On Writing
Biography & Autobiography
Simon and Schuster
June 25, 2002
Kindle Edition
297
February 25, 2016
The author shares his insights into the craft of writing and offers a humorous perspective on his own experience as a writer.
I found this to be an exceptional read! I decided to get the book thinking it might help me with my writing (more on that later), but I was surprised and delighted with the way Mr. King described his own personal take on the craft.
This is actually classified as an autobiography, but it’s really so much more than that. Yes, we learn about Stephen King’s childhood, his family, his education, his catastrophic accident later in life, but throughout the book there is an entire education on what it takes to be a successful writer.
Mr. Stephen King is arguably one of the most successful writers in the United States. In my opinion, he his definitely the most successful writer in the United States that’s still breathing. But how did all that happen?
Mr. King can be very succinct with his writing. He won’t use five sentences if he can say it in two sentences. You can read all the synopses and reviews that you want, but if you really want to know about Stephen King and his views on the craft of writing, you have to read the book.
Impact on My Writing
After reading On Writing, I had two takeaways:
- No matter how good you are, or how good you think you are, you need to develop a thick skin if you want to be a serious writer. In the beginning, Mr. King used to adorn the walls of his writing space with all the rejection notices he received.
- Mr. King is not the first author to give this advice. Actually, in any book I’ve read on the craft, and in any type of motivational talk I’ve heard from numerous authors, there is one piece of advice that is constant: if you want to be a writer, you have to write!
Thank you, Mr. King, for all the words of wisdom you gracefully managed to squeeze between the covers of this book!
