writing with teeth
I was out surfing last night (haha, on the web), and wandered past an LJ comm focused on discussions of grammar and style for writers. Yeah, they're very rare, I know. I'm not going to specify which one it was, because I was almost instantly turned off the comm by an earnest post promoting Elmore Leonard’s advice for writers.
My guess is that the ( Read more... )
My guess is that the ( Read more... )
I actually really liked "On Writing." What I really loved about it (and I'm not saying this to be conceited or whatever), is that it validated a lot of my own method of writing. I remember just smiling and nodding a lot and sometimes even pointing triumphantly at the book and saying, "YES!" aloud. It was like he "got" me. I know that sounds odd, since I'm the baby writer and he's the pro, but it's true nonetheless. And the interesting this is that that happened the most when King was writing about, um, not exactly following the rules.
He's no fan of adverbs and loves the word "said," as well, but he also doesn't plot or outline and does many other things that I found very familiar. I enjoyed that. I also liked the fact that the book is about writing without being about writing at all. It's a narrative autobiography that just happens to delve into how one man writes his novels. I actually quite loved it. I recommend it to all the baby writers I encounter (though it occurs to me that it probably is too "advanced" for many of them, so to speak).
Anyway...King agrees with you in that he recommends just reading as much as you can get your hands on to become a better writer. I must confess that that is my biggest weakness these days. I don't read much...but I'm getting better! ;) That said, before vet school I more than made up for it, I think. I just forgot how to read for fun when my brain was forced to do things brains just shouldn't have to do... *spaces out*
Have to jet to sleep and run, quite literally, in the morning.
Talk to you later, my dear.
Write on!
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