On Writing by Stephen King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I read through this book quickly while putting together a syllabus. I’ve never read any Stephen King before, but found his style winning and clear. I enjoyed the way the book was organized — a combination of memoir and technique. I don’t think that this book is quite as strong as some other ones I’ve read with a similar intent — John Gardner’s The Art of Fiction and Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird, to take two amazing examples. Still, the book offers very useful advice — write every day, avoid adverbs, write the first draft with a closed door and the second with an open door — and describes a rich ethos for writing in general: “Life isn’t a support-system for art. It’s the other way around.”