Book Review: On Writing by Stephen King

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Before he was a bestselling author, writing twisted tales of creepy clowns, apocalyptic epidemics, bloody prom-night massacres, and varied vicious villains, Stephen King was something much scarier: a high school English teacher.

Though King is known as the master of the macabre, the ghastly guru of modern horror, he is also - at his core - a former educator. As such, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft provides fascinating insight into the writing process for one of our era's most prolific authors. Like so many of King's novels, On Writing incorporates a mishmash of styles and genres: the non-fiction book is part autobiography, part ruminations on life, and part "how-to" guide. With guts and gusto, On Writing covers everything from King's childhood to his literary pet peeves to his near-death experience in 1999. Though this memoir might not be everyone's cup of tea, I could drink a gallon of this book and thirst for more.

The first section of On Writing outlines some basic details of King's earliest days, including amusing anecdotes of the writer's childhood and mildly dysfunctional family. With self-effacing humor, the author outlines the development of his emerging talents (including his first limited-edition novella: a plagiarized retelling of The Pit and the Pendulum that he sold to his elementary-school peers in the schoolyard), recalls his adolescent fascination with the science-fiction and horror genres, and details the many (MANY) rejection notices he received when he began submitting stories to magazines. One image from this section lingers in my mind: King, hunched in the laundry room of his trailer after a long day of teaching high school students, relentlessly typing the manuscript of what would become his first published novel, Carrie . Even the world's biggest authors have to start somewhere, and Stephen King has never forgotten his humble origins.

As he moves into the "how-to" section of On Writing, King really hits his stride. Fortunately, the author is aware of the pitfalls inherent in writing about writing: as he states in the "Second Forward" preface, "This is a short book because most books about writing are filled with bull****." While he excludes Strunk & White's The Elements of Style from this dismissive statement, I would argue that King's own book belongs in such illustrious company; in fact, if I was still teaching AP English, I would absolutely utilize portions of On Writing in my classroom.

As a fellow veteran educator who loves horror and the craft of writing, I’m fairly certain that I am the exact target demographic for On Writing. This book is (like so much of King's work) an earnest, unflinching, no-holds-barred commentary from an insightful - though flawed - author and observer. King frequently acknowledges his own shortcomings: he harbors no grand illusions that he is an equal of Faulkner, Steinbeck, or Hemingway (all of whom receive passing mention in this tome).

Of course, as much as the literati loves to dismiss King's work, the sheer number of books he has sold provides incontrovertible evidence that King's work resonates with many, many readers. As Neil Young sings in "Ambulance Blues" (from On the Beach), "All you critics sit alone / You're no better than me for what you've shown... You're all just pissing in the wind." I can't help but imagine that King recites this line to himself every time he receives a scathing review. As I now know from writing Incomplete and A Different Slant of Light, crafting a novel - even an amateurish one - takes a lot of work. SO. MUCH. WORK. Though a reader can consume a book in a matter of days (or hours, if inspired), authors spend weeks, months, or years pouring their hearts into each page. Believe it or not, writers are people, too.

So, if you're hankering for a humorous "how-to" guide with horror Easter eggs, On Writing might be a worthwhile endeavor. If you're a fan of Stephen King, though, this book is a must-read: it will sink its teeth into you with the feverish intensity of Pennywise the Clown and provide you with an escape sweeter than Andy Dufresne's.

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