Why Every Writer Should Read (And Re-Read) ‘On Writing’ by Stephen King
Even if you can’t stand his books
Stephen King seems to have a very polarizing effect on both readers and writers. Just looking at the guy, he seems rather incapable of being the center of such strong opinions.
He’s definitely a love-him or hate-him type of author. Personally? I’ve only finished one of his novels so far (“11/22/63”), and even that one I ended up skimming parts of.
I want to like Stephen King’s novels. Really. The only explanation I can come up with is that he writes longer and slower than what I’ve typically gravitated towards. For me, a book doesn’t take weeks to read. Sometimes, it only takes one day.
The one book by Stephen King I have read cover to cover with no skimming (and have since re-read twice) is his memoir-slash-writing craft book “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.”
What Makes ‘On Writing’ Different
For one thing, it’s part memoir, part writing craft. I think his inner teacher understands that longer is not better when trying to impart knowledge.
As far as the memoir bit goes, while he’s quite willing to open up about his life (from as far back as he can remember until his tragic, near-death car…
