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On Writing by Steven King
If I'm going to be writing about every book I read, I may as well attempt to make it engaging. A book about writing, therefore, seemed a logical first choice.
I went into this book knowing exactly two things about Steven King's writing: there's a lot, and people like it. I had no further context on the author or his works, not so much as a trailer of a movie adaptation.
One of the first I've learned that Steven King is significantly older than I'd previously believed. I'd assumed, for no reason in particular, that he might be in his 30s or 40s; as it turns out, he was born in '47, and is now nearing 80.
I appreciate how King seems to recognise that he is not conveying a set of facts, but rather opinions and experience. I never particularly felt like he was trying to convey a sense of "this is the way it's done", a refreshing change from the definite language in my usual reading of documentation and manuals.
One opinion, however, very much stood out to me: "I don't believe writers can be made, either by circumstance or self-will". I imagine this could be very disheartening to hear as an aspiring writer. It stands completely contrary to the popular idea that "you can be/do anything if you put your mind to it" and suggests that some minds are, after a certain point and due to circumstances beyond the reader's control, inherently ill-suited. Unlike some other points, which were built up to with an anecdote, this one was made plain and simple. I can't say if it's right or wrong, but it certainly left an impression.
Back onto my comments about my usual literary environment: the majority of extended writing I've done over the past few years has also been primarily technical documentation. Even now, I'm not about to spontaneously start writing fiction, so I found a good portion of the advice in this book not particularly relevant to my own applications. Of course, this is what I get for taking advice from a fiction author. Though, I did find it interesting to read King's perspective on the aspects of writing more unique to fiction.
That's all I have for this one. I don't think I'm going to do "would/would not recommend" or any form of star rating, because everyone draws different value from everything. I hope you can draw your own conclusions about how this book would be for you.