Rating: 
Summary: The Best!
Review: I read the book's review in Barrons on a Saturday. Ordered it from amazon.com on Monday. It's the best book on writing I've ever read! I'm 66, rewriting my first novel, and I want to know in the hell slipped in all those adverbs, unnecessary adjectives and meaningless extra words in my first draft!
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent advice for writers
Review: I've not read a Stephen King book in years, but lately, I've wanted to study more about the craft of writing. I was interested to see what King would have to say.I'd like to preface this review by saying that I was so engaged by King's advice on writing that I went to his website to drop him a friendly note. I was aghast to find that an intuitive response to that website would be, "This man hasn't got time for a letter from a lowly reader." This took me aback,given the intimacy with him, or at least friendliness, I felt in reading this book, but didn't really influence my feeling about ON WRITING itself. King has written a two-part book. One is a memoir of his growing-up years. I'd like to suggest that Mr. King not write memoirs. He's dreadful at it. The memoir section is chockful of cliches and attempts at irony that fall flat on their butts. An example of how terrible this section is, is his mother's death scene..... irony at its absolute worst. Dreadfully distracting is his habit of calling his wife, Tabitha, by several names....Tabitha, Tab, Tabby, and within one paragraph, Tab AND Tabby. I suppose this is nit-picking, but in this short a piece, I found it cutesy and disconcerting. Feeling discouraged, I proceeded to the second section, his advice on writing. For a man who says he can't write non-fiction, I found this part brilliant. I learned more from this section in a short book (a short book for King, I should say)about writing than I could have learned in a score of writing classes. There were parts of the section where I literally laughed out loud. This is a witty man. In the second section, everything was quite clear and well written. The only concept I could not grasp was King's concept of "truth" in writing. He never quite gets across to the reader what he means by this. Other than that, I could not have asked for a more informative or well-written piece on the art of writing. It so excited me that I, in the virtual sense, ran to Amazon and ordered two of the books he uses as examples of bad writing, his point being that we need to read excellent fiction as well as terrible fiction in order to write well. For me, the most impactful part of this section was King's giving permission to the reader to take a huge chunk of each day to write and to read. Prior to this therapeutic persmission of King's, I'd felt guilty doing either. It honestly worked!!! My only real criticism of this second section is really a compliment. I wanted more, more and more. The next section was a surprise for me. In it, King relates the details of his terrible accident and its aftermath. I didn't expect it in this book. Interesting to note is that King states he wrote the memoir before his accident, and the piece on actually writing during his painful recovery. I say this is interesting because I found the latter far superior to the former. There is a fourth mini-section, where King shows the reader an example of editing, and this is quite informative. The last section is a reading list of the books he's read (in the past year, I think) lately. While I wasn't moved to run out and order any of them, I found this very interesting background information. If I were King, I would have cut the memoir and cut right to the chase of what is best and brilliant about ON WRITING ....the craft of writing as King sees it.
Rating:
Summary: Almost like a chat with Stephen King
Review: Having been Mr. King's fan for years I always entertained a wish to sit across the table from him and chat.Alas, no such luck! This book is the next best thing. Part memoir, part lesson in writing Mr. King lets us fans a little bit closer to his world. I would love to meet his muse (the one in the cellar)! The book is fast read and chapters can be re-visited in the order the reader wants.
Rating:
Summary: Pow! Zap!
Review: I was startled by the clear head Stephen King uses when writing. I will use many of his suggestions. Perhaps it is all based on his teaching experiences, perhaps it is just instinct but this is an excellent resource for fans, Constant Reader and aspiring writers. A short but enchanting book, pick this up now. Strunk and White would be proud. The last chapter contains a listing of King's favorite books. Amazon should put them on a list to purchase. (hint hint)
Rating:
Summary: Straight-Shooter Writing
Review: I have been an avid reader of Stephen King's books for twenty years. This book is a culmination of his entire career, starting out with his basement-run newspaper. I wonder how many of his writer fans will start nailing their rejection letters to their walls with spikes.On Writing is one-third autobiography and two-thirds how-to. I enjoyed the whole book, particularly the spike and the high school newspaper that got him in trouble with the faculty and landed him his first job as a sports writer.In the how-to sections, he talks about grammar, style, punctuation, etc. There is even an excerise involving changing the point of view in a scene, which you can send to his e-mail address. He also talks about what it was like to be an alcoholic and drug addict while trying to keep his career afloat, and how writing saved him and his family.Last, but not least, he talks about the accident that nearly killed him. He relates the actual occurrence in a mechanical tone, which didn't surprise me due to the nature of his injuries and the amount of pain he was (and still is) in. The anger against Bryan Smith (now deceased) is quite clear. He'll get through that like he has through everything elseby writing.
Rating:
Summary: FANTASTIC BOOK
Review: I bought King's book to find out how he writes so fast. (It seems like he writes a book a week....HE says it takes him 3 months for the first draft). The book not only has helpful information about his work habits, it's chuck full of other useful information for writers. And best of all, it's packaged around a charming story about 'little Stevie' and how his childhood made him the writer of the scariest books around. A great read. BUY THIS BOOK!
Rating:
Summary: Stephen King's Magic Feather
Review: Everyone wants to know how a magician performs his tricks. If that trick is how to make millions of dollars from writing, the queue becomes very long indeed. "On Writing" promises to show us exactly how Stephen King made it, and by extrapolation, we could make it too. In theory, at any rate. The most useful comparison King draws between the act of the writing and anything else the reader might be familiar with is how Dumbo the elephant learnt how to fly. He thought he needed a magic feather, but in fact the magic was in him all the time. King makes the same point about writing - if the talent isn't in you then one thousand books like "On Writing" won't help. There is no magic feather. But while he can't promise us a magic feather to make us rich, King does offer his own views on how to get from being a competent writer to being a "good" writer. His opinions are not that (pardon me) novel - he bases a lot of his advice from Stunk and White's famous little book - but they do offer an insight into what makes on of the most successful authors of the last twenty five years tick. King doesn't like adverbs very much. He doesn't like attributive verbs other than "said." He's a big believer in reading and writing as much as you humanly can, each new book or story going a bit of the way to forging a writer's own voice. Ironically, for a book about writing, King doesn't believe that a lot of this can be taught. The book itself is a good read - King has a witty self-deprecating style, and the narrative rattles along from a description of the events in King's life that shaped him into what he is today, a discussion of the ins and outs of good writing, and finally to a description of the motor accident that almost killed him. It's an entertaining and insightful read, but it offers no secret formula about what separates King from the pack. What it does is offer aspirant writers the only help they can truly expect - assurance that as they sit in front of the blank screen wondering what the hell to put down next they are not alone. There is a whole community of people out there doing exactly the same thing. And some, like King, made it. "On Writing" is very much along the same lines as William Goldman's "Adventures in the Screen Trade," where the Oscar winning screenwriter offers insights and tips on how to write successful screenplays. Neither are textbooks, but they do take that isolated-in-my-garret feel away. And in the heel of the hunt, that's all wannabe writers can ask for. Until they make it and can write their own book about their own success. And maybe slip Messrs. King and Goldman a few dollars in grateful appreciation.
Rating:
Summary: Heartwarming and Inspiring for Writers and Readers
Review: This is a fascinating look at the high and low points in the life of an amazing writer still at the top of his form. King tells in the first of three forewords that his inspiration for the book came from Amy Tan while on tour with the author filler rock band Rock Bottom Remainders. "No one ever asks about the language," she replied to his question about the sort of inquiries she'd like to get in interviews or speaking engageents. Popular authors, as opposed to the 'serious' writers, tend not to be asked about their skills with language. The command of language King displays in this memoir demonstrates the shortsightedness of those asking the questions. King's description of his childhood, punctuated with incidents that seem dreadful but also, somehow, entirely in keeping with the boyhood experiences of many, kept tempting me to say, "aha - this is why he writes horror!" But then good humor and self awareness with which he recalls beng locked in a closet or causing a block wide power outage reins in my own imagination. Stephen King was a fairly ordinary boy. Kings decriptions of his battle with substance abuse are forthright, honest, and above all else, accepting of his own responsibility. His recognition that Annie Wilkes in "Misery" could serve as a metaphor for cocaine and alcohol led to his own diwcovery - "I decided I was tired of being Annie's pet writer." King also offers practical advice to writers - describing a toolbox and its contents. "Common tools" - vocabulary and basic grammar - should be on the top layer of the toolbox (and King plugs Strunk and White's, Elements of Style with gusto!). Style and paragraph structure comprise the next layer. The bottom layer has the specialized tools - innate and developed skills. Kings advocates both reading and writing for writers - and all too often the former suffers when someone starts the latter. King tells of how the huge impressive desk he purchased for himself once he had success. It dominated his office. But eventually he traded it in for a living room suite where his family could spend time with him. A smaller, more functional desk was placed in the corner. "Life isn't a support system for art - it's the other way around," King had concluded.
Rating:
Summary: Informative and Entertaining.....
Review: 'On Writing' kept my interest. For those few who didn't enjoy this book: One reader mentions King's B-grade novels. If one doesn't care for his previous work, calling them trash, why bother purchasing this book, or any future novels by King only to criticize? Also, if On Writing was bought via Amazon, there is an editorial review section that describes the book to a T. If one read the feedback they would have known On Writing wasn't dedicated to writing alone, but King's life, and how it coicides with his novels. I believe King's POV when revealing his life story blends with ideas that led to his books, which is a lesson in itself. For those of us who write, daily events, reading, radio, ect. generates fresh thoughts. On Writing is not an English Lit Book, but a fundamental guide to authors and readers. So whether you're an aspiring writer or a fan of King, I suggest reading, On Writing. I give it five stars and one big POW.......
Rating:
Summary: learning to put words together
Review: Steven King has done the world a favor with this latest, not fiction, just the chanch some of us need to stop writing on scraps of paper and get down to some serious writing. I have written stories in past years and submitted some, but after the first turn down I just assumed I didn't have the skill it takes to be recognized. After reading this book I am going back and start all over and continue to write. If nothing else I can save the pages and when I am gone family members can throw away my words, or maybe, just maybe, someone out there might read it. Thank you Steven, keep writing. Carolyn Paul
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