On WritingThis 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. |
What people are saying - Write a review
User ratings
5 stars |
| ||
4 stars |
| ||
3 stars |
| ||
2 stars |
| ||
1 star |
|
Reviews aren't verified, but Google checks for and removes fake content when it's identified
Review: On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
User Review - Emily - GoodreadsWow! I am in awe! This book was so amazing and every aspect was good! The memoir was so interesting and it was great to see how he came up with his story ideas. I haven't read his books, but this one ... Read full review
Review: On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
User Review - Tiffany Bolin - GoodreadsIf you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There's no way around these two things that I'm aware of, no shortcut. I'm a slow reader, but I usually ... Read full review
Contents
Section 1 | 3 |
Section 2 | 14 |
Section 3 | 28 |
Section 4 | 33 |
Section 5 | 50 |
Section 6 | 60 |
Section 7 | 63 |
Section 8 | 65 |
Section 18 | 135 |
Section 19 | 159 |
Section 20 | 178 |
Section 21 | 188 |
Section 22 | 209 |
Section 23 | 222 |
Section 24 | 257 |
Section 25 | 266 |
Section 9 | 74 |
Section 10 | 77 |
Section 11 | 85 |
Section 12 | 87 |
Section 13 | 95 |
Section 14 | 103 |
Section 15 | 111 |
Section 16 | 115 |
Section 17 | 129 |
Section 26 | 270 |
Section 27 | 277 |
Section 28 | 283 |
Section 29 | 286 |
Section 30 | 289 |
Section 31 | 293 |
Section 32 | 298 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
actually adverbs agent Annie Annie Wilkes asked back story begin believe boys Bryan Smith called character copy course Dave Dave's desk dialogue door draft E. B. White Eula-Beulah eyes feel fiction Fillebrown Frank friends fucking girls Green Mile hand Happy Stamps Hart's War Hearts in Atlantis high school idea John Grisham kids later laughing least Lisbon Lisbon Falls live look magazine Mike mind mother movie never night novel once Ostermeyer paragraph Paul Sheldon perhaps plot pretty probably published Randall Flagg reader remember Salem's Lot seemed sentence shit sitting someone sometimes sort started Stephen King Strunk stuff summer sure Tabby talk tell there's things thought tion told Tom Gordon toolbox turned Uncle Oren usually walk wife words writing wrote