Book Review – On Writing by Stephen King
Though a Specialist in Pop-Lit, King's Ideas About Craft are Solid
May 17, 2009
Stephen King is the world's most popular contemporary novelist, but he lacks respect in literary circles who champion writers like Hemingway and Carver. The idea is that he is too popular to be good. While he may have written Maximum Overdrive, Dreamcatcher, and Cujo, he also wrote The Shining, Misery, and Different Seasons (which contains both “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption” and “The Body”).
Any competent writer – which King is, regardless of taste – who writes a book ever nine months for thirty years is bound to have some good ones and maybe even a few great ones. Even if his poorly-written material outnumbers his quality material, King is a legitimate force in literature. On Writing (Scribner, ISBN: 0684853523, 2000), his book addressing narrative craft and what led him to his style of writing, is delightfully modest and of use to writers of all skill levels.
Prolific or Brilliant?
So is it luck that King is popular? Is it just a matter of productivity surging past brilliance? King says that before his accident in the late 1990s, he would write 2000 words a day, every single day. That's four 180,000 word novels every year.
That's a lot of writing, and anyone who does that for a few years with the intent of getting better is going to get better. Narrative craft is a craft. It can be learned. King was already inclined towards writing anyways, as some people are. He just happened to be sufficient and willing to learn. Therefore, he got better. So is he prolific or brilliant? He’s brilliant enough to be prolific, that’s for sure.
On Life
Wisely, King acknowledges that when a writer does a book on writing, what they are doing is saying, "This worked for me. Here's the deal." In an informal tone that makes it seem like the reader is sitting down with him and chatting, King gives a brief history of his writing life, showing the reader how he got to where he’s at when it comes to mentally working on a piece of fiction.
On Writing
Obviously, readers will rarely agree with him on everything. He's not keen on literary-cornerstones like writing workshops, but he has a point: there are a lot of people who attend workshops with the intent of using it as a shortcut as opposed to part of the revision process.
He also underplays the importance of theme and symbolism and everything else that enriches fiction beyond being “just a story.” King writes stories, and he says repeatedly that the story is the most important thing. Of course, he's correct. However, he puts everything else at such a distant second, third, and fourth that it may not sit well with some readers.
Does this book stand on its own as a handbook on writing? There’s a strong chance that it could, as it champions the use of free-writing and a strict, loving dedication to writing and reading. These are two of the most important things a writer should know: just write it, just read it.
The Popular Kid’s Diary
Stephen King knows that this book will sell because Stephen King wrote it. His grasp of what people’s interest in the popular kid’s diary is surprisingly humble and accurate. While he's not always right, he certainly isn’t the hack that academia has made him out to be. This book is suggested this for fans of King who are interested in his life and the source of his approach to writing, as well as writers who have a simple desire to know what the world’s most popular novelist thinks about literary craft.
Related Article: Book Review – Different Seasons by Stephen King
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