Friday 30 November 2012

Writing Skills: Stephen King On Writing

King's On Writing (2000) is a must read for budding young writers.

One book I would strongly recommend for senior pupils, to improve their writing skills, is Stephen King's On Writing. Senior pupils should find it accessible and lively throughout. An ideal last twenty minutes before sleep kind of read! King tells the story of how he grew to love literature and how he first began to write. Along the way he gives specific advice that any Leaving Certificate pupil should find helpful if they were to attempt to write a short story in Section II of Paper I. 
 

The way the book is written is, in itself, a fantastic guide to how a book should be structured both physically and in terms of writing techniques used by King. He particularly leans on the use of his own anecdotes. They serve to bring the reader  to formative moments from throughout his life, before elucidating onto a more specific point on writing technique. I've picked this book up to read over and over again through the years and it still seems to have something new to say every time.

King's Introduction (Audio)



Audio Review