Ehhmm…Anyways… I love video games – I own a Wii, a DS, and a decent gaming computer.

I’ve always been interested in martial arts, and right now I feel that I’m not complete, since I’m not studying any art right now. During my junior high – high school years I studied Jujitsu and Judo, and while I attended college, I studied Wing Chun. I’m aching to get back into it!

What I’m going to devote this blog to: Video Game Reviews (mainly for the computer/DS), Beginners Japanese, Book Reviews, some Short Stories that I have yet to write, as well as what can be expected in College.

On Writing is broken into seven parts:

1)  C.V.

After reading a few pages into this, you’ll realize, “Hey… there’s no writing tips or anything here! What gives? Isn’t this a book to help me improve my skill?” Well, maybe you won’t think that at all. I know I didn’t. This part of the book is a quasi-autobiography. It gives insight into King’s early years – what influenced him and where he got his inspiration from. It’s a great read that’s full of very interesting stories from his childhood.

2) What Writing Is

This section consists of just a couple of pages. So what is writing, really? It’s telepathy, according to King. Which makes an awful lot of sense – here I am, at some remote terminal compared to yours, and yet I’m conveying my thoughts to you! Remarkable.

3) Toolbox

This is the real meat and potatoes of the book. All of his pointers on writing are summed up here. What to do. What to avoid (adverbs). Active vs Passive voice. It’s a wealth of information and is worth reading over multiple times, or going through with a hi-liter and reviewing at a later time.

4) On Writing

Within this part of the book, King lays out an exercise for you to do. He also talks about the life of being a writer and what it takes to be one. There’s a hierarchy of writers – bad, competent, good, brilliant. It is possible to make a good writer out of a competent one, but impossible to make a brilliant writer out of a good one. But it will take a lot of hard work.

5) On Living

King shares a part of his life that he’d probably like to forget. Stephen King was hit by a truck in 1999 and this segment talks about how he dealt with it and how he has pushed through it.

6) And Furthermore Part 1

An example first draft story + some second draft revisions. Mainly to show that it’s not very likely that you will churn out a perfect story for your first draft – even seasoned writers need to revise.

7) And Furthermore Part 2

This is a list of the better books King read a few years before On Writing was published.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking to improve their writing or to anyone who is a fan of Steven King. It’s short. It’s sweet. It gets to the point without a lot of filler.

Other Suggested books to read for writing help: The Elements of Style by Strunk/White