On writing manuals

In a recent post on his blog, Mark Charan Newton linked to an essay on writing manuals by Richard Bausch published in the Atlantic, “How to Write in 700 Easy Lessons“.

Bausch deplores them, and justifiably so given his experience with an unnamed how-to publisher and would-be student writers who fail to read. And this is the main thrust of his argument: many people seem to use these guides as ends in themselves rather than studying actual works of literature. It’s a fair point.

That said, I read Stephen King’s On Writing over the weekend, and I rather enjoyed it (even the parts where I groaned, however clichéd,  in horror and disgust).⁽¹⁾ It’s a great read, though my favourite in the literary memoir genre is Pierre Berton’s The Joy of Writing. Prior to reading this I didn’t realize how funny he could be.⁽²⁾  Joy is also immensely informative. I pulled it off the shelf again while writing this and have now become sucked into re-reading it, for sheer pleasure.

Both of these books offer insight into how they got started – not just in writing, but in life. Both are filled with lots of practical advice, with examples. And both encourage aspiring writers to read. A lot.⁽³⁾ Continue reading »

Footnotes:

1. Should I be surprised at how graphically King can render such images? Probably not, but I haven’t read King since I was a teenager. Reading this makes me want to read him again. [↩]
2. Then I saw him smoke a joint on Rick Mercer. [↩]
3. I was pleased to see I read more than Stephen King, who only manages 50-70 books a year. I totally beat that. [↩]