On Writing

Front Cover
Simon and Schuster, Jun 25, 2002 - Biography & Autobiography - 297 pages
This volume "really contains two books: a fondly sardonic autobiography and a tough-love lesson for aspiring novelists", written by American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy, Stephen King (b. 1947). The first third of the book contains King's memoir, which includes heartfelt tidbits about his brother, mother and his long battles with alcohol and drug addiction. The second part of the book, "On Writing," is where aspiring novelists might find inspiration. King describes the symbolism in many of his novels and offers writers common sense advice. He presents his taboos of writing: adverbs (especially those in dialog) and the passive voice. He describes his writer's toolbox, including examples of both good and bad writing, sometimes taken from his own work, sometimes taken from other writers. He also describes his approach to research. King concludes by including a list of nearly a hundred novels that he considers the best that he's read in the last three or four years.
 

Contents

Section 1
3
Section 2
28
Section 3
60
Section 4
63
Section 5
85
Section 6
87
Section 7
95
Section 8
103
Section 12
222
Section 13
257
Section 14
277
Section 15
283
Section 16
285
Section 17
287
Section 18
288
Section 19
293

Section 9
111
Section 10
115
Section 11
135
Section 20
298
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About the author (2002)

Stephen King is the author of more than fifty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent novel 11/22/63 was named a top ten book of 2011 by The New York Times Book Review and won the Los Angeles Times Prize. He is the recipient of the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.