On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
I'll start by telling you that I loved this book.
LOVED it.
And I haven't even finished it.
I am not an aspiring writer. I do want to write a book or two in my lifetime, but I don't want to be 'a writer'. In my current job, I have opportunity to write for a community magazine four times a year. I enjoy that but I wouldn't want to do it full time ... as a job.
I'm not interested, really, in writing fiction. Although, after reading this book, I reckon I could give it a good crack. I feel armed to take on the writing world ... even though it is not really what I want to do. That is how good this book is!
Like I said, I haven't actually finished the book. I started it a while ago and then life got busy and I gave my time to other things like my kids' and husband's birthdays, end of year events at school, Christmas, school holidays (summer vacation), and who knows what else!? I have a little sunburn that tells me some of my time was given to the beach! I hate sunburns and I fully lathered up with 50+ sunscreen but I missed a couple of bits and they aren't happy with me!
But back to the book not being finished! I picked it up again the other day and have been reading away, totally loving it. But today I got a notice from my library saying they assume I've lost the book and would I please return it or pay $51.62. Oops! I prefer to not pay for library books so I returned it! I've re-reserved it though so I will finish it when it's my turn to take the book home again!
SK talks a lot about his life and his journey to becoming an author in the first half of this book. He shares some great wisdom that he has gained along the way. I love this ... 'put your desk in the corner, and every time you sit down there to write, remind yourself why it isn't in the middle of the room. Life isn't a support-system for art. It's the other way around."
And ... "If you want to be a writer, you must do two thing 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." It's really true, isn't it? My art teacher tells us all the time that the best artists are the ones who do art ALL THE TIME. It's probably true across the board ... the more you DO __________ fill in the blank, the better you become at it.
SK encourages aspiring writers to set a goal of writing 1000 words a day. Just sit and write. Now, like I said, I'm not an aspiring writer, but I do want to write a book this year. And so, in Feb, once the kids have gone back to school and I'm back into a routine, I'm going to start by setting myself the goal of writing 500 words a day. I have no idea how long that will take me! I guess I'll find out!
SK says that what each of us knows makes us unique! I agree. I have a story to tell ... it's not fiction. It's the story of 2015 ... my year of 'the uncomfortable'. I'm not sure if anyone else (besides my husband, my best friend, and a handful of other people) will ever read it, but I'm going to write it!
I've also got a line up of books that I'm going to read in 2016. I'll share that with you in another blog post soon! Do you have a reading list? Shoot me a link in the comments, I'd love to come check it out! Or you can find me on goodreads ... I love finding new book recommendations on there!
LOVED it.
And I haven't even finished it.
I am not an aspiring writer. I do want to write a book or two in my lifetime, but I don't want to be 'a writer'. In my current job, I have opportunity to write for a community magazine four times a year. I enjoy that but I wouldn't want to do it full time ... as a job.
I'm not interested, really, in writing fiction. Although, after reading this book, I reckon I could give it a good crack. I feel armed to take on the writing world ... even though it is not really what I want to do. That is how good this book is!
Like I said, I haven't actually finished the book. I started it a while ago and then life got busy and I gave my time to other things like my kids' and husband's birthdays, end of year events at school, Christmas, school holidays (summer vacation), and who knows what else!? I have a little sunburn that tells me some of my time was given to the beach! I hate sunburns and I fully lathered up with 50+ sunscreen but I missed a couple of bits and they aren't happy with me!
But back to the book not being finished! I picked it up again the other day and have been reading away, totally loving it. But today I got a notice from my library saying they assume I've lost the book and would I please return it or pay $51.62. Oops! I prefer to not pay for library books so I returned it! I've re-reserved it though so I will finish it when it's my turn to take the book home again!
SK talks a lot about his life and his journey to becoming an author in the first half of this book. He shares some great wisdom that he has gained along the way. I love this ... 'put your desk in the corner, and every time you sit down there to write, remind yourself why it isn't in the middle of the room. Life isn't a support-system for art. It's the other way around."
And ... "If you want to be a writer, you must do two thing 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." It's really true, isn't it? My art teacher tells us all the time that the best artists are the ones who do art ALL THE TIME. It's probably true across the board ... the more you DO __________ fill in the blank, the better you become at it.
SK encourages aspiring writers to set a goal of writing 1000 words a day. Just sit and write. Now, like I said, I'm not an aspiring writer, but I do want to write a book this year. And so, in Feb, once the kids have gone back to school and I'm back into a routine, I'm going to start by setting myself the goal of writing 500 words a day. I have no idea how long that will take me! I guess I'll find out!
SK says that what each of us knows makes us unique! I agree. I have a story to tell ... it's not fiction. It's the story of 2015 ... my year of 'the uncomfortable'. I'm not sure if anyone else (besides my husband, my best friend, and a handful of other people) will ever read it, but I'm going to write it!
I've also got a line up of books that I'm going to read in 2016. I'll share that with you in another blog post soon! Do you have a reading list? Shoot me a link in the comments, I'd love to come check it out! Or you can find me on goodreads ... I love finding new book recommendations on there!
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1 comments:
I have never read any Steven King, looks like I may have to read this one, it sounds very most excellent!
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