Make Your Transition

I have two copies of this book— one an audiobook read by Stephen King himself and the other is a printed copy bought perhaps a year after the audiobook purchase. A busy life and transatlantic move interrupted my progress with finishing On Writing sooner, but I picked it up again and this time around I couldn’t put it down.

On Writing is not a How-To book; it’s more of a How-Done. You won’t find bulleted lists of tips on grammar or punctuation in it, rather, you will find a wealth of anecdotes and personal writing rules lived through and honed during King’s career. He talks about rejection (and yes, he’s had plenty that), character development, awful medical procedures and terrible jobs, pages in the wastebasket, the importance of his “first reader” Tabitha (his wife and an author herself), and the practical — though in conversation format — advice on his tools of the trade and the importance of concise writing. Closing the book are details of the near-fatal accident that served to pause his work for only five weeks.

Stephen King has experienced more than his fair share of hard knocks but despite the bumpy road to the successful seat he occupies, he writes about the difficult times without a victim’s bitterness for having endured them. Instead, life’s curve-balls are recycled into material or inspiration. It is a fascinating journey for the reader (or listener) and more akin to learning by the campfire than in a classroom. Woven into the fabric of his words are practical gems that every writer can benefit from, my favourite being the “puffy” fix written by an editor on one of King’s early fiction pieces: “2nd Draft = 1st Draft - 10%. Good Luck.” King uses that formula to this day prior to submitting new work. It is only through listening to the anecdotes within On Writing that the reader can pick out these priceless bits of advice. He doesn’t tell you how to write; he tells how he writes. It’s up to you to apply or ignore his experience wherever you want.

Though not a textbook or self-help workbook, On Writing has taught me more about the craft than I have retained from several other books on the subject — most with bulleted lists. I will revisit On Writing for pleasure as well as direction and it’s staying on my iPod for the foreseeable future.

Amazon UK: “On Writing” (Stephen King)
Amazon US: “On Writing” (Stephen King)

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