Short Informal Review of Stephen Kings’ On Writing: A Memoir of Craft

In our highly technical world, anyone can take advantage from the many how-to booklets that provide step by step details for any conceivable event or situation. What is refreshing about Stephen Kings’ On Writing: A Memoir of Craft is that the author provides tips and tools to enable writers to find their own inspiration and create their own literary style.


Aspiring writers can take comfort in the fact that King’s love of comic books is what started his career as a writer. According to King, his Mother’s words, "Those Combat Casey funny books are just junk-he’s always knocking someone’s teeth out. "I bet you could do better," was the challenge that led King to become one of America’s most popular writers.


King recreates his first attempts at writing, "I remember an immense feeling of possibility at the idea, as if I had been ushered into a vast building filled with closed doors and had been given leave to open any I liked. There were more doors than one person could every open in a lifetime, I thought (and still think.)."


Combination of his life experience with practical approaches is King’s primary way to guide writers. According to King, the core to writing is practice and the use of techniques such as the "toolbox." Simple, King’s advice is both guidance and his Mother’s challenge to
potential writers. At the same time, the success of each writer will depend on applying them both. To King, the art of writing boils down to transcribing experiences and emotions in a way that the reader has a sense perception as if they were experiencing what is in words.

Everyone can find comfort in King’s experience that rejection is an invaluable part of the writing process. "When you write a story, you’re telling yourself the story. When you rewrite, your main job is taking out all the things that are not the story."


What I found from King’ advice on writing was the need to create inner situations where you are living and experiencing what you are writing. "You need a room, you need the door, and you need the determination to shut the door. As long as you keep to these basic guide lines, the easier the acts of writing will become. "When you write, you want to get rid of the world. When you’re writing, you’re creating your own worlds."