On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft - Superb, absolutely superb. I've listened to Stephen King read his audio book three times. I can't recommend highly enough.

Since I'm on the cusp of posting 1,000 reviews here on Goodreads, I'd like to share my own thoughts on writing book reviews and link my reflections with Stephen King's wisdom on the craft of writing.

“You cannot hope to sweep someone else away by the force of your writing until it has been done to you.” 

I recall back when I was in my 20s and 30s, reading book reviews in the New York Times and Philadelphia Inquirer and thinking, oh, if I only had the opportunity to write book reviews. I so much love book reviews! I was truly swept away by well-crafted book reviews.

Of course, with Amazon and now Goodreads, all that has changed. Eight years ago I seized the opportunity to write online book reviews. I instantly fell in love with writing book reviews and made the commitment back then to post two book reviews a week. Anyway, I honed the craft of writing book reviews by writing and multiple rewrites until I took great joy in reading my own reviews. This to say, Stephen King is so right here - work away until your writing gives YOU joy to read. That way, your writing stands a better chance of giving pleasure to others.

“I'm a slow reader, but I usually get through seventy or eighty books a year, most fiction. I don't read in order to study the craft; I read because I like to read”

The key here is LOVE reading books. Like Stephen, I'm a slow reader but as a dedicated book reviewer I read lots of books every year. And like Stephen, I enjoy listening to audio books.

Fortunately, I have two abilities that help greatly as a book reviewer: 1) I can easily become absorbed in a book, especially a novel, really absorbed, as if I'm living heart and mind in the unfolding story, and 2) both my short-term and long-term memory are excellent for fiction. I can remember the details of the novels I've read 50 years ago as if I read them yesterday, a skill that comes in mighty handy when writing reviews.

“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There's no way around these two things that I'm aware of, no shortcut.” 

So true, Stephen! I so much look forward to writing when I wake up in the morning (understatement). And I've built up my endurance to the point where I have no problem writing 2 or 3 or 4 or even 5 or 6 hours at a time. For me, it's not a job grinding it out but rather a continual joy. I echo the great Argentinian author Fernando Sorrentino who said he would never let writing become a job. Worth repeating: never let your writing sink to the level of becoming a job.

“To write is human, to edit is divine.” 

Spot-on, sir! The key is to take delight in revisiting your writing again and again, reading it aloud to make sure the rhythms are smooth not clunky (the ear has it all over the eye when it comes to judging rhythm).

When I first began writing book reviews, here's what I did: I wrote out great book reviews written by such authors as John Updike, Michiko Kakutani and James Wood, just to get the feel for what it's like to write a great review. I also used a digital device to record their reviews and I listened while taking my walks. After a few months, I recorded my own book reviews, alternating with the great writers, until I was satisfied with my writing - my rhythm, vocabulary, use of examples and metaphor.

“Your job isn't to find these ideas but to recognize them when they show up.”

For a book reviewer, this means to be keenly aware of the book you are reading. Underline passages as you read, take notes, read some of the book aloud to get a deeper feel for the author's voice, reread pages or chapters or sections you feel are particularly important so as not to miss the subtleties of character, the nuances of atmosphere along with the author's overall vision.

“If you intend to write as truthfully as you can, your days as a member of polite society are numbered.” 

If others think you a bookworm or egghead or oddball or goofball (I've frequently been judged all of these), that's their issue not yours. If possible, avoid people who discourage you from reading and/or writing. Cultivate solitude, become your own best friend, make books your friends, make authors your friends, let the creative act of reading and writing become a shining polestar in your life.

“The scariest moment is always just before you start.”

I think Stephen is thinking of those who want to write a short story or, most particularly, those who set out or are in the process of writing a novel. For me, there are no scary moments in the process of writing book reviews - not at the start, not at the end or anything in between. So saying, I'll post this review.