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Comment by jacobheric | Hacker News Reader

I always thought King's writing could stand to be edited down (a lot). But I feel that about most genre fiction. I find it stifling as a reader especially when characters thoughts and emotions are over described. Usually a simple detail about their appearance, their manner, or similar is sufficient to clue me into what's going on inside. And the uncovering of those clues makes for a much more enjoyable reading experience.

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Have you read anything by Robert E. Howard? I imagine you might rather enjoy his works.

I'll check it out. Thanks! Some of my favorite reading is genre fiction that trims the fat and floats above the rest of the genre. This seems to fit that bill.

Any recommendations?

Yes, I recently stumbled upon Black Wings Has My Angel by Eliot Chaze. Great, obscure and underrated crime/noir/pulp novel. It transcends the genre. It's somehow both more gritty and more literary than the more famous Hammett and Chandler and similar stuff.

REH, most famous for the Conan the Barbarian short stories, has a visceral writing style. I'd start with one of the Conan omnibuses, like this one: https://www.amazon.com/Coming-Conan-Cimmerian-Original-Adven...

I agree. Ironically (since he is associated with the 'gardeners' type in the piece), his writing feels too methodical and lineal to me. Also very repetitive. Of his books I haven't liked the first one. The same happens to me with Neil Gaiman, who seems very heavily influenced by King. To me their style of writing is almost interchangeable.

A lot of Stephen King's best writing, he was pretty much out of his mind the whole time on PBR and cocaine. For instance, not really having any recollection of penning Cujo[1].

His later stuff feels much more planned, in that it kind of all ties into his big meta-project of the Dark Tower, even the early stand-alone stuff, that he more or less retcons into that universe.

[1] http://stephenking.com/xf/index.php?threads/king-forgets-cuj...

I actually think that's not a bad way to write! Whatever gets you into the zone or flow. Of course, you have to have the discipline to go back and edit with clear eyes later.

There is a famous (mostly misattributed) quote to that effect: http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/84190-sometimes-i-write-drun...

Though Hemingway didn't say that, he was definitely a merciless editor of his own work. I dropped in on this (http://www.themorgan.org/exhibitions/ernest-hemingway) exhibit recently that had early drafts of some of his most famous stories and books and it was remarkable how many whole pages and chapters he chopped out just prior to publication.

I have read about that. And while it would explain the repetitiveness it's independent of how his writing appears to me. Needless to say, a lot of people disagree with my view of his writing.

Me too! I find myself skimming when I read his books.

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