On Writing

I chose Stephen King's On Writing for my book club choice for my writing class because I had already heard the book mentioned many times. Last night I just finished it in preparation for our last class meeting this weekend. I had not really known that much about Stephen King's life or how many books he had written.

In fourth grade, much to my mom's chagrin, I was horrified when I saw It at a friend's slumber party. That was enough Stephen King for me to last a very long time. When I was much other I did see some of his other movies, such as Cujo, Misery, and The Green Mile. Although I had some concept of the plots of these and some of his other novels, I had never actually read any of his books.

It was interesting to learn about King's life and his reflections on himself as a writer, as well as tips for aspiring writers. There were many points along the way where he had me roaring with laughter. In his section "On Writing" I noticed that many of his suggestions/thoughts so closely aligned to the promising practices mentioned by so many educators on writing. For example, he emphasizes the importance of writers reading, writing in a style that you have immersed yourself in as a reader, and the transaction that happens between a reader and the text.

I'm glad that I chose this. The last book club meeting time flew as we discussed his thoughts. I look forward to hearing everyone else's thoughts again. I do, however, hope to sometime read Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird, one of the other choices, as it sounded equally amazing.