Horror doesn’t just describe a genre, but what the reader is supposed to feel. I took in a short gasp of horror when I read a sidebar in The Writer which blithely informed us that we’d learn more from Danse Macabre than we’d glean from Stephen King On Writing.
Everybody’s entitled to their wrong opinion but the casual dismissal of On Writing took me aback for the simple reason that Danse Macabre is broad and descriptive of the genre, but On Writing is prescriptive, beating the adverbs out of you and even giving a solid example (if not a template) for approaching agents etc.,…. I’ve read and reread On Writing and it bears reading and rereading. It’s useful in its instruction and lyrical in biography (though for no reason I can understand King denies it’s a biography.)
Lots of people–okay, I’ll say it, English Majors–have discounted King in the past, and too easily. They forget that not only has he been one of the most successful writers on the planet, he used to teach writing, too. If you are a writer, you must own this book.
Filed under: book reviews, Writers, writing tips, book review, On Writing, Stephen King
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I absolutely agree. I’ve found the majority of King’s books to be extremely well-crafted, and I have a hard time pigeon-holing his catalog into only the horror genre because I think he does suspense, fantasy and crime fiction equally well. “On Writing” was an excellent glimpse into the nuts and bolts of the art by an artist who obviously LOVES what he does.
You are so correct. This book is an essential part of a writer’s toolkit (to borrow an image from the book). It is inspiring in so many ways.