Stephan King, an American author of horror, supernatural fiction and fantasy novels, shares his thoughts on writing and how to become a good writer in the article named “On Writing”. According to him, the secret to being a good writer is in the writing and reading itself. Per Mr. King, one needs not only to write and read, but to enjoy doing it. As he wrote, there are no short cuts or easy ways to become a good writer without writing and reading a lot. Reading of books whether good or bad will help the future writer to find and develop his style. Per Mr. King the badly written books were of more help to him; reading them helped him to find out what mistakes not to make in his own writings. He wrote how reading a poor prose as Asteroid Miners showed him what not to do in his books. The author wrote that it is one of the first books he read and it was kind of an inspiration for him to start writing. King wrote, after he finished the book he said to himself “I can do better of that.” Even though the book was bad it was a very important part of his development as a writer. Mr. King concluded that reading is the key to success. He read seventy-eighty books per year; despite the fact he said he was a slow reader. Although his favorite genre is fiction, he read everything, horror, suspense, science fiction, and fantasy. As he wrote, he read for pleasure, not to study or analyze the writing. As long as it was a good story he is enjoyed it, and the learning process is inevitable.
Each Author is unique they write about many different pieces, but they all have this set of principles they go by. Every author thinks about these four main concepts when they write and they are audience, genre, context, purpose. They first think about who will want to read their work so try to establish an audience. The Author next has to determine what their writing will be. They have to decide whether it's science fiction or any other, but they understand it important tell the genre of the work. Authors cannot be all over the place they are focused on one specific tone. Next authors contemplate why to write at all there must be a reason that is true, they all written for a purpose each author has one. Authors often write in troubling times for them like
In the informational essay “Reading to Write,” King incorporates rhetorical strategies such as ethos, pathos, and logos, to develop his position on the importance of talent and practice in life. Throughout the paper, the author establishes credibility by introducing the specific methods he employs in his everyday life. One sentences states, “The sort of strenuous reading and writing program I advocate-four to six hours a day, everyday”(King 214). King provides this statement to display how his writing skills have strengthened, ultimately informing the audience that in order to develop better literary techniques, you need to read multiple hours of the day.
To read like a writer means knowing in advanced type of writing will be assigned. This is beneficial, Bunn argues, because when reading like a writer, knowing the style assigned, allows one to look for specific techniques in writing that they could adopt in their own work. To understand how piece was written, or to look back on his architect analogy, it is important to ask questions, assessing what “construction” techniques were effective in building a text. Before reading, one should ask himself who the audience is and the author's purpose in writing. While reading the texts itself, Bunn recommends looking at the style of language used and the effectiveness of evidence as well as the parts that don’t work or are confusing. While reading like a writer and asking these questions, Bunn encourages students to look for whether aspects are appropriate and effective as well as the positive or negative effect they have on readers. Bunn, in recognizing that every word choice made in a text has a certain effect, encourages readers to look critically at that effect in order to decide what strategies work should be adopted in their own
After having read the essays by Sherman Alexie and Stephen King, it is fair to say that there are a fair amount of similarities given that the context is different in each. Alexie’s piece was on how the writer saved himself and aims to do so for those around him. While King’s Piece gives advice on the benefits of reading, especially for a writer and doing something one loves. One notion mainly expressed in both essays is one should read as much as possible, whatever is possible, wherever and whenever.
In the first chapter, Prose already addresses the central hypothesis of the book - to be become a good writer, you must be a good reader. She recalls, of how she too remedied her own obstacles and monsters in her writing through close reading.
I believe a good reader is what makes a good writer. But because I lost my interest in reading, I’ve struggled with writing throughout the years. It wasn’t that I had trouble learning new skills but because I was pushed away from what I wanted to learn, so I decided to pursue other interests. Despite being eager to learn, my writing suffered due to my lack of interest in reading, however my skills in writing have increased as my drive to read has rekindled.
King puts a particular emphasis on reading as a necessity to becoming a better writer in his novel On Writing. He makes the point that reading will present a writer with "the tools to write", and that if a writer does not have the time to read "then they don't have the time to write." The "learning process going on" while reading is usually learning what it feels like to be on the receiving end of a story. I am conscience of "the craft" when the author makes artistic choices that either help tell a good story or hinder its development.
Reading one articles over and over push you to write like the writer. He shows us his own experience said, “When I read Ray Bradbury as a kid, I wrote like Ray Bradbury everything green and wondrous and see through a lens smeared with the grease of nostalgia. When I read James M. Cain, everything I wrote came out clipped and stripped and hard-boiled.”(212)King puts passion in reading and writing, by his teenage ages everything change, and his found his own style. This prove that practice make us perfect, when you have love for one domain and you put hard work, you succeed. We have to learn also that talent it is no enough, for we can see example of his son with saxophone lessons. Time, love, passion joy, determination help us to achieve our
In literary education, from childhood to maturity, individuals are taught how to write not to improve themselves as critical thinkers, but to fulfill the requirements given to them in a prompt. Whether to analyze or argue, this form of writing has led to a cease of literary improvement in students today, making many question the effectiveness of writing classes. Mike Bunns, in his article “To Read like a Writer”, explores this topic and stresses the necessity for young readers to critically examine the author’s choices in order to improve their own pieces of work. Bunns effectively argues to his audience of college students that improved comprehension comes from focusing on the rhetorical choices authors decide to make in their compositions by tying personal narratives with repetitive questioning throughout his article.
The assigned reading of “Good Readers and Good Writers” by Vladimir Nabokov probes the subject that is the necessary attributes an individual must have in order for them to be successful readers and writers of literature. A list of ten rules is then stated in the essay and sets them as the baseline commandments that an individual must follow in order to be some kind of a devoted “good reader”. While the criteria sets the standard for a “good reader” it aligns with that of a good analyzer and can be applied to that sense. For example one of the first pieces of advice states “If one begins with a readymade generalization, one begins at the wrong end and travels away from the book before one has started to understand it” (Nabokov 1). If a
“Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are,” (Cooley). Throughout our lives, reading has impacted us in many ways. Often times books give people different perspectives on their lives. People with high stress levels often find comfort in reading books to take their mind off of their concerns. Sometimes, people just need to take a step back from their lives and relax for a while; therefore, reading is a great tool. In fact, all kinds of books have also helped me become a better writer. There are many different books that have impacted me over the years.
Over the past month, we have been studying the concept of reading and writing in different communities. To assess this, we have read two different texts. Richard Rodriguez’s the achievement of desire”, from his autobiography “Hunger of Memory”; and Lucille McCarthy’s “A Stranger in Strange Lands: A College Student Writing across the Curriculum” from “Research in the Teaching of English”. Both answer key questions regarding what it takes to become a great reader and writer, however, from the reading that I have done, each one only answers one part of the question. Rodriguez’s main focus is in the aspect of reading, whereas McCarthy mainly focuses on the writing portion. Both do a decent job of analyzing and putting forth a view of how they believe a person can best perform in these environments. This then allows us to use their concepts and create our own version, based on their points of view. But why should we care? Most people at this level of academia will have developed a system of writing that works for them, and will have a difficult time breaking from it if they’re process doesn’t meet the criteria that Rodriguez, and McCarthy put forth. The reason it’s so important is because of implications these ideas have. Both authors put forth concepts that are indirectly related to one another and that are highly beneficial to all who will apply them. They will force you to conform to new environments in order to succeed, this in turn will make you more
You must be prepared to do some serious turning inward toward the life of the imagination.” King suggests to “write one word at a time” in one of his chapters. In the end, it’s always that simple. “Whether it’s a vignette of a single page or an epic trilogy like ‘The Lord of the Rings,’ the work is always accomplished one word at a time.” Eliminating all distractions is another element King writes about. “There should be no telephone in your writing room, certainly no TV or videogames for you to fool around with. If there’s a window, draw the curtains or pull down the shades unless it looks out at a blank wall.” Stick to your own style. “One cannot imitate a writer’s approach to a
reading the works of other authors is vital to the growth of a writer. This allows the writer to
Notably, Stephen King writes, “I read because I like to read.” He goes on to talk about how he does not read fiction to study the art; he reads it because he enjoys it. Making a great point, Stephen shares that although you are learning during each book you read, especially the bad ones. When you read a bad