On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

Stephen King’s biography with his reflections on writing, a must read since he is one of my favorite writers.

The biography is fantastic, frank, and straight to the point, with a first part about his remarkable story (and also very fortunate, as he admits) and then a true compendium of advice for writers who want to follow in his tracks. Lots of quality but also lots of candor, there is no magic formula, you have to read… a lot. Only then will you understand what is a good and a bad story. I devoured the book but I give it 4 stars because it did not change my life like other masterpieces, maybe because I am not a writer (it could still be useful to me)… Really excellent, very close to a 5.

C.V.

King’s story, remarkable, begins with humble jobs and sending many short stories to magazines, scraping together a few dollars for years. When he started working at a school things improved, but he and his wife Tabitha spent years on the edge of poverty, until he had an intuition in the locker room with Carrie and turned his life around. He also talks about his vices, especially drugs and alcohol, very honestly and genuinely. He went through a lot.

What Writing Is

He introduces the toolbox, a set of skills a writer must have, using them at the right moment for the story. Obviously plot, but also pace, characterization, grammar (easy to blunder here), and vocabulary, which should suit the occasion, even for controversial characters. Avoid big words if you do not know how to use them; a simple lexicon is fine (mountains are high, rocks explode, then enrich the sentence from there). I do not recall this part well. Golden rules are AVOID PASSIVE, AVOID ADVERBS, AVOID ADVERBS IN DIALOGUE (“said” is fine). Also, many of his stories were born from simple phrases like “writer trapped by a madwoman,” Misery. You start there and then it evolves, letting yourself be carried along; often he does not know where it will take him.

On Writing

The core of the book, with golden practical advice. King shows examples for rewriting drafts (formula: first pass minus 10%), how he writes the first version behind a closed door without feedback, then shares it with his wife and friends knowing they will be honest. He lets the pages rest for weeks before looking at them with a cool head. Start writing and do not stop, or the mind will lose the thread. Do not overexplain; let readers infer, and avoid needlessly detailed descriptions. Also advice on where to send your first stories and finding an agent.

On Living

A brief account of his near-fatal accident with a description of what happened: King recovered quickly but it was a close call. He slowly went back to writing, and leaves us with this genuine, fine maxim.

“Writing isn’t about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friends. In the end, it’s about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life, as well. It’s about getting up, getting well, and getting over. Getting happy, okay? Getting happy.”