Talk:On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

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BetacommandBot 23:44, 1 July 2007 (UTC)


 * Done. &mdash; Laura Scudder &#9742; 13:46, 2 July 2007 (UTC)

What does this mean?
This paragraph from "Appearances in other media" doesn't make sense to me. Please explain and clarify, and if you can't, please remove the paragraph. Thanks. Asides/questions are mine:

"In an episode of the TV series 'Lost,' Sawyer is fooled into thinking that he has been injected with a pacemaker, and Ben Linus shows him its effects on a white rabbit with a number 8 spray-painted on its back. This is a nod at 'the numbers' (4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42) [WHAT NUMBERS? WHERE? WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH ON WRITING?]. It is also a reference to part two of On Writing, in which Stephen King explains writing is like telepathy, and uses the bunny [WHAT BUNNY?] as an example of this [HOWSO?]."

Softlavender (talk) 19:09, 27 January 2008 (UTC)


 * It would appear the said passage has been removed, but for future reference: There is a passage in On Writing which King references a bunny with an 8 painted on its back. The bonus features of the Lost series (season three I believe) states that many of the writers of the show are King fans and he, and his works, are referenced multiple times throughout the episodes. Whether or not the bunny is a direct reference to the one described in On Writing, would make sense, but in order to avoid WP:OR it would need a source if it is to be re-added.  Black  ngold29   05:04, 4 December 2008 (UTC)

Charles Stross
"Stephen King's "On Writing" is the only writing book I've ever seen that was worth a damn." http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2010/08/interview-1.html#comment-58020 --Gwern (contribs) 01:33 5 September 2010 (GMT)

Funny.... Intentional?
"THOROUGHLY avoid the use of unnecessary adverbs." Enjoyed that. 68.239.81.141 (talk) 16:28, 28 October 2010 (UTC)

Writing style
I had a go at editing the writing style in the first two sections, because (ironically enough) it didn't seem to be very good to me. Specifically, it read more like a review of the book than an objective, with a lot of fluff eg) 'Not only does King give us tips on grammar and developing plot. He also gives descriptions on writing that can help in the future.'

I still don't think it's great, but I hope what I did was an improvement. Currently the Reception section also just reads like a blurb on the back cover of the book, it needs editing down a lot. — Preceding unsigned comment added by SwarbrickJones (talk • contribs) 21:29, 20 March 2012 (UTC)

Confusion re story in UK edition

 * The book's United Kingdom paperback edition concludes with Jumper, a short story by Garret Adams that won the On Writing competition.

Was this "competition" introduced in the prior edition? If not, when was it held, and how? And why was the winning entry included only in the UK edition, and not in King's native US? Unfortunately I don't have the UK edition, where this may be explained, and couldn't find any details elsewhere. What's more, I've found conflicting assertions, such as this one, that King himself wrote the story:
 * First, King offers two stories - Jumper and Rush Call - that had originally appeared in his brother's self-published newsletter, Dave's Rag. Written while King was between the ages of twelve and thirteen, these stories present readers with a rare look into King's juvenilia, a segment of his writing from which he has often tried to distance himself.

Perhaps the article should clarify these things. I'll hang up now and take my answer off the air. – AndyFielding (talk) 00:08, 12 April 2022 (UTC)