On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft is not just for aspiring writers or Stephen King fans. I’m neither, but I was completely entertained by On Writing. The first half of the book is Stephen King’s autobiography of his first 50 years of life. He talks about his family, his childhood adventures with his brother, his relationship with his wife, some of the inspiration and research for his stories, how his alcohol and drug abuse affected his writing, and his accident with the van in 1999. This was interesting, informative, and very funny in parts. I listened to On Writing in audio format and it was read by Stephen King himself, which added poignancy to the narration.
The second part of On Writing contains some short lessons about what makes good writing and a look into some of King’s personal writing habits (where he works, how he edits, etc.). He offers some critiques of some of his own work, too. In addition, he encourages his readers to read a lot and write a lot, as all writing instructors do, but he manages to really inspire the desire to do it.
On Writing would be an excellent read for an aspiring author, or an established author, for that matter. I don’t consider myself a Stephen King fan (I like his style but I don’t like horror), nor am I an aspiring writer, but I was completely entertained by On Writing.
~Kat Hooper
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft is a wonderful autobiography and practical “how to” from an American master.
~Jason Golomb
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