into developing conflict and capturing the human condition are especially helpful, I found.
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Interesting. I'll have to check out The Plot Whisperer, Bird by Bird and Story. King also talks a bit about 'The Elements of Style' by William Strunk which is apparently a classic.
I'm not familiar with Bird by Bird. I've seen a few of King's do's and don'ts quoted here and there. And Elmore Leonard's, etc. Strunk and White isn't really about writing, per se, but grammar. It's the most accessible, straight-forward explanation of the basic rules of US English grammar ever written. Most others are terribly convoluted and often contain mistakes, like most online sources.
If you want to read an entire book about writing fiction, the best resource is Writing in General and the Short Story in Particular by Rust Hills. Hills was the fiction editor at Esquire mag from the mid 50s to mid 60s when Updike, Vonnegut, Heller, Cheever...and that whole generation were beginning their careers as short story writers. You could make a living at it then. Hills worked with all of them. He was a bit of a tight-assed snob, but he knew how great fiction goes together. A lot of it hits on The Poetics of Aristotle which is actually an easier read and not as annoying, so that's a good option. There's also a really interesting book called Letters to a Young Fiction Writer, a collection of letters between well-known, established writers and younger writers they mentored at one time or another.
But King's advice to just read as much as you can is the best advice there is. That, and what Izak Dinesen said, "Write a little every day, without hope, without despair."
I'm not a King fan (don't like horror stories), but did read "On Writing", and found it very helpful. And now that I'm writing here, I'm able to put some of the things he talks about into practice.
Biggest get from the book: set the characters up in a situation, then let them tell the story. I've been doing that, and have found the story often goes in directions I had not anticipated as that was the direction the characters wanted to do. Wierd.
Three other take-aways I got from King:
1) Any adjective that doesn't have a very good reason for being gets edited out
2) When you've finished, go back and cut a third of your work. It will make it taut, and almost certainly improve the quality of the writing.
3) When writing the first draft, just let it rip. Don't interrupt the flow to check spelling, edit dialog, or almost anything else. Instead, focus on getting it out of your head and onto the page (screen). Fixing stuff up, even extensive re-writes, comes in the editing stage.
Strunk & White is dry as a bone, but there's a very good reason it's a classic: It is excellent, and often considered the bible on writing.
Haven't see the other books, but will look into them. Thanks!
James
p.s. Robert Heinlein: The only difference between writers and everyone else is that writers write. So, ask yourself: Are you a writer, or a spectator?
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