On Writing

On Writing, by Stephen King is the best book I have ever read about the craft of writing.*

I bought it a few years ago because I liked the cover and the smooth feel of the dust jacket. At 3.99, I also liked the price. I’d never read anything by King at that point. I didn’t care for horror novels, and I thought King was a hack. But, I harbored dreams of writing the next great fantasy novel, and here was a book that looked like it had some answers tucked away in the pages. Answers? More like revelations.

The book begins with a little bit about young Stevie King. It seems he had the writing bug all his life, and the author takes you through the ups and downs of his life, right up to the early part of this decade, just after he was crushed by the drunk driver of a van while out on an evening stroll. Almost every personal story relates to writing in some way, setting up the tips and lessons in the second half of the book.

Give this book a try if you want to write. Give it a try even if you just want to read a really good memoir.

All this makes me happy to see such a glowing review for King’s new book, Under the Dome. It just reinforces my opinion of King as one of my favorite authors, and one of the best authors around.

And here is some Toronto representation with an interview, and another review.

Oh, right, the Stephen-King-is-a-hack thing. I revised that opinion a long time ago.


*Although, Strunk-n-White is probably my favorite book on the specifics of writing.