On Writing: A Memoir Of The Craft
Written by Stephen King
Narrated by Stephen King
4/5
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About this audiobook
Here is Stephen King's master class on his craft.
On Writing begins with a mesmerizing account of King's childhood and his early focus on writing to tell a story. A series of vivid memories from adolescence, college, and the struggling years that led up to his first novel, Carrie, offer a fresh and often funny perspective on the formation of a writer.
King then turns to the tools of his trade, examining crucial aspects of the wriiter's art and life, offering practical and inspiring advice on everything from plot and character development to work habits and rejection.
King was in the middle of writing this book when he was nearly killed in a widely reported accident. On Writing culminates with a profoundly moving account of how his need to write spurred him toward recovery, and brought him back to his life.
Stephen King
Stephen King is the author of more than sixty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent work includes Fairy Tale, Billy Summers, If It Bleeds, The Institute, Elevation, The Outsider, Sleeping Beauties (cowritten with his son Owen King), and the Bill Hodges trilogy: End of Watch, Finders Keepers, and Mr. Mercedes (an Edgar Award winner for Best Novel and a television series streaming on Peacock). His novel 11/22/63 was named a top ten book of 2011 by The New York Times Book Review and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller. His epic works The Dark Tower, It, Pet Sematary, Doctor Sleep, and Firestarter are the basis for major motion pictures, with It now the highest-grossing horror film of all time. He is the recipient of the 2020 Audio Publishers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2018 PEN America Literary Service Award, the 2014 National Medal of Arts, and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.
Reviews for On Writing
5,058 ratings321 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I'm a big fan of Stephen King, but even if I weren't, I'd still love this book.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Absolutely excellent. He's an intuitive writer, and I need more structure. But I loved peeking into his mind and writing process.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Excellent!Not only an excellent book full of ideas for writers, but a fascinating look at Steven King's life.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5On Writing: A Memoir Of The Craft, Stephen King, 2000. I find it worth noting that Philip K. Dick’s Exegesis is huge, while his stories are compact. Stephen King’s work is the opposite; his novels are huge, while this book on his life as a writer is short. Both are inspiring. King covers all the obvious details of the mechanics, but does so with images that will not fade away like old school lessons. I am working on my ‘toolbox’ every day, trying to avoid ‘Zen similes’ and passive voice. Replacing adverbs with stronger verbs. The book I am working on, the story I have found like a fossil in the ground, as King describes his inspirations, includes a telepathic border collie. Very fitting I think, since King describes writing as telepathy.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5So Stephen King was my first writer; at 10 years old my mother wouldn't let me watch MTV but she certainly didn't care if I read "It" (although she did draw the line at "Gerald's Game"). King's books were the first I read with the slow movement up the consciousness-ladder that "holy shit I fucking love this." So King holds a special place for me. I don't like everything he's done but even the books I hate I still care about because when I was an awkward and ugly preteen girl Stephen King said through his words "hey there's worlds and worlds you can love and it'll be no one's business but yours and mine, friend."
Which is why I'm mad it took me so long to read this book.
I wrote before I knew what it meant. I wrote stories about lost dogs finding their way home, about cardboard-characterized children surviving hurricanes and earthquakes and volcanoes (I had a disaster-kink as a middle school-er); I wrote for the worlds I didn't have, the worlds I desperately needed. And King was always there beside me, not only a friend but a cheerleader "Hey look what you can do!" And though I'm nowhere near there yet, I'm on my way. And having finally sat down and read this book, I'm so happy, so very happy that King was my first writer, my first friend. What he says here is immensely useful and never condescending. It's not mystical and it's not business-like, it just is because for King--writing just is. And I'm so glad he shared this with us. He didn't have to but he did and I'm grateful. What a great way to start off the new year. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I don't agree with King on everything, but this is still the best book on writing I've ever read.