On Writing
CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF WRITING with fresh testimonials from fellow writers about why they love Stephen King and On Writing—and a few new words on the joy of writing from King himself.
*ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE’S TOP 100 NONFICTION BOOKS OF ALL TIME*
Immensely helpful and illuminating to any aspiring writer, this special edition of Stephen King’s critically lauded, million-copy bestseller shares the experiences, habits, and convictions that have shaped him and his work.
“Long live the King” hailed Entertainment Weekly upon 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.
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Community Reviews
What Bookclubbers are saying about this book
✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI
Readers say *On Writing* blends memoir and practical advice with engaging storytelling that feels conversational and fun. Reviewers agree King's insig...
This is really great stuff! The best writing advice book ever written as some people say? May very well be as I haven't read anything else that I would actually recommend. There are a few semi-interesting books, but nothing really usable.
Pro:
This is just super entertaining. It's hard to explain how fun it is to read. When he talks about small events or personal stories I'm fully engaged in the story because he uses so many details and action focused writing. Everything comes alive when he talks about it and I want to experience the 60's and the primitive things there because of stories like this.
Th writing advice is perfect. Have talent. There, there is really not much else to it. Without a talent you have no change of becoming a writer. There are too many people who write at way too high a level for free. Thereafter he also talks about motivation. Make sure you write full time, many hours each day. Make sure you are healthy and focused. When you are done writing you need to cut a large part of the text out. If your story is not compact it's not good.
It's pretty much perfect writing advice really. There is no way to skip the talent and work part. After that you also make sure to watch your cash flow.
Con:
While he is an amazing intuitive writer this does not really work for movies. Use his advice on a screenplay and you will end up with an unfocused mess about nothing. With books you can write pages about some small event or experience in vivid details and it will be fun to read. Do that in a screenplay and people will laugh at you.
In a screenplay you need a very clear outline, very clear ideas and very clear beats. You need to know what happens on what page and what action is happening. You also need to make everything fun visually.
So yeah, if you have an amazing talent and write 8 hours a day you can write books. But screenplays require an amazing writing talent and an amazing plot structuring talent. Writing an outline is like 25% of the work.
Conclusion:
Great book that comes highly recommended. Don't expect any very specific advice on details as he isn't a film writer. But the stories here are very engaging. At times it was hard to stop listening to the audiobook.
Pro:
This is just super entertaining. It's hard to explain how fun it is to read. When he talks about small events or personal stories I'm fully engaged in the story because he uses so many details and action focused writing. Everything comes alive when he talks about it and I want to experience the 60's and the primitive things there because of stories like this.
Th writing advice is perfect. Have talent. There, there is really not much else to it. Without a talent you have no change of becoming a writer. There are too many people who write at way too high a level for free. Thereafter he also talks about motivation. Make sure you write full time, many hours each day. Make sure you are healthy and focused. When you are done writing you need to cut a large part of the text out. If your story is not compact it's not good.
It's pretty much perfect writing advice really. There is no way to skip the talent and work part. After that you also make sure to watch your cash flow.
Con:
While he is an amazing intuitive writer this does not really work for movies. Use his advice on a screenplay and you will end up with an unfocused mess about nothing. With books you can write pages about some small event or experience in vivid details and it will be fun to read. Do that in a screenplay and people will laugh at you.
In a screenplay you need a very clear outline, very clear ideas and very clear beats. You need to know what happens on what page and what action is happening. You also need to make everything fun visually.
So yeah, if you have an amazing talent and write 8 hours a day you can write books. But screenplays require an amazing writing talent and an amazing plot structuring talent. Writing an outline is like 25% of the work.
Conclusion:
Great book that comes highly recommended. Don't expect any very specific advice on details as he isn't a film writer. But the stories here are very engaging. At times it was hard to stop listening to the audiobook.