I have a complaint about the book On Writing by Stephen King. It is this: there is so much bad language in the book that a nice teenager like me cannot read it without feeling slimed. This by itself would not be so bad, except for the fact that I am tired of people recommending it and saying it is the best book about writing ever. Perhaps it is. But it seems contradictory to me that the 'best book on writing ever' should be littered with obscenities. I believe that frequent cussing is a sign of bad writing, not of good writing. Good writers should be able to communicate feelings and concepts without offending people for no reason whatsoever.
So I'm going to take the one piece of good advice that I did find in the book, which went something like, "Most books on writing are junk, and you don't need to read them."
Thank you, Mr. King. I now feel no qualms about laying down your book. And to the masses of writers out there who think that you can't possibly make it as a writer without reading this book... how can submitting yourself to all sorts of obscene things possibly make you a better writer?
"But words are things, and a small drop of ink / Falling, like dew, upon a thought, produces / That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think." ~Lord Byron
I'd generally avoid ANYTHING by Steven King, but that's just me :) I can't stand it when people insert language into perfectly decent movies or books! It makes no sense to me. Describes nothing, gets no point across.
ReplyDeleteOoh! I agree! Bad language ruined Wuthering Heights for me. They used words that people quite commonly use nowadays, but they do leave me (as you said) feeling slimed.
ReplyDelete--Noelle
PS: I was looking at your Live Journal and saw this http://pics.livejournal.com/poeticmaiden/pic/0004dpke
May I ask what font you used for it? I've been looking everywhere for it. ;)