Rating: 
Summary: Don't Make it What it is Not
Review: I have never cried reading a Stephen King book until now. This memoir has inspired me to write more than Ralph Waldo Emerson's "The Poet" ever had. What we have in this book is a short, concise account of what a master of the craft of writing goes through when perfecting his/her skills. This is not intended to be a "how-to" guide along the lines of Zinsser and Strunk. I believe that what King is telling a budding writer is that you have the ability in you, just write. The reason so much of it is obvious is because so much of writing is obvious. I, for one, get annoyed when someone tries to write a book telling me how to write. Who is to say they know how to write? Writing comes from within and the best writing is that which flows freely. Look at the writings of Frederick Douglass and other similar slave narratives. These people barely knew the language, but their writing is some of the most beautiful you will ever read. Anyone who wants to be told how to write can buy Zinsser or Strunk, but if you want to be truly INSPIRED to write I suggest giving this book a read. King has once again proven his genius.
Rating: 
Summary: Too short and too long
Review: I never thought I'd hear myself say that a Stephen King book should be longer, but the writing parts of this book should have been. There were some great nuggets of writing advice here, but not nearly enough to justify this as a writer's text. And King only hints at the way a select few of his novels were written, when more behind-the-scenes looks at his work would have been invaluable.Instead, "On Writing" is overly long with anecdotes like the results of young Stevie's unfortunate bowel movement in a poison ivy patch. To illustrate the fact that alcohol is bad for the writer's psyche, King gives us an extended history of his drinking habits. And while the last section of the book tries hard to express the importance of writing to the writer, it comes across more as a detailed account of The Accident, written for voyeuristic fans. Anyone truly wishing to learn about the process of writing should skip this one and check out one of Lawrence Block's three excellent books on the subject.
Rating: 
Summary: On Growing, On Living, On Struggling, On Writing.
Review: A revealing, entertaining, compassionate and useful book from Stephen King. King "talks" about his earliest memories of writing, some incidents which shaped who he is, and then sets about to explain what he believes are the most important rules one needs to be a good writer. You'll notice I used the word 'talks' above. It's because that is what Stephen King seems to be doing. He is writing in an almost conversational voice. A voice that is genuine, warm and honest. The book is short and will take you perhaps 6 or 8 hours max to read. It is like having a very long cup of coffee with Stephen King and listening to him reminisce. He had finished more than half of it before he was hit and nearly killed by the Van. I'm glad he completed the book and published it. It's probably the smallest book he's written and while some might dismiss it as nothing particularly essential, I strongly disagree. If you've curious about how King's mind work, some of his personal struggles, his thoughts on what he does for a living and what he has read in the last few years, this book will tell you a lot. The manner in which he relates the stories is straight from the hip. He swears perhaps a little too much, but that's who he is. His candor is refreshing because there's no doubt in my mind he's being honest as he possibly dares (in print). Oh you won't get all the little details about his family life... but you will get some. He still protects his privacy to some extent, but he shares his humanity and compassion without having to hide behind some invented character's guise to do so. He relates his struggles as a writer trying to make a name for itself in the first half of the book. He tells us the story about how he had the idea for Carrie, wrote the book, got frustrated with the book and threw it away. His wife Tabitha retrieved it, liked it and almost demand he continue working on it. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= "My wife made a crucial difference during those two years I spent teaching Hampden (and washing sheets at New Franklin Laundry during the summer vacation). If she had suggested that the time I spent writing stories on the front port of our rented house on Pond Street or in the laundry room of our rented trailed on Klatt Road in Hermon was wasted time, I think a lot of the heart would have gone out of me. Tabby never voiced a single doubt, however. Her support was a constant, one of the few good things I could take as a given. And whenever I see a first novel dedicated to a wife (or a husband), I smile and think, 'There's someone who knows'. Writing is a lonely job. Having someone who believes in you makes a lot of difference. They don't have to make speeches. Just believing is usually enough." He talks about his alcoholism: "Alcoholics build defenses like the Dutch build dikes. I spent the first 12 years or so of my married life assuring myself that I just 'liked to drink'. I also employed the world famous Hemingway Defense . . . . : as a writer I am a very sensitive fellow, but I am also a man and real men don't give in to their sensitivities. Only sissy men do that. Therefore I drink." A little later he writes: "The idea the creative endeavor and mind altering substances are entwined is one of the great pop-intellectual myths of our time. The four twentieth century writes whose work is most responsible for it are probably Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Sherwood Anderson, and the poet Dylan Thomas. Substance abusing writers are just substance abusers--common garden variety drunks and druggies, in other words. Any claims that the drugs and alcohol are necessary to dull a finer sensibility are just the usual self serving bul*shitt. I've heard alcoholic snowplow drivers make the same claim, that they drink to still the demons. It doesn't matter if your James Jones, John Cheever or a stewbum snoozing in Penn Station; for an addict, the right to the drink or drug of choice must be preserved at all costs. Hemingway and Firzgerald didn't drink because they were creative, alienated or morally weak. They drank because it's what alkis are wired up to do. Creative people probably do run a greater risk of alcoholism and addiction than those in some other jobs, but so what? We all look pretty much the same when we're puking in the gutter." =-=-=-=-=-=-=-= None of it is earth-shattering stuff. None of it is new and it's probably not anything you haven't heard or thought about before. However, coming from Stephen King in this manner there is a weighted poignancy in the words and there is a great value in listening to one of the most successful writers in history, ruminate on a variety of personal subjects. I found myself mostly agreeing with his opinions, but even if you don't, there's value in understanding where he is coming from. There's also a genuine warmth and affection that comes through. About a third of the book is King sharing some lessons he's learned about the mechanics of writing. Rules he's decided to follow in regards to how he writes and advice to writers who aren't Stephen King. He includes a list at the end of the book of what he's read the last few years-- interesting list. A third of the book is memoirs of his struggle to become a successful writer and some thoughts on being an alcoholic. A third of the book is personal opinions on a wide array of subjects from writers to editors to drugs and alcohol to having a support person or group with you etc. etc. A third of the book concerns the nuts and bolts of writing. I hesitate to call the book a mini-workshop, or even a seminar, because it's neither narrowly focused nor strictly useful and informative advice on writing. The portion of the book which tackles topics from setting up a space for writing, to grammar dos and don'ts to work habits etc isn't likely to be of much interest to non-writers (who aren't likely to purchase a book titled: On Writing anyway), but struggling and beginning (and just for fun)writers should fine much of value here. Professional writers will find a lot of this interesting (though not essential) also. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= "Some of this book-perhaps too much-has been about how I learned to do it. Much of it has been about how you can it better. The rest of it-and perhaps the best of it- it a permission slip: you can, you should and if you're brave enough to start, you will. Writing is magic as much the water of life as any other creative art. The water is free. So drink. Drink and be filled up." -- S. King =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Enjoy this modest but in fact essential book as soon as you can. Chris Jarmick, Author (The Glass Cocoon with Serena F. Holder-a steamy cyber- thriller Available January 2001)
Rating:
Summary: The Gospel of Writing According to Stephen King
Review: In my experiences as a reader and as a writer, Stephen King holds the distinction of being the only author who has ever made me angry. This was in the Spring of 1992 and the result of an interview with the best-selling author that appeared in the March issue of Writer's Digest magazine. In that article, the interviewer points out that King "...once wrote that extensive outlining was the last refuge of a hack..." At the time, I was really just starting to take myself seriously as a writer and was trying to do my best to live up to the commitment I had made to myself and to the craft. The problem was, I was guilty of fairly "extensive outlining" of the projects I was working on at the time. In my defense, I found that even with the outlining I did, the stories I was writing and the characters I was writing about tended to take on a life of their own and went in directions surprsing to their creator. Nevertheless, it hurt very much that a writer of Stephen King's caliber, a writer at Stephen King's level of success, would think of me as a hack for how I approached the craft of writing. Did I let Mr. King's views stop me as a writer? Of course not. Nevertheless, for the next eight years, I did not read a Stephen King novel. I flat out refused to spend my good hard-earned money on an author who would think so little of me as a writer if he knew me either personally or professionally. In that time I have come to know a modest amount of success as a writer: I've had a couple of my short stories published and the first part of a planned four-part novel of mine was e-published this past summer. I have also come to know more joy and happiness than I ever thought possible because of writing; of actually sitting down and creating stories -- even if not another soul ever reads them. Late in the Spring of 2000, and for the first time in eight years, I read a Stephen King novel. Maybe, I had misjudged him. Maybe, I had taken something far too personally that was never meant to be personal in the first place. Regardless, I read the book Gerald's Game with an almost overwhelming sense of rediscovery combined with an equally overwhelming sense of awe. I was beyond amazed by Mr. King's ability to take the situation of a woman handcuffed to a bed, her dead husband on the floor nearby, and no hope of help from anyone but herself, and stretch it out while at the same time managing to keep the narrative as interesting, involving and suspenseful the way he did for some three-hundred odd pages. As a reader, I couldn't put the book down for long. As a writer, I was inspired beyond measure by the high quality of the writing. In short order, I read Rose Madder, Bag of Bones, and Dolores Claiborne, and was equally impressed by all three titles. Clearly, I realized, Mr. King was an author I still very much enjoyed reading and who, through the magic of his stories, still had much to teach me about writing, despite his views on the methods that work for him as a writer. All of this is why, maybe somewhat surprisingly, I looked forward to the publication of On Writing, King's memoir of the craft. The first part of On Writing is semi-autobiographical as Mr. King tells about some of the things that happened in his life leading up to the publication of his first novel, Carrie. The second part of On Writing deals with what writing is and how seriously you need to take it if you're going to be an honest-to-god writer; the tools you'll need to be that writer which include everything from vocabulary to grammar, to skills with brevity and dialogue; what actually writing means including everything from plotting to characterization, scene setting, pacing, revision and more. The last part of the book focuses on what writing has meant to Mr. King, particularly in light of the recent accident in which he was very nearly killed, supplemented by a booklist of books he has enjoyed as both a reader and a writer. Throughout, Mr. King writes with his dry sense of humor intact as well as with a poignancy that is, at many times, surprisingly touching. Not to mention the fact that what he has to say is, in the end, truly inspiring. While you don't have to be a writer to enjoy On Writing, I think writers will get the most out of this very worthwhile book. They would also be wise to keep one of Mr. King's main points in mind, and that is: "If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that." Reading any of Mr. King's forty-odd novels certainly won't hurt. Enough said.
Rating: 
Summary: book about writing by Stephen King
Review: I've been reading Stephen King's books for years...as, I guess has almost everyone else! So I couldn't pass up this book, with the intriguing title "on writing": a chance to take a peak into the mind of the writer whose books I've followed for so long! A chance --maybe!-- to get an answer to the question: where the hell does he get all his ideas? Of course, after finishing the book, I still don't know where he gets his ideas, or why...I don't get equally interesting ideas! The fact remains: talent has a lot to do with it, & many people have tried to explain talent, to translate it into other things, like hard work, having read a lot or whatever. Talent remains a great mystery, & if you've got it, you've got it. If not...well, however many books about writing you read, tough: you won't be able to get this gift, this mysterious ability that is talent. On the other hand, one thing I found very interesting in Stephen King's book, is that there exists an equation, sort of. Here's how it goes: people who write badly will never be able to write well. People who write well will never be able to write beautifully. BUT (& that's a big but!)people who are competent in writing, who can write fairly well, will probably be able to learn how to write well, with a lot of hard work. And of course if they develop a style, follow some rules, not fall into traps, whatever. Stephen King gives some pointers, some ideas & rules about writing in this book, which seemed mostly sensible to me. Although some of them seemed a little obvious, & those were the parts of the book I didn't enjoy so much. But what I found most interesting about "On writing" were the autobiographical parts, the parts that show us how King started writing, a little about his family life, a little about his character & his weaknesses & strengths...this all explained a lot to me about the writer of books I've loved such as "Four past midnight" or "The dead Zone" or "Misery". Especially "Misery"...he tells us quite a lot about the writing process of that one, & it's all very interesting. In the end, I felt very sad reading about Stephen King's accident, & also --once again-- I felt amazed by the way he can take us right to the exact location of whatever he's describing...in this case, the scene of his almost-fatal accident. In a nutshell, this book is good for long-time readers of Stephen King. I'm not sure it's quite as good for people who want to read / learn about writing, as it says mostly things that have been said before. But in no way is this book uninteresting, or not worth reading. Even these things that you've heard before are well written, well explained & all in all worth taking a look at.
Rating:
Summary: King's Craft Explained
Review: I have a deep desire to write and I enjoy reading Stephen King's novels. So this book seemed like a dream come true. Stephen King uses his style throughout the book of growing up amid terrors and trials with the baby-sitter, straight from "Misery." His way with words astounds me and makes me aware that I need to read more. Stephen King talks about his near fatal accident and describes it with the same clarity and horror that he uses in his story-telling. You can almost feel the troubled breathing and the pain that he experienced when he was life-flighted in a helicopter for his emergency treatment. Thank heavens that he made it through this experience! I like the way that he guides us through his writing techniques: write 4 to 6 hours daily; use your intuition; the story comes before any plot; stay away from adverbs; watch that grammar and write 3 drafts before you finish your story. So now all I have to do is start to read the 3 pages of recommended books that King lists at the end of his memoir and begin to write. Now I know that writing can't be that easy; and his talent can't be imitated. But I agree with Stephen, writing can be therapeutic!
Rating:
Summary: Wisdom from a King
Review: For a guy who has scared the daylights out of the reading public for the last twenty five years, Stephen King sure knows how to take the fear out of the art of writing. With this volume, part biography and part how to manual, he imparts his secrets not just about writing but about living, and doing both with courage and honesty. The first biographical section is downright hysterical at times, as King describes his hardscrabble youth using anecdotes about his fatally flagellant nanny and his unfortunate accidental use of poison ivy as toilet paper. He makes the drudgery of lower middle class life sound like kind of a blast, filled with squalid adventures and endowed with the wisdom of the insane characters around him. At the same the pain of that life comes through the laughter with a poignancy that oozes with truth. The daily struggles of his mother as a laundress and single mother raising two boys, the petty cruelties of children, the sadism of underpaid doctors--these things hint at why he's so fascinated by the dark, while keeping faith with the light. It's a credit to King's funny, self-effacing style that when he describes his reaction to the life-changing success of his novel "Carrie", no aspiring writer could ever feel the slightest jelousy or resentment. It's impossible not to share his thrill, and the delight of the possibilities ahead. King is so generous with his thoughts that we're really taking the ride with him when we read "On Writing". The instruction part of the book is rife with common sense, specific stylistic guideslines, and some of the funniest bad writing examples to be found anywhere. Some of these are sure to make a writing student cringe at himself, but he'll be laughing too hard to take it too much to heart. And there are plenty of examples of fine writing on offer as well. Stay concise, don't use adverbs, less is better, read a ton, work hard, be persistent,write with honesty. These are some of the many golden nuggets any aspiring writer will take away from this book. All of them teach a little something about the best way to live and express yourself, for writer and non-writer alike.
Rating:
Summary: Writing for the Writer, by the Writer
Review: If you are into writing, there isn't anything better than this. King is right on the money when it comes to writing, and his straightforward and often strange manner of presentation makes the book that much more readable. You'll never need another writer's brainstorming session once you've mastered the tools King outlines. You'll savor page after page of good information which has a common theme - don't make this hard - read, and write, a lot. Once you see the simple places he found ideas for his books, you'll start seeing them all in your world too. Life experience becomes motivation becomes writing. The perfect Christmas gift for the budding writer.
Rating:
Summary: Simply put, you will feel smarter after reading this book.
Review: I don't plan on having a future in writing, yet I loved this book. Sure, the autobiographical stuff is typical, but is somewhat interesting and it is much more casual than other autobiographies. What I loved about this book was the description of basically "How to tell a good book from a bad book". I've always known those novels on stands in the grocery store are trash, but I've never gripped why exactly Hemmingway was so amazing. On Writing clarifies both of these points. My favorite line is something along the lines of... "Knowing my luck, I will go to Hell, which will be a library of Danielle Steel novels". For such a mainstream author, that takes guts! In addition, the "Ideal Reader" theory (that whenever you write, you are writing with an ideal reader in mind who would enjoy what you are writing) is beautifully expressed. Even if you don't like writing, you should read this. When you put it down, you will feel like a smarter human being. I am guessing one who reads The Plant can't say the same.
Rating:
Summary: A most helpful primer
Review: The book, despite journeying off in biographical material often, never the less provides some excellent insights into the craft of writing. I teach an undergraduate course in creative writing, and have already incorporated many of his thoughts and ideas. The biographical section is a delight to those of us who are King fans, and the tightly written guide is one of the most concise and useful I have seen. Best of all, the example of a first draft and edited work is a gem, and shows how even the best writer can benefit from the application of some simple rules. A must read.
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