This is one of my new favorite writing books (along with Annie Dillard's, Anne Lamott's, William Zinsser's, and Natalie Goldberg's). But, truth be told, I've rarely read a book on writing that I didn't like.
On Writing contained the perfect balance of autobiography and writing techniques. The first section discussed Stephen King's early life and how he was led to the field of writing. Then King dove straight into some of the techniques he feels are most important in good writing, and just when this section could have become a bit too tedious (because few of us can read for days on end about tone, point of view, dialogue, etc.), he retreated back to autobiography, this time discussing the car wreck that nearly took his life and how his writing process has changed as a result.
Originally, I borrowed this book from the library, but a third of the way through I realized I was folding over the corners of far too many pages, so I bought the book used and started marking it up like crazy with my pen (perhaps the highest recommendation I could give a book). There's no doubt this book will shape my writing instruction in the near future.
On Writing contained the perfect balance of autobiography and writing techniques. The first section discussed Stephen King's early life and how he was led to the field of writing. Then King dove straight into some of the techniques he feels are most important in good writing, and just when this section could have become a bit too tedious (because few of us can read for days on end about tone, point of view, dialogue, etc.), he retreated back to autobiography, this time discussing the car wreck that nearly took his life and how his writing process has changed as a result.
Originally, I borrowed this book from the library, but a third of the way through I realized I was folding over the corners of far too many pages, so I bought the book used and started marking it up like crazy with my pen (perhaps the highest recommendation I could give a book). There's no doubt this book will shape my writing instruction in the near future.
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