On Writing

Rating:
Summary: Congratulations, Mr. King!
Review: In On Writing, Stephen King shares with us the motivations and mechanics behind the man who has become perhaps the greatest storyteller of our time. I gained some excellent insights into King, how he crafts his fiction, and why he writes horror novels.

The jacket copy calls the structure of the book "brilliant," but I found it a weakness. King states early on that On Writing is not an autobiography, but a large part of it is. King has written a memoir, but just doesn't know it. For almost half the book he tells us about his New England childhood, his mother's terrible illness, and meeting his wife, Tabitha, and he ends the book with an excellent piece on being run over by Bryan Smith and how writing became a good part of his therapy.

I love all that stuff -- it's the best stuff in the book, and it's far more telling of King's development as a writer than the straightforward writing instruction (which you can find in most other books on writing) -- mechanics, grammar, writing a good cover letter, getting an agent.

His chapters on writing are less useful, I think, but are still interesting reading. King spins twenty pages or so about getting Carrie published. I could have read an entire book about the publishing history of each of his forty-odd titles.

You get three books in one with On Writing, folks, and each one's damned good. I was sad when it all ended.

Rating:
Summary: He told it right, and I loved it.
Review: I just finished reading "On Writing" which I have to admit is the first book of Stephen's King's work that I have ever read. I prefer to watch some of his movies, I loved "The Green Mile". I have purchased nine other books on the subject of writing that have been written by various authors, some I thought good, some just so-so. I loved Dorothea Brande's book, "Becoming a Writer". But King told it exactly as I see it. I think that is why I loved the book so much. When you write, be yourself. Get hidden away and get the tools that work for you. The man has one outstanding MUSE in his corner, and his talent with words is unlimited. I hail him as the "King" and the man that touched me with his book "On Writing", especially the chapter on his accident. I recommend it to everyone.

Rating:
Summary: A Must Read for Anyone Who Loves to Write
Review: Although my interest in writing lies with children's books, I LOVED this book. I was able to draw so much inspiration and good advice from a wonderfully entertaining read. (For those of you who've read it, sorry about the adverb). I was impressed with King's honesty in discussing his past, his problems, and his immeasurable talent.

If you love Stephen King's writing, if you love to write, or if you love quick and informative entertaining reads, you'll love this book.

Rating:
Summary: Truly Inspiring
Review: I've been a Stephen King reader for more than half my life now. When I was eleven, I bought Pet Sematary at the local grocery store paperback rack. I'd never read an adult book before, but something about the book's spooky cover made me know I had to have it. As it turned out, what was inside the book was even better.

What was inside was something that stirred and awakened my imagination. Right at the beginning of puberty (I finished that book on my twelfth birthday) I fell in love with reading. I'm 27 now, and my relationship with reading shows no signs of breaking off. It's been fifteen years, and I still can't get enough. Reading will always be an important part of my life. It's such a personal, even spiritual activity. While reading, you can get to places in yourself that you never knew existed until you read that specific ordering of words on the page. For a second your breath is taken from you and you feel a wonderful magnetic rush of recognition as your soul leaps up to meet the words somewhere in an imagined, but very real just-created space. That's what great writing has the power to do, and that's why there's nothing quite like it in the world. It's like dreaming with your eyes open.

Stephen King's new book, On Writing, is part autobiography and part how-to manual for aspiring writers. I think that just about anyone who truly loves to read has the lurking desire to write. That's my feeling, anyway. I don't know how you couldn't want to do it. I've wanted to be a writer pretty much all of my life. So far, a lack of confidence and an overly critical inner voice have pretty effectively kept me from doing the one thing I know I really want to do. It's my own fault that I haven't written more than I have, but I also think that I have the power within myself to turn that around.

Reading Stephen King's new book, I found myself truly inspired to give writing another try. In the autobiographical sections of the book, King recounts formative events from his often difficult childhood and early adulthood. His family was dirt-poor and he often had to work long hours at miserable jobs to help support his single mother. Instead of letting those aspects of life beat him down, he was able to mine them for material for his writing. In reading this section of the book, one gets a great feeling of the redemptive power of the creative imagination.

The writing portion, like the autobiographical one, is not exhaustive. King touches on a few main points that are important to him. Mainly that you have to love to read and love to read a lot in order to be a writer. Because it's that force of loving the thing that's going to get you to where you want to be. If that engine of wonder and fascination is not going full-tilt, you're not going to go anywhere. That's why you can't be ashamed of what you like. You've got to bathe in it, day after day. If you like mysteries, read myesteries. If it's westerns or romances, read westerns or romances. You can't worry about what other people are going to think about what you're reading. "Oh, he's got a soft mind" or "She doesn't read anything important." When you let yourself listen to those voices, which I've done for too much of my life, you cut yourself off from the intuitive center of your being. Then you just spin around in frustrating circles, chasing your tail instead of living life the way you want to. If you love to read Shakespeare, by all means read Shakespeare, but do it because you love it, not because you want to be impress anyone. I'm just starting to be able to do that now.

Anyway, I thought this was a truly wonderful little book. It's not perfect, it doesn't come near saying all there is to say on the subject of writing--I don't think a thousand volumes could do that--and it's at times pretty opinionated, but it does inspire and it's very honest and to the point. If you've ever had the yearning to write but felt you lacked some essential ability, do yourself a big favor and get this book. From one aspiring writer to another, good reading, good writing, and good luck.

Rating:
Summary: Bravo, Bravo!
Review: After the horrible Danse Macabre I never would have thought that King would make another attempt at non-fiction. In this attempt he strikes well and this book was great! The book basically has two parts, the first an autiobiography, and the second a writing guide which really helped me.

The first part of the book I feel was put in as a sort of inspiration. I must say his life was truly weird and also very cool. From the days when he was a tot to the days when he got married this section houses all of that wondeful information.

The second part, the writing guide, is truly great as it teaches things you would never learn in school. It shows how to draft your books, how to choose a topic, and how to use the right words and grammar. I feel this part of the book must be read even if you are not an author or writer.

Lastly Mr. King throws in a brief summary of the events that happened in the summer of 1999. So this book is not to be missed for any King fan. If you are not a fan don't waste your time and money.

Rating:
Summary: A Detailed and Interesting Look into Stephen King
Review: I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did. It was a great read. King gives you an in-depth picture into his life, his childhood, his love of his wife and family, and the path he's taken to become a successful writer. The detailed tips on writing were well-done and quite helpful.

I must say, the parts I enjoyed most were the glimpses into his childhood and adolescence, and then his adult life with his beloved Tabby. It was refreshing to find out just how much he loves and respects his wife. The account of the accident that almost ended his life was gripping and real; I never considered that he came that close to death. And what a loss that would have been!

This book is a must-have for any King fan, but is also informative and helpful for the struggling, would-be writers out there. As a memoir and a lesson in writing, this book succeeds in all counts.

Rating:
Summary: "How to write like Stephen King" (his real "On Writing")
Review: Be a child in the fifties. Fall in love with "The Twilight Zone" and its writers and many other greats of the time. Watch all the great sf and horror movies and TV shows. Haunt the paperback racks. Read especially Richard Matheson's stories, novels,watch his screen and TV writing. Acknowledge he is your great inspiration. Then steal the bejesus out of him and so many others. Too many examples to list here.Wait for the next generation. Steal from older better writers your current young readers are rarely familiar with or haven't heard of. Rip off, badly, Rod Serling's "Odyssey of Flight 33", among others, piece it into "The Langoliers." Have plane passengers in time warp say things like "this is just like that Twilight Zone." Of course it is, you scmucks, that's where King stole this from. Tack on a Theodore Sturgeon story to this--and another bestseller. Take, among so many of his rip offs of Matheson, the sixties story, "The Distributor", couple it with Charles Beaumont's "The Intruder" and you have "Needful Things." Steal and trash an episode of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", warp it with ridiculous plot turns and trash "Old Joe Cotten" in the process. How sad so many of King's readers will never read the real works, of which his is a very pedestrian rehashing. Whenever anyone asks King if he has gentle feelings, he says time and again, "Yes, I have the heart of a nine year old boy. I keep it in a jar on my desk." That is an outright steal from Robert Bloch, a far better writer who was hurt so much of his life by con artists. Why Matheson does not call King on these things baffles me. How Harlan Ellison, whose brilliant creative fearless mind is an encyclopedia of all he's read and who is eager to nail re-treads doesn't lambast this rather glumpy writer also is very puzzling. How King can do this, especially to his prime inspiration, Matheson, make a ton of money off work that is stolen,seems to lead one to expect a great lack of conscience. Oh yes, Stephen hasn't ripped off, to my knowledge, Matheson's "The Shrinking Man". Tabitha did that with her first novel, "Small World."

Rating:
Summary: A soul-baring look at an amazing author.
Review: This book has replaced "Bird By Bird" by Anne Lamott as my all time favorite book about the craft of writing. Stephen King gets down to the nitty gritty with practical, sensible advice to would-be writers with lots of examples from his own experiences.

I particularly enjoyed the autobiographical accounts of his childhood and early years. The stories were funny and melancholy, uplifting and inspiring. The poison ivy incident with his brother was worth the price of the book and had me laughing and chuckling for days.

The last chapter describing the details of his near-fatal accident was fascinating. I now admire Mr. King not only as an excellent author, but as a survivor. His life story shows that just because you have money and success doesn't necessarily mean that you're immune from heartache, pain and tragedy. Thank God that he survived that horrible accident to finish this book and share his hard-earned wisdom with us all. Everyone should read this book, whether you're interested in writing or not, then pass it on to a friend.

Rating:
Summary: Dissatisfying
Review: I call myself a big fan of Stephen King. I've read all his books, watched all the filmes, wrote essays in school about him, etc. When you read a lot of books by him, you get the feeling to know this man. This comes from his personal forewords and books like 'Danse Macabre'. He's a funny guy you think and an interesting one. So, what could be more interesting than a book he has written about himself and his writing? Well, a lot.

I was very excited to hear about this book and, exactly like all the other times, I ran to the bookstore and bought it, just when it was published. It's quite thin and I wondered again if this is really worth this much money. I've read it in nearly one day and was left with a feeling of confusion.

Alright, the stories about his life were pretty interesting and funny, although I really can't hear the 'Carrie'-legend anymore. But the part about writing is strange and boring. I write myself, you know, and was also happy to get some tips. But I really can't say he helped me. What astonishes me the most, is the fact that he neverever says: "Well, that's how I do it, look for your own way." He seems to be convinced that his way is the right way. I don't think so. A notebook was always helpful to me, no matter what he says. And eight pages a day is impossible for me. And his talks about grammars, adverbs, etc. are somehow ridiculous. I mean, you should know grammar if you write, and if you don't it won't matter, I think. If you really want to be an author and want to tell a story, it will work somehow. I don't know, it's as if King wants to say there is this style and this way to do it - finito.

The story about his accident was interesting, but somehow unecessary. It got the book more pages, but in fact. And I wouldn't have mind to read the whole story, he starts to write. Isn't it enough, that he seems to want more and more money the older he becomes. I think so, and it makes me really sad. I liked him really and I still love most of his books. But if he won't start to write something really good soon, I can't keep my sympathy up.

I don't think this book is necessary for authors or King-fans. Since I'm both, I think I can say this. It's nice to read but not very helpful in any way.

Rating:
Summary: A conversation with an old friend
Review: In my youth, I read a great deal of Stephen King's fiction. As I grew older, I began to find my interests leading me away from horror, and as a result, I began to pay less and less attention to (please excuse the familiar) Steve's newer releases. When I heard that he was releasing a book on writing, which I have returned to (my original passion), I was ecstatic. I knew it would be good, and it did not disappoint. In fact, I was blown away. The book read like a conversation with an old friend I hadn't spoken with in many years. I was inspired, not only to pick up my pen and turn on my word processor, but to revisit Steve's older work. If you've never read anything by him, this is as good a place to start as any. If you've ever been put off by his approach, this is a great place to learn who the man (behind the rumors you may have heard) is. I highly recommend getting to know him. You won't be disappointed.