On Writing

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"Books are a uniquely portable magic."

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"The adverb is not your friend."

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"I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs, and I will shout it from the rooftops."

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"write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open."

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"If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that."

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"Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader’s."

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"The scariest moment is always just before you start."

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"Put another way, to write is human, to edit is divine."

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"Life isn’t a support-system for art. It’s the other way around."

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"Let me say it again: you must not come lightly to the blank page."

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Introduction

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Chapter summary

This outline follows the Scribner 20th-anniversary trade paperback (2020; ISBN 978-1-9821-5937-5).[1][2]

📖 1 – First Foreword.

🧭 2 – Second Foreword.

🗣️ 3 – Third Foreword.

📜 4 – C.V..

🧠 5 – What Writing Is.

🧰 6 – Toolbox.

✍️ 7 – On Writing.

❤️‍🩹 8 – On Living: A Postscript.

🚪 9 – And Furthermore, Part I: Door Shut, Door Open.

📚 10 – And Furthermore, Part II: A Booklist.

11 – Further to Furthermore, Part III.

🔭 12 – Even Further to Furthermore, Part IV.

🎧 13 – Owen King: Recording Audiobooks for My Dad, Stephen King.

💬 14 – Joe Hill: A Conversation with My Dad.

Related content & more

YouTube videos

Full author talk at UMass Lowell (98 min)
Animated summary: 3 key lessons (7 min)

CapSach articles

 

Digital Minimalism

 

Four Thousand Weeks

 

The One Thing

 

Make Your Bed

 

The Magic of Thinking Big

 

The Compound Effect

 

CS/Self-improvement book summaries


References

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