ClancyBoy

Haha

My own opinion is that once he gets past his life story, which is more than half the book, the actual writing tips were really damn good. The man cares about quality, gives copious examples, and isn't afraid to tell you what's great and what sucks.

Too many people give advice telling you you should "follow your heart" and *~keep writing~* and not pay attention to what critics might say, as if good and bad were merely relative.

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"Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons wait for you down there. Little pets they are, little little little pets. Cute little things, they say. Don't you believe it. No man ever saw them and walked away alive. You won't either. That's the final dash, flash. That's the utter clobber, cobber." --Cordwainer Smith, Norstrillia.

ClancyBoy

I've been using the Harry Potter 7 audiobook for exactly this. It doesn't take more than 10 minutes for it to whip me into a creative rage.

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"Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons wait for you down there. Little pets they are, little little little pets. Cute little things, they say. Don't you believe it. No man ever saw them and walked away alive. You won't either. That's the final dash, flash. That's the utter clobber, cobber." --Cordwainer Smith, Norstrillia.

ClancyBoy

Melville is the five pounds of fromage bleu to King's greasy burger.

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"Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons wait for you down there. Little pets they are, little little little pets. Cute little things, they say. Don't you believe it. No man ever saw them and walked away alive. You won't either. That's the final dash, flash. That's the utter clobber, cobber." --Cordwainer Smith, Norstrillia.

astralis

I liked the book. It demystifies the process of storytelling. King worked hard to write his stories -- they didn't just appear on the page as it seems when yet another one of his huge books is released. The only thing disappointing about the book is that he couldn't explain how he wrote a story because he said he didn't know. He would get ideas, he said, and then start writing. But he did say earlier in the book that he read tons of stories and still does, as well as writing. That tells me that he subconsciously deduced the form of storytelling and is able to tell a great story (although I think the major complaint about his ending is a cause of this). He also admits that learning the craft (reading other works) maximizes talent so that if you have a bit of talent, it can be nurtured.

What is the difference? My opinion is that much of it has to do with marketing and genre classification. Also, King's endings often leave much to be desired. I think this is because he doesn't plan his stories and they sometimes lack a controlling idea. Sometimes he hits it, sometimes he doesn't. Anne Rice has the same issue, I believe. His and her endings are a jumble and they seem to rush through them.

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How to write a story

Rob

Yeah, that's the impressive thing about King. He just read a lot and subconsciously deduced the form of storytelling. The fact that he went to university and studied English is not relevant, despite what some people will try to tell you.

I'm a bit like King. When I was a kid I used a lot of electrical equipment, you know, televisions, cassette recorders, that kind of stuff. Through that I deduced how electrical things work, and when I left school I fixed jet aircraft for a living for a number of years, you know, radars, radios, missile control systems, that kind of gumph. I also did a 3 year avionics course, but, you know, we mostly bummed around and drank a lot and chased girls, so it was probably nothing to do with that.

Cheers,
Rob

astralis

Agreed. English classes (including Creative Writing) don't teach you how to write a story. They stopped doing that in the 1960s and generations since (including King's) have not had the luxury of learning how to write a story.

King's English classes didn't teach him how to write a story at all. But they did afford him more time to read.

Instead English classes today teach the intrinsics of writing such as character flaws, gender identity, and other details that I believe should be taught after the elements of storytelling are taught.

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How to write a story

Mike C

The thing that most impressed me about 'On Writing' is that, unlike every other how-to book out there, King states that if you're a bad writer, you'll never be a good writer. If you're a good writer, you're unlikely to ever be a great writer.

Teaching can improve a writer, but only to a degree. King's about the only person I've seen with the guts to say it out loud.

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ClancyBoy

hear hear

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"Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons wait for you down there. Little pets they are, little little little pets. Cute little things, they say. Don't you believe it. No man ever saw them and walked away alive. You won't either. That's the final dash, flash. That's the utter clobber, cobber." --Cordwainer Smith, Norstrillia.

astralis

I think the saying is, "craft maximizes talent".

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How to write a story

ClancyBoy

Did anyone who heard the audiobook notice the part where King talks about George Carlin, then talks like George Carlin for the next ten minutes? I'm not even sure he did it on purpose.

To me that was a greater insight into the workings of King's mind than anything else.

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"Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons wait for you down there. Little pets they are, little little little pets. Cute little things, they say. Don't you believe it. No man ever saw them and walked away alive. You won't either. That's the final dash, flash. That's the utter clobber, cobber." --Cordwainer Smith, Norstrillia.

Edgewise

Not to imply that I am a better writer than he is, but the idea of Stephen King telling people how to write is like a lemming telling the other lemmings where the cliff is.

Success does not make one a great writer, but a great writer can become successful.

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How can you expect a man who's warm to understand a man who's cold?
- Solzhenitsyn "Ivan Denisovich"

Truth-Teller

I fucking love that quote.

If you formed it in your own cesspool, all the more better.

Truth-Teller

Hahahhahahahahahaha! So true.



King did nothing like that.

You are not King.

Edgewise

"I fucking love that quote.

If you formed it in your own cesspool, all the more better. "

Which one?

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How can you expect a man who's warm to understand a man who's cold?
- Solzhenitsyn "Ivan Denisovich"

Rob

Er, yeah. Just in case anyone here was confused about my post, when I said 'King', I was talking about Stephen King. When I used 'I', I was talking about me.

Truth-Seller is right, I'm not King.

At least, I could be, this is the internet, right? But let's assume I'm not.

Can King fix aircraft? No. Can he hell as like. He's a waster. Spent his whole life telling silly stories, that's all.

Cheers,
Rob