On Writing | 
 enlarge | Author: Stephen King
Publisher: Pocket
Category: Book
List Price: $7.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  788 reviews
Sales Rank: 593
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 4.2 x 1
ISBN: 0743455967
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780743455961
ASIN: 0743455967
Publication Date: July 1, 2002
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Amazon.com
Short and snappy as it is, Stephen King's On Writing really contains two books: a fondly sardonic autobiography and a tough-love lesson for aspiring novelists. The memoir is terrific stuff, a vivid description of how a writer grew out of a misbehaving kid. You're right there with the young author as he's tormented by poison ivy, gas-passing babysitters, uptight schoolmarms, and a laundry job nastier than Jack London's. It's a ripping yarn that casts a sharp light on his fiction. This was a child who dug Yvette Vickers from Attack of the Giant Leeches, not Sandra Dee. "I wanted monsters that ate whole cities, radioactive corpses that came out of the ocean and ate surfers, and girls in black bras who looked like trailer trash." But massive reading on all literary levels was a craving just as crucial, and soon King was the published author of "I Was a Teen-Age Graverobber." As a young adult raising a family in a trailer, King started a story inspired by his stint as a janitor cleaning a high-school girls locker room. He crumpled it up, but his writer wife retrieved it from the trash, and using her advice about the girl milieu and his own memories of two reviled teenage classmates who died young, he came up with Carrie. King gives us lots of revelations about his life and work. The kidnapper character in Misery, the mind-possessing monsters in The Tommyknockers, and the haunting of the blocked writer in The Shining symbolized his cocaine and booze addiction (overcome thanks to his wife's intervention, which he describes). "There's one novel, Cujo, that I barely remember writing." King also evokes his college days and his recovery from the van crash that nearly killed him, but the focus is always on what it all means to the craft. He gives you a whole writer's "tool kit": a reading list, writing assignments, a corrected story, and nuts-and-bolts advice on dollars and cents, plot and character, the basic building block of the paragraph, and literary models. He shows what you can learn from H.P. Lovecraft's arcane vocabulary, Hemingway's leanness, Grisham's authenticity, Richard Dooling's artful obscenity, Jonathan Kellerman's sentence fragments. He explains why Hart's War is a great story marred by a tin ear for dialogue, and how Elmore Leonard's Be Cool could be the antidote. King isn't just a writer, he's a true teacher. --Tim Appelo
Product Description
"Long live the King" hailed Entertainment Weekly upon the publication of Stephen King's On Writing. Part memoir, part master class by one of the bestselling authors of all time, this superb volume is a revealing and practical view of the writer's craft, comprising the basic tools of the trade every writer must have. King's advice is grounded in his vivid memories from childhood through his emergence as a writer, from his struggling early career to his widely reported near-fatal accident in 1999 -- and how the inextricable link between writing and living spurred his recovery. Brilliantly structured, friendly and inspiring, On Writing will empower and entertain everyone who reads it -- fans, writers, and anyone who loves a great story well told.
Download Description
For years I dreamed of having the sort of massive oak slab that would dominate a room.... In 1981 I got the one I wanted and placed it in the middle of a spacious, skylighted study in the rear of the house. For six years I sat behind that desk either drunk or wrecked out of my mind.... A year or two after I sobered up, I got rid of that monstrosity and put in a living-room suite where it had been....In the early nineties, before they moved on to their own lives, my kids sometimes came up in the evening to watch a basketball game or a movie and eat pizza....I got another desk -- it's handmade, beautiful, and half the size of the T. rex desk. I put it at the far west end of the office, in a corner under the eave....I'm sitting under it now, a fifty-three-year-old man with bad eyes, a gimp leg, and no hangover. I'm doing what I know how to do, and as well as I know how to do it. I came through all the stuff I told you about ... and now I'm going to tell you as much as I can about the job.... It starts with this: put your desk in the corner, and every time you sit down there to write, remind yourself why it isn't in the middle of the room. Life isn't a support-system for art. It's the other way around. --
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| Customer Reviews: Read 783 more reviews...
 A modest, sensitive, and useful book July 6, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I'm not a reader of Stephen King's fiction, nor am I fiction writer, but this book is a fine gem that will provide an afternoon of lively entertainment to those who love to read as well as those who love to write. I bought the book on an online recommendation. Though I've not read his novels, I have admired his consistent, reliable, disciplined creativity. For those who wonder how writer can be consistent, reliable, and disciplined through a long and productive career, this book provides great insights. His secret, I begin to see, is his approach to writing both as a craft and as a trade. This book offers insights into both.
I was surprised and delighted by how personal the book is. In his book, King is generous in sharing the experiences that contributed to his becoming a writer and how these experiences shaped his approach to the trade. Without going into great descriptive detail (this is done thoroughly in other reviews here), I can assure you that the first half of the book, which describes King's early life and his first successes as a writer, is wonderful. This is very personal material and I suppose it must be in order to communicate the essential character of the writer himself.
Among other wonderful insights were the revelations of his early jobs - scut work really - supporting his growing family and trying to perfect his writing. I enjoyed his description of working in a professional laundry by day and writing in a cramped closet by night. I also appreciated hearing about his family life during this period: this really helps put in perspective the pressure to succeed and the kind reassurance of his wife (who is also a writer). This is sound and very personal advice for anyone starting out in any chosen profession, including writers.
Perhaps not surprising to King's avid readers, the book is tremendously funny. It should come as no surprise to anyone that the book is also entertaining. Yet the humor and entertainment colors a superb description of writing as a profession. Herein are both tricks of the trade and a workman's shop-talk. This is essential material for all writers. However, it's also fantastic material for those non-writers who are interested in how novel are made.
Other reviews here contain details of the practical advice King gives on writing so I won't go into this except to say that it seems useful. I will say, however, that it is rare to see a writer of King's professional stature approach the task of writing about writing with humility and common sense. The resulting modest tone is perhaps the most impressive and wonderful aspect of this book. I appreciated his reluctance to wax artistic or pedantic.
Among its other practical aspects, one I appreciated, was his willingness to talk about the writing of other writers. This, I learned, grows from his belief that any professional writer must always be reading the writings of others and learning from them. In this book we see King's critical evaluation of what works and what does not work in the writing of others. He also generously provides a list of the novels that he read during the course of his writing.
This book is a good addition to the shelf in your library that contains style guides, dictionaries, thesaurus, and other recommendations on writing. It is also a fine addition to the shelf that contains memoirs. Surprisingly, it's also a good beach book.
 King's life mirrors the craft July 1, 2008
From rough draft to finished product, you see King's writing life develop into a fine story. King once again shows why he is a master story teller, even if the story is his own. A MUST read for writers no matter what stage in your career you are at. King does a fantastic job of showing you then telling you. This is very true for the last section of the book as he gives you an example of 1st draft "1408" and then the edited version with written notes. Several times I had to fight the urge to put the book down and get writing!
Another great part of this book is you truly get an appreciation of Stephan King the man; the love of his wife is very endearing.
I recommend this book to anyone who loves to read; you get a great story and a better understanding of how it's done.
James A. Forrest - Eye of the Storm
Educative and Entertaining June 18, 2008
I was never a fan of Stephen King's novels. I tried to read The Stand, The Tommyknockers, and The Gunslinger, but they bored me to tears. On Writing is terrific. I laughed at all of his funny childhood stories, wanted to hug him when he shared his painful memories, and learned a lot from his writing advice. This book is not only useful, it's deeply entertaining. Read On Writing if you want to be a better writer, or for fun.
Funny! June 16, 2008
I didn't expect this book to be as funny as it was. I bought it for the writing tips (which were great - VERY helpful) but it's a great read even for non writers.
Stephen King On Writing June 12, 2008
I was not sure what to expect. Could the master of horror truly keep me enthralled with a book on writing? Stephen King delivered far beyond my wildest expectations. It was an enjoyable and insightful read and completely recharged my writing. I read it from cover to cover in one sitting. I highly recommend this book to writers and aspiring writers. You will laugh, you will learn and when you put it down you will never see the blank page in quite the same way.
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