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Summary: KING OF WRITING
Review: Whether you're a Stephen King fan or not, after reading _On Writing_, you'll have to admit that the man knows his craft. And he knows how to deliver his information in a winning, page-turning way. If you're serious about your writing, you'll want to read this book and add it to your library. As the editor of Doing It Write!, an e-newsletter on writing, I've recommended it to my subscribers. The first part of _On Writing_ is autobiographical, some of it quite funny. I was laughing so hard on the plane, I had to stop and read passages to the guy in the seat next to me. Not only is the stuff about King's childhood interesting, it establishes the tone for the entire book. King doesn't lay out pointers in a "how-to" manner, he makes you feel as if you're in the room with him, having a one-on-one conversation. Some people might be put off by the peppering of four-letter language, but, to me, it was just part of King's "voice." He doesn't hold back. And because of that, you feel you're getting the truth from him. You can learn a lot about King's life, as well as the recent car accident and King's resilience. But what you really come away with is an understanding of why Stephen King is the master of his genre and the master of his craft.
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Summary: Worth the money!
Review: This is my first review -- which should say something in itself. Rare is the book on writing that you are unable to put down -- but that's exactly what this is. He takes you from the first word to the last word, wakes you up in the middle of the night and you keep going until you are finished! His words build and renew the writer, give them hope and the method -- as I said on the title, it's worth the money and you will be happy that you bought and read this book!
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Summary: At Last, The Workings Behind the Man!
Review: "On Writing" by Stephen King is an invaluable book about the craft of writing. I was immediately drawn to its beautiful beige and brown cover with the old-time cellar doors (probably from a photo taken of his house in Maine). The chapters are perfectly organized, the print font is beautiful and easy-to-read (some books get overly creative with the Garamond font, which I dislike) and its subject matter is thoroughly covered. A ten for having the title of the book match its contents! Not only does an expert author of fiction tell you outright how to write, he also reveals it in the style itself. Some readers said that King left out more about how to actually write. They also said (somewhat mistakenly) that he diverted off course by getting into his personal lifestyle. Well, that is the beauty of writing. Sometimes it is what is NOT said that makes more of an impact and gives extra dimensions to the tutorial. The fun of writing the memoir is, the reader must understand, that there is room for flexibility. A rigidly Victorian subject-noun, subject-noun style need not occur. King's style and his points are interwoven throughout the whole book, beginning to end. It is not always the word-for-word use of the language through commands (e.g., "Do this," "Don't do this...," etc.). The manner in which Stephen King styles his writing--and you can bet he knew exactly what he was doing--is the lesson itself. It is HOW King tells his life's story that provide the very examples which are sought. Study the sentences and paragraphs contained within "On Writing" carefully, and you will see how King uses sights, sounds, colors and other sensations which, of themselves, lay the rock-solid foundation of good writing (not "fine" writing, which has a completely different meaning). Stephen tells of his early grade-school days, for example using details that take the reader back with him on a journey--which, coincidentally, is the goal of all good books. The journey itself exposes the tools of the knowledgeable writer: subject placement in apposition of the noun, words intentionally omitted, object of the preposition after the verb, sparing use of adverbs and perfect control of adjective placement (e.g., best before the noun it modifies). "On writing" succinctly touches on a peeve of King's, namely good use of dialog; he disdains poor dialog, and begs the budding fiction writer to avoid telling the reader the obvious. For example, do not write "His teeth clenched tightly," for there is no other way for teeth to clench. King also provides examples of how NOT to write dialog, which are quite amusing--and there you have an unexpected gift of writing well: humor. That good humor is hard to find these days, always looking for originality, is another reason why my copy of "On Writing" will never see the second-hand store. So, you are being shown how to write without being told you are being shown. You are learning what's between the lines. King gives perfect examples in the style alone of the declarative sentence, the balanced sentenced, the parallel sentence and the exclamation ("Whoosh!"), the interrogative ("Which way did he go?" and the mood of the subjunctive ("I feel terrible!", or "I sat behind that desk for six years with horrid hangovers...")--all of which are adeptly connected with the ordinary conjunctions of and, but and or--just like the unforgettable jingle commercials in the 1970's ("Conjunction Junction, what's your function?"). There are many other examples of diction, syntax and style that jump right off the pages which had me saying, upon detection, "Oh! I get it!" On and on King and the reader travel, your journey being perfectly controlled by your host, until you arrive at the end of the book, almost unexpectedly. You will then know just about all you'd need to improve your writing, whether your genre is fiction or nonfiction. Think like a writer. Read Stephen King! You should then know, once again, that the journey itself IS the lesson. My absolute highest rating. For readers 13 and over. Buy it today!
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Summary: Old Friend
Review: For me, reading _On Writing_ was like visiting an old friend I haven't seen in 10 years. As a young adult, I devoured every Stephen King novel in print, making sure that I read _It_ every summer. As I grew older, I moved away from King, heading toward more "respectable" novels. I began to fall under the spell of King critics, unfortunately. I bought _On Writing_ because I...well, I'm not sure. I just did. And boy am I glad. I remembered why I loved King's novels so much-- they were fun to read. You don't have to think about symbolism, or theme, you just read them and enjoy the story. That's what it's all about, and that's the way it should be. King spends the first part of the book discussing scenes from his life that influenced his writing, and the second half on tricks of the trade. Reading the whole book was like talking to an old friend. Corny, but true. King speaks openly about the publishing industry, and more importantly, what makes a good writer. Most of the information was not new to me, but I liked that King wrote it all in his usual 'down to earth' way. I think it will be helpful for writers who are unsure of what they need to do once they have a piece they'd like to publish.
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Summary: Touching and funny as hell
Review: Unfortunately, I had never read a single word written by Stephen King before I found this book under my Christmas tree. What a fabulous gift! I laughed out loud several times. There's some stellar advice in this one... about writing AND living. Read it and vow to never write another adverb as long as you live!
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Summary: The only King I've finished!
Review: This is the only book of his I've ever finished. I try to read his novels, but while he might be an OK writer, his editing (or lack thereof) is distractingly deficient. Also, he uses profanity the way freshman comp writers use it, as if he were still sixteen and fascinated with its power but naive regarding its proper effectiveness. But when I saw that this book was relatively (for him) small, and also available in the library, I got a copy. It's actually good. He includes revealing insights into his upbringing, his creative flowering, his marriage, the conception and growth of his first novel, Carrie (this part was really interesting), as well as practical tips for every young writer and a memorable account (first published in The New Yorker) of his near-fatal accident. I almost wish he'd written more about his addictions, but I decided that after all this is a memoir, and his goal here is to discuss writing. He still has a problem making his profanity sound natural (a good one-liner with "Magna Carta" for the kicker is ruined by his insertion of the "f" word in between the two words, which was totally unnecessary because the phrase itself worked as is), and he has a really irritating and amateurish way of being too PC for his own good -- his constant use of "his/her," "him/her," and "himself/herself" in later sections really distracts from whatever he's saying. (He should know that the trick is to change the singular to plural if the context allows it, which in his case it always does. Even if he insisted on showing off his gender fairness, "or" is preferable to a slash, simply because we don't pronounce slashes, and King of all people prides himself on naturalistic prose.) Overall, a good read, recommended. I'm surprised that, for a King book, it's so accessible at the library after less than a year in print -- maybe his fans are scared off by what sounds like the threat of a grammar handbook. It's more than that, though. I might even give one of his novels a try, now that I've gotten to know him a little. (A friend recommends "The Stand," but I like the looks of "Bag of Bones.")
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Summary: Extremely Informative!
Review: What a gem! This book is the best nonfiction book by King yet. I was a huge fan of his nonfiction, "Danse Macabre." This book tops it. It's a true inspiration for would-be writers everywhere. I think it is a major contribution to the craft of writing, and if I was a teacher, I would use it as a teaching tool. I think it is his best book in some time, and it is definitely written "from the heart." I highly suggest this book for your reading pleasure. It should not be missed!
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Summary: A good day for the Kings
Review: Who'd of thought in a Quest to read everything the man's written, I'd pick up a book by one of my favorite Sci-fi writers and be so terribly moved? Okay, I'm a writer and King's subject matter here is directed right at my heart, but wow.... I've taught writing for 30 years, had over 100 works published myself, lectured on the darned stuff, but...wow! King spoke to me in way so direct in intimate that I found myself wishing he'd written this thirty years ago before I'd made so many mistakes. I can't remember a book that's affected me as deeply without "King James" being gold-stamped on the cover. It's a good day for the Kings.
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Summary: Outstanding tale of one writer's journey
Review: I picked up this book expecting a mediocre "how to" manual from a favorite author, but ended up being pleasantly surprised. "On Writing" is a thoughtful, intelligent look at one man's life and what he learned about writing along the way. In the first part of the book, King does his best to examine the aspects of his life that helped shape him as a writer; in doing so, he reassures all of us would-be writers that we, too, have it in us. I found myself laughing out loud at some of King's anecdotes - while I haven't kept up with some of his most recent work, reading "On Writing" reminded me of all the reasons I used to devour his books - a lovely, fluid style of writing that really does grip the reader, pull him in and drag him along on King's ride. This book, while non-fiction, does the same thing. When King relates the phone call where he learned of his advance for the paperback rights to "Carrie", I could barely read fast enough - I can clearly see how this one small call was a turning point in his life and career, and I have to say, I feel like I know the author a little better after reading it. If there is a single section in the book I would say is the best, this is it. The "how to" section of the book is equally well-done, written in King's loose, just-chatting style. Frankly, I wish I'd saved the money I've spent on other writing style books and found this one first, because I think I learned more in just three or four chapters from King than all these other self-help authors combined. In a nutshell, King's philosophy of writing is like Nike's - just do it. He offers a few basic tips (things you put in your figurative "writer's toolbox") but spares the reader the kind of technical lectures you'll find in other similar books. The final section of the book is dedicated to the accident King was involved in: how it changed his life and how writing (along with a smart paramedic and brilliant surgeon) saved it. I was moved to tears in several areas - the pain King felt is palpable and he does an incredible job conveying it. This section is a bit difficult to read, not because of the writing, but because you can so clearly see how hurt King was by the accident - I don't know that I've ever read an author who was better able to convey actual feeling and emotion through sentence structure. If there are two constants in this book, they are King's love for his wife Tabitha and his love for writing. This thoughtful, well-written memoir-slash-help book manages to introduce us to the man behind the bestsellers while helping the reader believe that if a normal guy like King can make it, maybe you can too. A definite must buy for any aspiring writer or King fan.
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Summary: Instant classic
Review: Stephen King emerges as wonderfully iconoclastic in this gem. Striving to avoid pretense, he's ironically written a classic ... & maybe that's part of the point he keeps making about truth & honesty: you can't be great until you just be. He's beautifully truthful & honest here. I laughed out loud. I was inspired. I was struck how well he conveys simple but very hard to express concepts, such as intuition. I loved his idea about writing as telepathy. I was surprised how gripping his account of his near-fatal crash was. Though focused on fiction, this is well worth a read by ANY writer or would-be writer in ANY genre. There's much for the non-fiction writer. This joins William Zinsser's "On Writing Well" & Strunk & White as my favorites. If you haven't read much Stephen King, this also could inspire a read of several of his other books.
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