On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft book club questions

1. 1.

   King says to write two thousand words per day, every day, not just when you feel inspired. What does your current writing or creative practice schedule look like? Is it daily?

2. 2.

   He argues that the first draft should be written for yourself only. Where do you carry an imagined audience while writing that you could put down?

3. 3.

   King's advice to kill adverbs and passive constructions is about the strength of the underlying verb. Look at something you've written recently. How many adverbs could be replaced with stronger verbs?

4. 4.

   He describes his years of drinking as both creatively productive and existentially destructive. What does his story suggest about the relationship between creative intensity and personal cost?

5. 5.

   King doesn't outline. He starts with a situation, populates it with characters, and follows. What does that approach suggest about trust in the process versus control of the outcome?

6. 6.

   On Writing was completed after King was nearly killed. How does proximity to death appear in the book, and how does it affect how you read the advice?

7. 7.

   He says revision is where writing actually happens. How does your own revision process compare to what King describes? Do you revise too early or not enough?

8. 8.

   King reads constantly — hundreds of books a year — treating it as professional baseline. How much do you read in the field you work in or create in? Is that reading feeding your output?

9. 9.

   His toolbox metaphor suggests that craft is built before it's needed. What is the equivalent of vocabulary and grammar in your professional or creative field? Are you building it?

10. 10.

    The autobiographical sections reveal that King wrote some of his best books while barely functional from substance abuse. What does that suggest about the relationship between the quality of a life and the quality of creative output?

11. 11.

    King says writing is telepathy — transferring a specific mental image into another mind. What do you lose in transmission? What specific and concrete details could you add to your most important written communication?

How to run the discussion

• Pick six to eight, not all of them. An hour of real discussion covers fewer questions than anyone expects, and racing the list is what makes a book club feel like homework.
• Open with what people noticed, not what they concluded. Asking for a verdict first hardens opinions before anyone has heard each other.
• Let the disagreement run. The questions below that split a room are the ones worth the time; the ones everyone answers the same way can be skipped.
• Ask the quiet person a specific question. A direct, narrow question is far easier to answer than an open invitation to contribute.