On Writing

I like Stephen King fine, but admit I'm not an on-fire, can't-wait-for-the-next-one fan. But I AM fascinated by how a practitioner learns to practice, and this is an excellent case study in that. From childhood roots (including a memory about 'treatment' for ear infections that surely colored his future)through substance abuse, to the exhilaration of the first big check, King provides a tour of how a learner learns. The book includes interesting details about his approach to the writing process -- I love that his characters emerge as he's writing them, sometimes surprising even him -- and some solid guidelines for aspiring writers. For those interested in reading about learning-in-practice/reflective practice, I also recommend Atul Gawande's "Complications".

Is the book perfect? Of course not. Stephen King writes best-sellers, not masterpieces. But if you are an aspiring writer and you haven't invested ten bucks and a day or two of reading to a writing memoir from one of the most successful authors of the past 35 years, then you should ask yourself if it you're really serious about becoming an author. Even if you take only one piece of knowledge from the book, it is a worthwhile investment.

King didn't ramble on a lot about the same stuff that you read in every writing book; this is a memoir of King's writing life, not a "how-to" guide. That said, it does contain a lot of useful information and is great to read when you need motivated to stop making plans and excuses and to just sit down and put pen to paper.

An indispensable asset for the fiction writer! I have a library of nearly 50 books on writing. Most of them are garbage...This book is the best their is!

Great read for any reader that enjoys learning about how to improve on writing and reading a non-fictional story at the same time. Fairly easy read. Recommend it to all Stephen King fans.

I thought the book would be all about writing technique and the journey to publication, but it's so much more than that. I've never read a Stephen King book (too chicken to read horror) and I've never known much about Mr. King as an author, but he's absolutely fascinating. He has a very engaging narrative voice and the stories about his life are interesting, funny, and heartbreaking at the same time. The book is about his journey to publication, but it's more about how life figures into that equation than just a how-to guide on finding an agent and submitting a manuscript. It really didn't apply much to me as an editor, but it did help me understand writers a little better, and also the process of finding creative inspiration in everyday occurrences. Every living, breathing, literate human adult on Planet Earth should read this book.