Review: Stephen King On Writing

I think many of us spend time reading writing "instruction" books when we're new to the craft. I've never been a fan of the "do this, not that" sort of writing manual, mainly because the writing rules are so often broken. I'm more of a fan of the more auto-biographical style writing instruction/memoir sort of book.

I only recently read Stephen King's "On Writing". I know, I know. It's sat on my shelf for years, and I just never got to it.  I loved this book because it is first and foremost, hilarious, but secondly, Mr. King explains the various writing "rules" in easy to read language.

As I was reading this book, I realized in the addition of things I still need to work on, there are a lot of things that I'm doing right.

For instance, in the section about description, he talks about how you shouldn't overly describe, and how often, when readers become bored with a book, it's because there's 5 pages of not-needed description.

When I'm reading, I hate descriptions of clothes and only use them when necessary in my own writing. I also don't need a character described to the nth degree. It kind of ruins the story for me, because I like to picture characters my own way.

If I would have read this book several years ago, I think I would have found it all to be "you need to do this, this and that" but now that I'm two years into my writing journey, it was nice to see that I am doing (at least a few things) right!

On Style

Source

I've talked before about how I've wanted to be a writer since pretty much ever. I remember sitting in my elementary school, and rolling my eyes as the teacher went over boring things like sentence subjects, conjunctions, and other grammar. I remember thinking, "I don't want to worry about all that crap, I just want to write!"

Many moons later, I still have this philosophy. It's a big reason why I stopped writing for so long, because I worried about conforming to one writing style. Could I ever remember all those pesky grammar or story telling rules? It seemed too much.

Before you roll your eyes, I do have a good grasp of grammar. I'm not as anal as my Catholic schooled mother, but I know the majority of the rules, and do try to remember them. When I'm writing my earlier drafts, I don't worry about all those little things, and fix them as I go along.

Thankfully I have a critique partner who is the opposite of me, and has a wonderful grasp of all the things that I HATE, so when I get my drafts back, there's a lot of crossed out text and notes of how I should remember to do this, not that. With her gentle prodding, I've been able to engrain those rules in me, so now I'm fixing them in my first draft.


Do you play fast and loose with grammar and style in your early drafts?

Favorite Things: February

My favorite books of the month:

Bigger Than a Breadbox-Laurel Snyder

I've heard so many good things about this middle grade novel, so when I saw it displayed in the new arrivals section at my local library, I had to snatch it up! It's an enjoyable, one sitting read with a fresh premise and an endearing protagonist. As an added bonus for me, Rebecca is from Baltimore (as am I) and there are nice references peppered in here and there.

When She Woke-Hillary Jordan

This one of those books that I think people are going to love or hate. There are hot-button issues like abortion and religion featured, so some people might not like it. I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book. It's pretty damned depressing at times, but it's paced beautifully and I absolutely couldn't put it down. I read it in less than a day!

Neverwhere-Neil Gaiman

Since I've known who Neil Gaiman was for freaking ever, I'm kind of ashamed to admit that I'd never read one of his books until last month. I've had a couple of his novels sitting on my shelf for awhile now, but when I picked up Neverwhere I was happy to see that it was as good as I imagined his work to be. I loved this book and I can't wait to read more of his work!







Non Bookish things:

The 2011 adaptation of Jane Eyre. I love the Bronte sisters in a way most ladies love Jane Austen, and I've seen several movies and television renditions of one of my favorite stories ever. But this version is just out of this world, and I'm not going to lie, it's largely due to Michael Fassbender as Mr. Rochester.
:huge, girly sigh:
If you're a fan of the story and haven't seen this yet, I can't recommend it enough!

Lost Girl. LOVE this show. Take a really great urban fantasy novel and turn it into a TV show and you've got Lost Girl.

 If you're a fan of the genre, I suggest checking it out on Syfy (or if you're lucky enough to be Canadian, on Showcase!)








I discovered the joy that is the Coke Freestyle Machine. You can pick your main drink, and add flavor shots. How have I lived my life previously without Diet Raspberry Coke? You can look here to see if there's a machine near you.

What were your favorite things in February?