As I sit at my desk, waste, and bottles galore, time to reflect and practice begins to invite itself. I first began to read Stephen King’s memoir On Writing while on the first plane ride to Minnesota for summer vacation and finally finished it around a month from that date. While time has indeed diluted the message of the story and its coherency as a flowing text, I must agree with one of King’s short pieces of advice: “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.” In all honesty, the difficulty with writing and reading is not in finding the time, it is instead in regards to willing yourself when presented with time.
The option to open a book and begin reading is available at the same time as going on the internet, and the latter is the choice that is easier to pick. Both writing and reading are commitments that, for newcomers like myself, require time to ease into in order to get the most enjoyment. Automatic serotonin producers like short-form videos and comedy are much easier to access and thus are much simpler to choose. King himself is not guilty of this vice, though he is a recognized master of the art, and must situate tools for himself in order to maintain consistency. From the memoir, it felt as if King is transferring his decades of knowledge into a concise book; one that aims at answering the ubiquitous “how do you write?” questions that he gets without end. And, as I mentioned initially, the first piece of advice that he gives is precisely that: will yourself to read and write. When presented with any free time, that is what you must will yourself to do in order to hone that skill set. Alone by itself, sword skill will rust without experience; thus, the same can be said with any other.
Among that first piece of advice, King lists others to help supplement a writer’s own self-discovery; from King’s literary toolbox, the tools include vocabulary, grammar, style, and brevity. The foremost skill, vocabulary is used to enhance a reading experience by either elucidating a topic, building reputation, or increasing enjoyment.
Following it is grammar, which is often a neglected and convoluted tool that is used to clarify and organize. Using grammar wrong is disastrous, using it correctly is regular, and using it splendidly elevates writing to mechanistic perfection.
Thirdly, there is the tool of style; while notably more vague than the others, this one seeks to brand the writer as one of uniqueness instead of banality. While typing with the “Arial” font by itself makes someone a writer, it is how they express themselves that distinguishes subpar from excellence. An important note that King emphasized is to steer clear of passive voice and adverbs, due to the atmosphere of unconfidence it portrays. It causes the author to appear unsure, as they are not actively asserting a point.
Finally, there is the tool of brevity. While it is within the instincts of every writer to write-write-write, it is crucial that, after the first draft has been completed, trim the unnecessary parts. In analogous terms, it will eventually come time to “trim the fat” during the course of editorial work. The art of writing is to paint a page with descriptions from the writer’s mind, but the quintessential process that follows is the art of editing. That is, refining one’s own work by either themselves or editors and bringing out the most lean product possible. It can also be called the most painful part.
At the end of the novel, King noted that On Writing is among the two most turbulent works; with the first being The Stand, which suffered from severe bouts of uncertain writer’s block (scary). This book had two reasons for its difficulties, the first being King’s wariness of what to include within the guide, and the second being his repeatedly foreshadowed vehicular-involved accident. Throughout the book, King mentioned this event as a way of intriguing the audience until the very end; a string that connects the whole book.
On Writing is structured in several parts. A list, with descriptions, is presented here:
- “Foreword” is King’s introductory invitation into reading the book.
- “C.V.” spans the length of around ⅓ of the book and details epochs within King’s history as a writer. The title “C.V.” is a play on a resume and King’s credentials for advice.
- “Toolbox” is the segment in which King provides tips for linguistic construction; this is the more technical side of writing.
- “On Writing” marks the official beginning of the author’s tips about conveying and creating a story.
- “On Living: A Postscript” is the denouement to all the buildup and foreshadowing about his near-death experience in 1999.
- “And Furthermore” is a short section about his own editorial experience and a booklist.
Mentioned above were numerous tips that were presented by Stephen King, as well as a description of the book and his accident in 1999 (he mentioned it a WHOLE LOT). At the end of the road, past the analysis and detailings of the book, are my personal opinions and thoughts on the book as a whole. While I am not a professional writer or an expert on the craft by any means, I do find myself resonating and reflecting on this book. I myself am an immigrant to the English-speaking country of America and thus had to develop conversational and linguistic skills at a different pace and way than many others. With every word that I put on the page, I feel a set of dozens that line themselves to be expressed. Consequently, beginning a bad cycle of instinctual, flowing writing without a thought about whether it would blend with the rest of the previously written works. Sometimes the flow is coherent, other times the flow is disjointed and unreadable. While for myself the experience could have been cathartic or exhilarating, as the act of self-expression typically is, the goal of writing is to convey a message.
The free-flowing nature of my style can create a disjunct text that is not easily comprehensible. However, confining my own free-flowing style too much would then create a banal and unstylistic piece. Following this is a necessary but dreaded addition, to proofreading and editing. Personally, I have never been privy to the nature of proofreading my own writing, especially the painful “kill your darlings” maxim that accompanies the commonly cited formula of the second draft; the 2nd draft is “1st draft minus 10%.” I dread the idea of going over my own work and deciding what parts to exclude and what to change but is a necessary step as a writer. In order to end this book review with a simple mark, I will write one piece of advice that I must abide by: express yourself and correct yourself.
Slovenly Scholar 