(8h00)
This was a whimsical purchase — it popped up somewhere looking highly rated and short, so I couldn’t resist. Though I’ve seen plenty of movies adapted from Stephen King novels, I don’t think I’ve actually ever read one of his novels. Given how many he’s written, it’s funny that my first official encounter with him is non-fiction…
Even as an outsider I really enjoyed the book. The first third is a fun autobiographical romp through King’s childhood and early adult years. The rest is advice for burgeoning writers, interspersed with plenty more fun anecdotes. I ended up getting through the book in a day or two since it was so short and addictive (and I was listening on 3x speed). Here are a few choice pieces of writing advice:
- Grammar: the passive voice is for timid writers — avoid it. And avoid adverbs — they’re for timid writers too! You don’t need to write that your main character spun around angrily; if you’ve written the story well enough your readers will know that she’s angry when she spins around without you having to say it.
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Read and write, lots and lots! King emphasises throughout that there is no shortcut to reading a lot and writing a lot when it comes to improving your writing. On reading he says (approximately) that ‘The trick is to learn to read in both small sips and big gulps’: he will always take a book with him to dip into in spare minutes, and also has a spot in his chair at home where he loves to read for more extended periods. He averages at around 70-80 books a year. (Reading, not writing — not even King can do that.)
- Get into a regular routine of some sort. When he’s writing a first draft of a novel, King always makes sure to write 2,000 words a day so that the characters stay fresh in his mind and he keeps making incremental progress on the story. His daily schedule usually looks as follows: write in the morning; lunch; nap and respond to letters in the afternoon; watch Red Sox games and chill out with his family in the evening. (What a life!) The 2,000 words usually get done by 1pm, but sometimes he’ll have to stretch out into the evening. He writes 365 days a year — Christmas and birthdays included! — as the idea of taking a day of “rest” away from writing makes him more stressed than relaxed.
