Man, Stephen King is so likeable.

I actually learned quite a bit from the whole of On Writing, which was a surprise. I normally hate being told how to write, even if the only audience that exists for my own work so far has been in fandom; it's a problematic piece of my personality. Of course, this is less of a "how to" guide and more of a memoir that focuses on how his life has influenced his art on a personal level.

Overall, though, my favorite idea of King's is actually in the first foreword, where he's speaking about his (to me, utterly surreal) band of authors - "We are writers, and we never ask one another where we get our ideas; we know we don't know." He brings it up again in the first section "C.V.", saying that "your job isn't to find these ideas but to recognize them when they show up." That resonates with me and my path as a writer. He also validates me in my neverending disgust at writing plot instead of situations ("plot is shifty, and best kept under house arrest."); after all, that's how he rolls and a man with a gazillion novels sold can't be wrong, yeah?

King does castigate writers like me for our love affair with adverbs, though. I've heard it before, okay? I just can't help myself, Stephen. I'll try harder.