On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

By Stephen King

Book Overview

CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF WRITING with fresh testimonials from fellow writers about why they love Stephen King and On Writing--and a few new words on the joy of writing from King himself. *ONE OF TIME... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1439156816
• ISBN13: 9781439156810
• Release Date: July 2010
• Publisher: Scribner Book Company
• Length: 291 Pages
• Weight: 0.78 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Quality not as promised

I purchased the book in "very good" condition, and there are post-it notes and pencil markings throughout. Three pages toward the end of the book have also been heavily marked with sharpie pen. Personally, this feels more on the low-end of "good" condition to me.

Will the real Stephen King please stand up?

This was money well spent. This book is more than the title implies. First, it is a selected biography of Stephen King. I enjoyed the poison ivy episode. This is not a deviation but an explanation of why he writes the way he does and the background that he draws on. Secondly, this is a "How to Write Like Stephen King" book that reflects his likes and dislikes. I agree with most of them. I suppose that is why I like his novels. However, I can only guess that he must spend a lot of time around people who cuss. It is not like he is not aware of it. I feel that he is somewhat proud of the fact that he cusses a lot. Luckily, he said it is not necessary to be excessive. I share his dislike for flashbacks. He also expresses several dislikes for other stilting crutches, including an excessive description of the story. A bonus is his description of the van accident that a certain comedian commented about, saying that Stephen lost his Tommyknockers. Stephen forgot to mention that he bought the van that hit him for destruction purposes. Talk about revenge. Overall, after reading this, I was compelled to try my hand at writing.

Straight From the Horse’s Mouth

Anyone that’s heard of Stephen King knows that this man knows how to write. Love his work or hate it, he’s a master of his craft. Reading this book gives you great insight into the process he uses for crafting his celebrated yarns. The passion he has is so poignant that even if you’re not a writer you’ll catch his enthusiasm. But more than that though, it’s also a fantastic autobiography where he really bares all his demons, and like (nearly) all his books it’s endlessly entertaining and stays with you. If you want a great book on writing that’s equally informative as it is entertaining, get it straight from the horse’s mouth.

Worth the read if you are stuck writing

I am a fan of Stephen king and I really enjoyed this book. It’s part memoir part advice for writing. I love how he tied it all together. Great if you are a little stuck on where to start with writing or in a bit of a block and need some inspiration.

Best book!

If you're a writer I'd advise you to pick up this book. I read this book within three days. It has a lot of helpful information.

Insight on iconic writer

Insight into the writing of one of the most iconic writers of his time as written by him. Very good!

Must have for the Writer's Shelf

I'm not an avid reader of King's fiction but the man is a master at his craft. This memoir more than proves it for me, his advice helped a lot.

Insightful in many ways

It's insightful into the life and personal history of Stephen King, and it's insightful into his writing process, and it's insightful into how to make your own words much gooder. He seems to write non-fiction as well as he does fiction, and I think even if you hate non-fic you'll still find something to like about this.

Fantastic Read for Any Writer

Part autobiography, part writing manual, this novel is a wonderful look into Stephen King's life as well as his writing process. Though I'm a longtime fan of King, I think anyone can enjoy this text whether they read horror or not. The latter half of On Writing deals specifically with King's guidelines for finishing a novel and his suggestions are worthwhile without being prescriptive. King doesn't claim to be the authority on writing with this text, though he certainly could; instead, King provides readers an insight into his writing and how they can begin to engage with their own.

Worth reading for anyone with a hectic childhood..

Gives you something to write about. Esp. thank you for sending me back to "Strunk & White" still looking for my old copy, will find or replace. I could recommend this one to lots of people, but then there would be a lot more people writing, maybe not about mystery, but about their lives. This could even help someone with their "4th step",... just an idea. Thanks again Stephen.

Looking for honest writing advice this is it!

What I love about Stephen is his honesty. He doesn’t sugarcoat how the literary agents are, critics, the process of submission. He tells you to write like yourself and to yourself which I believe is the best advice he can give. No one taught him how to write he just had a thing for reading and shortly after he started to write. He had a lot fun with writing in high school before it got serious for him. Stephen telling you this story gives you hope and makes you have faith in your own writing career. I submitted my work to numerous magazines/journals and they all rejected my work same with Stephen in the beginning of his career so it made me feel normal it made the process of writing feel normal but don’t give up! Someone will read it! Someone will publish it! Keep writing

For writers and readers -- get inside King's mind

The cover shows an inviting scene, a country house with a warm light glowing in the living room window, a set of double doors leading down to the cellar, the house lined with pink and white flowers. "Come on in," the picture seems to say. "I have a story to tell." It generally takes Stephen King about three months to finish the first draft of a book. He began "On Writing" at the end of 1997, but put it aside a few months later, unsure how to finish it. Over a year later, in mid-1999, King decided to spend the summer "finishing the damn writing book." The events of late-June, 1999 interfered with those plans. King spent three weeks in the hospital after he was struck by a van. In late July he decided it was time to start writing again, and it was "On Writing" that he chose for his return to work. The finished product, "On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft" will be released by Scribner in early October, 2000. It was a discussion with Amy Tan while on tour with the Rock Bottom Remainders that inspired King to write this book. "No one ever asks about the language," Tan said in response to King's query about the sorts of questions that she doesn't get at author appearances. "Serious" authors get asked that but they don't ask the popular novelists who, he says "care about language in our humble way, and care passionately about the art and craft of telling stories on paper." King opens with a lengthy memoir that "attempted to show some of the incidents and life-situations which made me into the sort of writer I turned out to be." He calls this section "C.V," as in "curriculum vitae," his list of accomplishments and job skills. Some of the story is familiar, though many of the details are new. He works his way through his stages as a writer from childhood to novice to apprentice to worldwide success. For the first time in any detail, King addresses his battle with alcohol and drug abuse, when it started, how it evolved and how he eventually was forced to confront his problem. He reveals that he has little memory of writing "Cujo" ("I wish I could remember enjoying the good parts as I put them down on the page"), that he hadn't realized that when he was writing "The Shining" he was writing about himself, and how Annie Wilkes in "Misery" could well be seen as a symbol for coke and alcohol. "I decided I was tired of being Annie's pet writer," King says. King is more revealing of his life in this book than ever before. He is frank in discussing the merits and deficiencies of many of his books. Of "Rose Madder" and "Insomnia" he says: "These are (much as I hate to admit it) stiff, trying-too-hard novels." He talks about how he reached a point in "The Stand" where he had to set the novel aside for several weeks until he could figure out how to go on. If he had written a couple of hundred pages less at that point he probably would have abandoned the book completely. Also described in some depth are the issues he had to deal w