Posted: 2020
On Writing
Review
Half writing manual and half autobiography. Stephen King is hard to ignore considering his success as a writer.
Stephen King is the Charles Dickens of his generation - the king (pun intended) of bestselling authors. Only J.K. Rowling comes close but - although I don't have any numbers - I bet King still is in the lead. After all, Rowling only has the Potter series, King writes a book, then bam! It's a bestseller. There are people who read King exclusively.
So when the master writes a book titled "On Writing", frustrated writer wanna-bes like me certainly want to read it.
My favorite part is when King describes when his writing started to pay off financially - that moment is gold. My mouth is hanging open when King admits that he doesn't remember writing Cujo because he was high on drugs at the time. Wow, amazing, high on drugs but still able to write bestsellers.
From the writing advise section my takeaway is to just finish the work and not to be a perfectionist on the first draft - just finish the story.
If you love books, even if you've never read a Stephen King book, chances are you'll love this insider look at writing and the story of one writer in particular.
Synopsis
On Writing by Stephen King is a two parter. The first part is autobiogrphical covering King's rise from unknown writer to the bestselling writer of his generation. It also covers his struggles with alcoholism and drugs, his recovery, his roadside accident and his recovery from that. The second part of the book is about the craft of writing and includes his writing process.