Comments on "There's a mystery about creative writing, but it's a boring mystery."

i've had that same book (on writing) on my shelf for a few years and I've still never gotten around to reading it. I've heard that its pretty good, though.

What the hell does Stephen King know about writing? I have always assumed he just cranks out his garbage by the truckload without even looking at it, and his editor spends a few minutes slapping it into manuscript form. He's terrible. He's not even in Sydney Sheldon/Jackie Collins territory.

i wouldn't knock the book if you haven't read it. i don't know what he says in the book as I haven't gotten to it, but you might be surprised.

Wow, you are so wrong Fnarf.
Stephen King is an amazing writer. Don't let his pigeon-holing in the horror genre mess up your critical faculties. The guy is an addictive story teller with a powerful gift for descriptions and he can deliver narrative momentum that's like nothing you've ever read before. I defy you to read even one of his better books- The Stand, The Shining, It, 'Salem's Lot- and maintain that opinion.

Stephen King is wrongly maligned by people who have some axe to grind against books sold in supermarkets. But most of those folks have never had the sheer pleasure of staying up until 2 AM compulsively turning the pages of Firestarter. What a rush.

I usually enjoy his writing. Don't confuse his books with the movies based on his books. THOSE really suck.

Like "The Shining" for example? Or "Carrie?" Or "Shawshank Redemption?"

"The Shining" was a terrific movie. Unbelievable camerawork. But when I tried to read the book, I got about halfway before I threw it away in disgust. The man is a terrible, terrible writer. I'd rather read the daily comics in the newspaper -- the really lame ones. I am very much NOT dismissive of "supermarket writers", but King is just.... ugh.

Fnarf
We're gonna have to agree to disagree on Stephen King. Too bad you'll never know the pleasure. And of course it makes me wonder if you read and enjoy any genre fiction at all. Robert Heinlein? Ellmore Leonard? Larry McMurtry?

Larry McMurtry is genre? Huh.

I've read a good sample of all of the best-known Sci-Fi/Fantasy "masters", having made a serious effort to try to see what the fuss was about. The Dune books were OK, for what they were. Heinlein has his moments. Asimov, not so much. And I've never read ANYTHING in the "fantasy" genre I could stand for more than five seconds. I'm not likely to bother with more, even though my second-favorite writer, Kingsley Amis, was a monster sci-fi fan, critic, and writer himself. Just not my cup of tea.

Elmore Leonard, on the other hand, is stone cold brilliant. Best dialogue writer there is, aside from George V. Higgins. I could go on at length about the crime novel, one of America's real contributions to world culture (but NOT the fuddy-duddy Sherlock Holmes/Agatha Christie mystery story). I'm talking Ross MacDonald and Raymond Chandler, that sort of thing.

My other favorite genre is uber-trashy Hollywood "women's" novel. Jackie Collins is an absolute SCREAM; you want to grab people and read it out loud. Sidney Sheldon, Harold Robbins, and of course Jacqueline Susann set the standard here.

But Stephen King? No. He can't write a decent sentence, even.

Well, I've read "On Writing", and I have to say it's worth checking out. It's basically his autobiography with an emphasis on turning points in his career. There's a great part when he reconstructs some shitty sports article he wrote for his highschool newspaper, and his mentor rips it to shreds in a surprisingly constructive way. King also goes into his horrifying job at a hospital laundromat (ew, ew, ew), as well as his drug/alcohol problems, which are weirdly reflected in his books (i.e. the main character in The Shining was an alcoholic because King was starting to suspect that in himself.) And, yes, the description of his car accident is incredible. It obviously changed him (probably why, sorry Stephen, the first couple of books he wrote after it sucked.) Anyway, who couldn't get behind the guy who described one character as "making Mensa society members look like Fucko the Clown"?

Hello? Larry McMurtry is western western western. He's damn good, and he writes to convention. Genre, all the way.

And my man, I would trade you all the Jacqueline Susann in the world for a single short story by Stephen King. I wouldn't give you nothing for Harold Robbins.

No need to trade; I haven't got any, and if I had, it would be in the recycle bin years ago. The paper's too rough to wipe with.

Knock Harold Robbins all you want, but be aware that he almost singlehandedly taught at least a billion English-speaking residents of the British Commonwealth their first lessons about sex. I can't count how many people from all over the globe have told me about the tattered copies being handed around in their schools. Either that or The Godfather by Mario Puzo. Page 37.