On Writing
by: Stephen King
Price: $7.99
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Amazon.com Review:
Short and snappy as it is, Stephen King's On Writingreally contains two books: a fondly sardonic autobiography and atough-love lesson for aspiring novelists. The memoir is terrificstuff, a vivid description of how a writer grew out of a misbehavingkid. You're right there with the young author as he's tormented bypoison ivy, gas-passing babysitters, uptight schoolmarms, and alaundry job nastier than Jack London's. It's a ripping yarn that castsa sharp light on his fiction. This was a child who dug Yvette Vickersfrom Attack of the Giant Leeches, not Sandra Dee."I wantedmonsters that ate whole cities, radioactive corpses that came out ofthe ocean and ate surfers, and girls in black bras who looked liketrailer trash." But massive reading on all literary levels was acraving just as crucial, and soon King was the published author of "IWas a Teen-Age Graverobber." As a young adult raising a family in atrailer, King started a story inspired by his stint as a janitorcleaning a high-school girls locker room. He crumpled it up, but hiswriter wife retrieved it from the trash, and using her advice aboutthe girl milieu and his own memories of two reviled teenage classmateswho died young, he came up with Carrie. King gives uslots of revelations about his life and work. The kidnapper characterin Misery, the mind-possessing monsters in TheTommyknockers, and the haunting of the blocked writer in TheShining symbolized his cocaine and booze addiction (overcomethanks to his wife's intervention, which he describes). "There's onenovel, Cujo, that I barely remember writing."
King also evokes his college days and his recovery from the van crashthat nearly killed him, but the focus is always on what it all meansto the craft. He gives you a whole writer's "tool kit": a readinglist, writing assignments, a corrected story, and nuts-and-boltsadvice on dollars and cents, plot and character, the basic buildingblock of the paragraph, and literary models. He shows what you canlearn from H.P. Lovecraft's arcane vocabulary, Hemingway's leanness,Grisham's authenticity, Richard Dooling's artful obscenity, JonathanKellerman's sentence fragments. He explains why Hart's War is a greatstory marred by a tin ear for dialogue, and how Elmore Leonard's Be Cool could be theantidote.
King isn't just a writer, he's a true teacher. --Tim Appelo
Product Description:
"Long live the King" hailed Entertainment Weekly upon the publication of Stephen King's On Writing. Part memoir, part master class by one of the bestselling authors of all time, this superb volume is a revealing and practical view of the writer's craft, comprising the basic tools of the trade every writer must have. King's advice is grounded in his vivid memories from childhood through his emergence as a writer, from his struggling early career to his widely reported near-fatal accident in 1999 -- and how the inextricable link between writing and living spurred his recovery. Brilliantly structured, friendly and inspiring, On Writing will empower and entertain everyone who reads it -- fans, writers, and anyone who loves a great story well told.
Short and snappy as it is, Stephen King's On Writingreally contains two books: a fondly sardonic autobiography and atough-love lesson for aspiring novelists. The memoir is terrificstuff, a vivid description of how a writer grew out of a misbehavingkid. You're right there with the young author as he's tormented bypoison ivy, gas-passing babysitters, uptight schoolmarms, and alaundry job nastier than Jack London's. It's a ripping yarn that castsa sharp light on his fiction. This was a child who dug Yvette Vickersfrom Attack of the Giant Leeches, not Sandra Dee."I wantedmonsters that ate whole cities, radioactive corpses that came out ofthe ocean and ate surfers, and girls in black bras who looked liketrailer trash." But massive reading on all literary levels was acraving just as crucial, and soon King was the published author of "IWas a Teen-Age Graverobber." As a young adult raising a family in atrailer, King started a story inspired by his stint as a janitorcleaning a high-school girls locker room. He crumpled it up, but hiswriter wife retrieved it from the trash, and using her advice aboutthe girl milieu and his own memories of two reviled teenage classmateswho died young, he came up with Carrie. King gives uslots of revelations about his life and work. The kidnapper characterin Misery, the mind-possessing monsters in TheTommyknockers, and the haunting of the blocked writer in TheShining symbolized his cocaine and booze addiction (overcomethanks to his wife's intervention, which he describes). "There's onenovel, Cujo, that I barely remember writing."
King also evokes his college days and his recovery from the van crashthat nearly killed him, but the focus is always on what it all meansto the craft. He gives you a whole writer's "tool kit": a readinglist, writing assignments, a corrected story, and nuts-and-boltsadvice on dollars and cents, plot and character, the basic buildingblock of the paragraph, and literary models. He shows what you canlearn from H.P. Lovecraft's arcane vocabulary, Hemingway's leanness,Grisham's authenticity, Richard Dooling's artful obscenity, JonathanKellerman's sentence fragments. He explains why Hart's War is a greatstory marred by a tin ear for dialogue, and how Elmore Leonard's Be Cool could be theantidote.
King isn't just a writer, he's a true teacher. --Tim Appelo
Product Description:
"Long live the King" hailed Entertainment Weekly upon the publication of Stephen King's On Writing. Part memoir, part master class by one of the bestselling authors of all time, this superb volume is a revealing and practical view of the writer's craft, comprising the basic tools of the trade every writer must have. King's advice is grounded in his vivid memories from childhood through his emergence as a writer, from his struggling early career to his widely reported near-fatal accident in 1999 -- and how the inextricable link between writing and living spurred his recovery. Brilliantly structured, friendly and inspiring, On Writing will empower and entertain everyone who reads it -- fans, writers, and anyone who loves a great story well told.
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- Every writer should read this
I've just finished reading this. I began it last night as something to read before turning out the light, and found I had to put it down reluctantly, when the graininess of my eyes told me it was time to sleep. When I left for work this morning it was in my bag.
While computers were running maintenance programs, I was reading. While I ate my lunch I read. During smoko, it was my companion and when my wife went to umpire netball this evening, I sat on a sofa and read till I finished ... Read More
Rating: - On Writing.....by Steven King
I had never read any books by Steven King, but I really enjoyed On Writing....a Memoir.Held my interest, well written. Makes me want to read his other books now.
Rating: 
- Excellent
King shows you the secrets of storytelling in the first section, which is memoir. In the second, he pulls back the curtain and gives opinionated advice on the tools of storytelling and their uses.
Rating: - Insight into the Mind of a Master
I don't like writing long reviews, so I will keep this brief and to the point. This is not a nuts-n-bolts, how-to primer. Although King metes out several valuable technical pointers, the book is really about the craft of writing. If you are a decent writer, this book will validate what you are doing right and give you some insight into what you can do better. Yes, there is a biographical element to the book; however, if you are paying attention you will see that there are gems of wisdom about being ... Read More
Rating: - Inspiring
As a writer myself, I tend to be suspicious of books "On Writing" and the likes, although I did read a few and looked up others. Oftentimes, it's good stuff provided you remain critical. With King's volume, you need not worry: this book is awesome.
The book is mostly divided in two parts. The first part is autobiographical; the second is more specifically about writing. Even though I'm a recent reader of King's, I still enjoyed his short autobiography a whole lot. And what he has to say ... Read More
- Every writer should read thisI've just finished reading this. I began it last night as something to read before turning out the light, and found I had to put it down reluctantly, when the graininess of my eyes told me it was time to sleep. When I left for work this morning it was in my bag.
While computers were running maintenance programs, I was reading. While I ate my lunch I read. During smoko, it was my companion and when my wife went to umpire netball this evening, I sat on a sofa and read till I finished ... Read More
- On Writing.....by Steven KingI had never read any books by Steven King, but I really enjoyed On Writing....a Memoir.Held my interest, well written. Makes me want to read his other books now.
- ExcellentKing shows you the secrets of storytelling in the first section, which is memoir. In the second, he pulls back the curtain and gives opinionated advice on the tools of storytelling and their uses.
- Insight into the Mind of a MasterI don't like writing long reviews, so I will keep this brief and to the point. This is not a nuts-n-bolts, how-to primer. Although King metes out several valuable technical pointers, the book is really about the craft of writing. If you are a decent writer, this book will validate what you are doing right and give you some insight into what you can do better. Yes, there is a biographical element to the book; however, if you are paying attention you will see that there are gems of wisdom about being ... Read More
- InspiringAs a writer myself, I tend to be suspicious of books "On Writing" and the likes, although I did read a few and looked up others. Oftentimes, it's good stuff provided you remain critical. With King's volume, you need not worry: this book is awesome.
The book is mostly divided in two parts. The first part is autobiographical; the second is more specifically about writing. Even though I'm a recent reader of King's, I still enjoyed his short autobiography a whole lot. And what he has to say ... Read More
