Book Review: On Writing by Stephen King

I have seen this book a few times on lists of ‘must reads’ for writers.  I’m not a writer.  I have no aspirations of being a writer.  I read this book because I am interested in getting a glimpse into why someone succeeds.

The book has 4 sections.  It starts with a brief memoir of King’s childhood, up to his breakthrough as a best selling author.  His uses stories about his successes and failures to illustrate how these incidents shaped him into the writer he is.  He is candid about his insecurities and fears, and determination to write.  His regular guy nature comes through, humanizing a bigger than life figure in poplar fiction. 

The next two sections deal with the specifics of writing, giving advice about how to write and edit, where to write, and how to create a story.  I especially like the bit about adverbs. 

This book presents nuggets of good advice for anyone who wants to be a writer.  None of the advice is particularly new or ground breaking, which King readily admits.  His secret for success is to take a passion, add education, persistence and many hours of practice. 

The informal conversational style, full of anecdotes and name dropping, make this an interesting and breezy read instead of a dull textbook. .  I especially like the bit about adverbs. 

The final section deals with King’s life threatening injury and recovery from being hit by a car.  He talks about how writing was an important part of his recovery.

I would recommend this book for any fan of Stephen King,  or anyone interested in being a writer.  I also think the King’s straightforward advice would resonate with anyone who is working hard to master a skill in another field.