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On Writing: A Memoir Of The Craft

by Stephen King
On Writing: A Memoir Of The Craft

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ISBN13: 9780743455961
ISBN10: 0743455967
Condition: Standard


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Excerpt

I actually began On Writing in November or December of 1997, and although it usually takes me only three months to finish the first draft of a book, this one was still only half-completed eighteen months later. That was because I'd put it aside in February or March of 1998, not sure how to continue, or if I should continue at all. Writing fiction was almost as much fun as it had ever been, but every word of the nonfiction book was a kind of torture. It was the first book I had put aside uncompleted since The Stand, and On Writing spent a lot longer in the desk drawer.

In June of 1999, I decided to spend the summer finishing the damn writing book -- let Susan Moldow and Nan Graham at Scribner decide if it was good or bad, I thought. I read the manuscript over, prepared for the worst, and discovered I actually sort of liked what I had. The road to finishing it seemed clear-cut, too. I had finished the memoir ("C.V."), which attempted to show some of the incidents and life-situations which made me into the sort of writer I turned out to be, and I had covered the mechanics -- those that seemed most important to me, at least. What remained to be done was the key section, "On Writing," where I'd try to answer some of the questions I'd been asked in seminars and at speaking engagements, plus all those I wish I'd been asked...those questions about the language.

On the night of June seventeenth, blissfully unaware that I was now less than forty-eight hours from my little date with Bryan Smith (not to mention Bullet the rottweiler), I sat down at our dining room table and listed all the questions I wanted to answer, all the points I wanted to address. On the eighteenth, I wrote the first four pages of the "On Writing" section. That was where the work still stood in late July, when I decided I'd better get back to work...or at least try.

I didn't want to go back to work. I was in a lot of pain, unable to bend my right knee, and restricted to a walker. I couldn't imagine sitting behind a desk for long, even in my wheelchair. Because of my cataclysmically smashed hip, sitting was torture after forty minutes or so, impossible after an hour and a quarter. Added to this was the book itself, which seemed more daunting than ever -- how was I supposed to write about dialogue, character, and getting an agent when the most pressing thing in my world was how long until the next dose of Percocet?

Yet at the same time I felt I'd reached one of those crossroads moments when you're all out of choices. And I had been in terrible situations before which the writing had helped me get over -- had helped me forget myself for at least a little while. Perhaps it would help me again. It seemed ridiculous to think it might be so, given the level of my pain and physical incapacitation, but there was that voice in the back of my mind, both patient and implacable, telling me that, in the words of the Chambers Brothers, Time Has Come Today. It's possible for me to disobey that voice, but very difficult to disbelieve it.

In the end it was Tabby who cast the deciding vote, as she so often has at crucial moments in my life. I'd like to think I've done the same for her from time to time, because it seems to me that one of the things marriage is about is casting the tiebreaking vote when you just can't decide what you should do next.

My wife is the person in my life who's most likely to say I'm working too hard, it's time to slow down, stay away from that damn PowerBook for a little while, Steve, give it a rest. When I told her on that July morning that I thought I'd better go back to work, I expected a lecture. Instead, she asked me where I wanted to set up. I told her I didn't know, hadn't even thought about it.

She thought about it, then said: "I can rig a table for you in the back hall, outside the pantry. There are plenty of plug-ins -- you can have your Mac, the little printer, and a fan." The fan was certainly a must -- it had been a terrifically hot summer, and on the day I went back to work, the temperature outside was ninety-five. It wasn't much cooler in the back hall.

Tabby spent a couple of hours putting things together, and that afternoon at four o'clock she rolled me out through the kitchen and down the newly installed wheelchair ramp into the back hall. She had made me a wonderful little nest there: laptop and printer connected side by side, table lamp, manuscript (with my notes from the month before placed neatly on top), pens, reference materials. Standing on the corner of the desk was a framed picture of our younger son, which she had taken earlier that summer.

"Is it all right?" she asked.

"It's gorgeous," I said, and hugged her. It was gorgeous. So is she.

The former Tabitha Spruce of Oldtown, Maine, knows when I'm working too hard, but she also knows that sometimes its the work that bails me out. She got me positioned at the table, kissed me on the temple, and then left me there to find out if I had anything left to say. It turned out I did.

Copyright © 2000 by Stephen King


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Average customer rating 4.8 (8 comments)

`
alexgrantham , October 22, 2014
I think what's most shocking about On Writing is its brevity. For a man renowned for a writing style many would say courts logorrhea, King has summed up his advice here in a brisk 200-some-odd pages (compared to books he's published that push well past the 1000 page mark). I appreciated that King seemed hyper-aware to police himself away from long tangents, rather sticking to the topics he's found most helpful and true in discussing the writing process. With a brief but candid autobiography thrown in, I think this is surprisingly one of King's best works.

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JMK311 , March 02, 2012
Diamonds come in small packages, and this book isn't very big but is packed with writing jewels. SK as crammed a four year writing program into a easy to read and understand book that should be the bench mark for every writer.

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wojoko , February 09, 2012 (view all comments by wojoko)
Whether or not you are an aspiring writer, and whether or not you enjoy Stephen King's other books, you will very likely enjoy this book. The book contains a lot of autobiographical information from King's early life when he started writing stories and during his struggles with addiction. He also provides a lot of useful information about his own writing process and tips for aspiring writers. And if you are a fan of the television show Lost you will recognize how this book influenced the creators of Lost.

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Jennmarie68 , March 11, 2010 (view all comments by Jennmarie68)
When I sat down with this book I was expecting a manual on writing. Do this, don't do this kind of thing. But that is so not what this book is. The beginning of the book tells the story of Stephen King's life. Then he goes into some of the things he thinks every writer needs to know (vocabulary, grammar, and basic concepts for dialogue). As he continues through the writing process he doesn't say "you should do this" he simply states this is what I do. I was amazed that Stephen King could write a book about writing and make it something I couldn't put down. But I guess that's the beauty of how he writes. I think he makes his writing interesting by making it simple. Sure there were a few words I didn't expressly know, but I used my vocabulary toolbox to figure out their meaning. This book also gave me a ton of new reading recommendations. Will I make it through them all? Probably not anytime soon, but I'm glad that I made a list of them so that I can keep referring back to them. I don't know if I'll ever write a book, but after reading this book I think I'm more prepared if I ever decide that I do want to try writing.

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writerooo , January 26, 2010
I loved his practical writing advice! It's not the most amazing book on technique, but it'll push you to just get the bare bones down and figure out what you're trying to say. Oh, and he has some interesting personal stories thrown into the mix too!

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hickcrazy1 , January 02, 2010 (view all comments by hickcrazy1)
This perhaps the most accessible of the many books ever written about both the craft of writing and the life of a writer. The immediacy of King's prose is as evident here as in any of his novels or short stories; the clarity of his vision every bit as precise. This book is a classic, meant to be savored and re-read.

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Roger Sarao , September 05, 2009 (view all comments by Roger Sarao)
A very entertaining and insightful and instructional book. You have to give King a lot of credit for his dedication to the craft of writing, his down-to-earth approach to his fans, and his storytelling abilities. This book is a perfect addition to his legacy; and chronicles a very important event in his life. A damn fine book.

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Kelly Metcalf , July 12, 2009 (view all comments by Kelly Metcalf)
This is a fantastic book for anyone even thinking about being a writer. Its humor makes it very easy to understand King's points. It's a good example of "learning is fun."

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Product Details

ISBN:
9780743455961
Binding:
Mass Market
Publication date:
07/01/2002
Publisher:
POCKET BOOKS
Pages:
320
Height:
6.75 in.
Width:
4.19 in.
Copyright Year:
2002
Author:
Stephen King
Subject:
Authors, American -- 20th century.
Subject:
Authors, American
Subject:
Horror tales

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