This is a short book because most books about writing are filled with bullshit. Fiction writers, present company included, don’t understand very much about what they do—not why it works when it’s good, not why it doesn’t when it’s bad. I figured the shorter the book, the less the bullshit.
  One notable exception to the bullshit rule is The Elements of Style, by William Strunk jr. and E. B. White. There is little or no detectable bullshit in that book. (↵King 2000: 11)