On Writing

A Memoir of the Craft

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: Stephen King, Joe Hill, Owen King

Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

Twentieth Anniversary Edition with Contributions from Joe Hill and Owen King

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.

The twentieth-anniversary audio edition includes Owen King reading his essay, “Recording Audiobooks for My Dad, Stephen King,” and a recorded conversation with Joe Hill and Stephen King.

©2000 ©2000 Stephen King, All Rights Reserved; (P)2000 Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Critic reviews

"These rare glimpses into King's personal life - as related in his earnest tone and real (thank God) Maine accent - are fascinating.... If you write - or want to - get this book." (AudioFile)

"Spunky, vivid prose are the prime ingredients of what must be considered not at all the usual writer's guide." (Booklist)

"On Writing contains some of the most harrowing pages he has ever written." (Salon.com)

The Man, The Myth, The Legend

Not being a fan of horror fiction, I was curious when this book was recommended to me. I read it and was amazed at how down to earth, how ‘no bs’ and how funny it, and by extension, the author, are. I hope someday I get to tell Stephen King in person how he encouraged me.
If that never happens, Mr King, I am in your debt.

Helped me get re-inspired

His book has helped me get re-inspired start my own writing again. I forgot how much I enjoyed writing.

Engaging and entertaining

I really enjoyed this as not only educational for King’s process, but also as a fun mini-biography to the writer I enjoy so much.

On Writing

Loved the book. My only suggestion, for a “how to” book like this, is that the reader slow down a bit so that none of the pearls of wisdom fall out of the wheelbarrow as it goes around a sharp corner.

Thank you, Stephen, for teaching me a ton.

Bill Walsh
804-241-1691
Richmond, VA

Excellent, in true SK fashion!

Thoroughly enjoyable as always and left me with renewed hope and ambition to create! A great listen, for sure!

Entertaining and engaging.

Maybe half of this is Steve’s personal life and the other half how he writes and his opinions on good writing. Steve narrates. I enjoyed listening to him.

His personal life: A lot of writing when he was young. He met his wife in college. He taught high school English for about two years when his first novel Carrie was published. After that he had many bestsellers. He was an alcoholic and drug user for a while, both of which he gave up. He was surprised that he could write just as well without.

1. Parts of Stories and No Plotting.
Steve thinks of stories in three parts.

A. Narration moves the story from point A to point B and finally to point Z.

B. Description creates a sensory reality for the reader. He doesn’t do a lot of description. He doesn’t do clothes, and he doesn’t overdo physical appearance. He wants readers to supply some of that. He doesn’t describe everything in a room, just a few things.

C. The third part is dialogue which brings characters to life.

D. Steve says “You may wonder where is plot in all this? My answer is nowhere. I plot as little as possible. Plotting and the spontaneity of real creation are not compatible. Situation comes first and then watch what happens as the characters try to work themselves out of it. Most of the time the outcome is something I never expected.” Some critics say Steve’s weakness is his endings. And if he paid more attention to plot early in the process he might have better endings. Some experts say writers should start with a plot and outline. So, there are different opinions.

Personally, I think Steve’s greatest talent is his creativity. And his method might be useful to others who want more creativity.

I was amused with the story of how Steve came up with the “situation” which became the book “Carrie.” Steve was working with a high school janitor cleaning the girls locker room. He was surprised to see individual shower curtains. The boys had none. He asked the janitor. The janitor said girls are shy and they want to shower in private. Steve asked about the odd shaped box on the wall. The janitor explained it held plugs for girls on their periods. Steve then thought of a “situation” of a girl’s locker room with no shower curtains, a girl being embarrassed taking a shower, and other girls throwing plugs at her. (He used more colorful language than I.) This was the start of “Carrie.”

2. Characters.
Steve based the characters in “Carrie” on real life people he knew - the two loneliest most reviled girls in his high school class. One of them had an overly religious mother. Steve combined the two girls into Carrie and used the religious mother as Carrie’s mother.

3. Don’t use critique groups as you write.
Write the entire book without anyone else seeing it. Put that first draft aside for six weeks. Do other things, write other things, try not to think about it. Then read it and make revisions. This is your second draft. Then give the second draft to your friends, family, and beta readers. His point is not to use critique groups and writing classes prior to the second draft. He gives examples about this.

4. Steve says don’t use adverbs. (I disagree.)
Steve says “I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs.” My words: Steve has a degree in English (something). He has been trained to avoid adverbs by academia. In the book “Carrie” he used adverbs occasionally, but not often.

Steve says “the Harry Potter novels are just fun, pure story from beginning to end.” My words: J.K. Rowling uses tons of adverbs in the Harry Potter books. And her books are the most successful fiction books in the world! Following are some wonderful adverb examples from the first Harry Potter book. “eyed them angrily” “whispering excitedly” “acting oddly today” “said as casually as he could” “appeared so suddenly and silently.” And for those of you who may argue that certain genres lend themselves to adverbs, please note that John Grisham also uses them liberally in his legal thrillers. Grisham is another top selling author. Examples from Grisham’s book “The Client:” “slowly looked at Ricky” “he exhaled calmly.” “Mark carefully picked a cigarette from his shirt pocket.” “Mark suddenly remembered.” “He mumbled loudly.”

Some editors say adverbs are like spices, use a little not a lot. They would probably consider Rowling and Grisham as too many. Personally I love the way Rowling and Grisham write, but I also enjoyed the book “Carrie.”

5. Other Advice from Steve.
Every aspiring writer should read “The Elements of Style” by Strunk and White.
Don’t use big words when simpler words work.
Use the first word that comes to your mind.
Don’t fear overusing “said.” Steve says “using he said, she said is divine.”
Don’t use cliche phrases like “at the end of the day” or “the fact that.”
Avoid passive tense.
To be a good writer you need to read a lot. Steve reads 70 to 80 books a year - mostly fiction. He’s a fan of audiobooks.

Genre: nonfiction and autobiography.

How the King's thinking machinery works

Any additional comments?

Just to get my bias out of the way, I am a huge Stephen King fan. I have very minimal tolerance for those erudite intellectuals who feel best about themselves when criticizing the literary accomplishment of Mr. King. So if you are reading this review and are one those erudite intellectuals, I will gladly meet you in a quite location and to beat you with a copy of The Stand. As for the rest of us, On Writing gives Mr. King the opportunity to explain his personal writing process in a very detailed and well organized fashion. I am fascinated to learn about how true professionals approach a job or task. I recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn how artists and professionals solve problems, approach problems, and engage a task. On Writing also allows Mr. King to identify how some the early childhood experiences that shaped hime into a successful writer. Mr. King fully gives himself to the book, where he is brutally honest and make no apologies for the fact that reading On Writing is will not make you a great writer. Instead, READ the works others and engage in lots of practice WRITING.

Got Me Off My Rear End

I had suffered nearly a decade of "writer's block" until I listened to this book. King kicked me in the posterior with this inspiring and informative book. Three months after I first listened to this book, I had finished a 55,500-word first draft of a new novel! This is such a good book for writers or people who are interested in what makes King tick. I hate to admit it, but I have only read a few of his other books. That will now change! Thanks, Mr. King.

Final Chapter Worth Your Credit By Itself

A fine little volume for aspiring writers, fans of King, or just avid readers. Time Magazine ranked this book in its top 10 non-fiction books and I get why.

This book has been heavily reviewed, so just a short thought: the final chapter talks about the car accident that nearly killed King and how his love of his wife and writing helped him to recover. This chapter is one of the best things I've ever read and particularly moving to hear King read it.

On Writing delivers a master's class on writing

Where does On Writing rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

On Writing ranks at the top of my audiobook list, even over The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo audios which I enjoyed immensely. The combination of Mr. King's thought-provoking instruction read in his own voice weaves a resonant spell, imbibing lessons in the hard, resistant ground of my writer's mind.

What did you like best about this story?

Stephen King delivers a no-nonsense performance as professor-in-chief, offering his unique take on the craft & business of writing. As per his writing style, King's comprehension of the many layers of writing along with an intrinsic grasp of story brings experience & insight together in a way I wish I'd had in a teacher on my academic journey. Stripping away the bs and getting to the nitty gritty of things is what separates good professors from great ones and I dare say that the inspiration to write that has been sparked for me by this audio is unprecedented. The tools given in this short book are treasures that have been hiding in plain site, presented to the student in usable form.

Which scene was your favorite?

This is an instructive manual so it's not played out in scenes but Stephen King does tell his writing story as instruction. Beautifully, I might add. My favorite part of the entire production is the precise way he gets to the heart of writing and demands that only the serious apply. An authenticity which dissolves the fluff, quelling any offense such that one can only appreciate the time saved minus the bells & whistles that can sometimes infiltrate artistic discussion.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

If I had to describe On Writing in one word, that one word would be,