by Stephen King
King blends memoir with a no-nonsense toolkit for prose, insisting that good writing comes from wide reading, brutal revision, and the ruthless application of 'omit needless words.' He argues that story arises from character placed under pressure, and that adverbs and passive voice are the road to hell.
In this collection, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft references 4 other books.
It draws on Man's Search for Meaning, Meditations and Flow.
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The books King references and why each one mattered to the argument.
King wrote much of On Writing during recovery from a near-fatal accident and frames writing as the thing that gave him a reason to return, echoing Frankl's argument that meaning is what sustains humans through suffering
King's Stoic-sounding insistence on showing up daily regardless of mood aligns with Marcus Aurelius's discipline of action, which King echoes when describing writing as a job you clock in for
King describes the trance-like 'closed door' drafting state in terms that match Csikszentmihalyi's flow: losing time, merging with the work, and writing at the edge of one's ability
King's view of story as a fossil the writer excavates rather than invents parallels Dawkins's idea that ideas (memes) have their own life independent of the host
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Directly cites
Books from completely different categories that share citation overlap with this one. These are the reads you would not find by browsing a single shelf.
Tools of Titans
Tim Ferriss
The Almanack of Naval Ravikant
Eric Jorgenson
A Guide to the Good Life
William Irvine
Man's Search for Ultimate Meaning
Viktor Frankl
Stillness Is the Key
Ryan Holiday
The Happiness Hypothesis
Jonathan Haidt
Books with the highest citation overlap within the same categories.
Tools of Titans
Tim Ferriss
3 shared citationsThe Almanack of Naval Ravikant
Eric Jorgenson
3 shared citations
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
Anne Lamott
3 shared citationsA Guide to the Good Life
William Irvine
2 shared citationsMan's Search for Ultimate Meaning
Viktor Frankl
2 shared citationsStillness Is the Key
Ryan Holiday
2 shared citationsThis book and its direct connections. Hover a node to see its title, click to visit.
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