On Writing by Stephen King

I took pages upon pages of notes as I read this book. It was my first Stephen King book and I really enjoyed his sense of style and his “cut the crap” advice. Perhaps some of the book was lost on me because I’ve never read any of his fictional works, but I absolutely adored the way he described how some of his novels came to be. The first notes of a story that would become the infamous Carrie were found in the bin by his wife, where she took it on herself to encourage him to continue writing; a slip down a steep ravine sparked off another idea - his creativity knows no bounds. I particularly loved how he said that his ideas spark from things that are purely situational; what if X, Y or Z happened? 

I feel like Stephen King takes himself off the pedestal in this book. He lets you know that it’s a passion, that he grafted to get where he is, and that he simply enjoys the process of speculation. He is a firm believer in being as honest as possible in your writing and has a passion about creating characters that readers can empathise with and care for. 

He shares many golden nuggets throughout the book, one I loved which feels incredibly obvious is that a story comes together one word at a time. It feels insurmountable at the beginning but there’s only one way to do it. He also says “If you can do it for joy, you can do it forever” and I really love that advice too - being creative should be fun and full of magic, if it’s not then we’re doing it wrong. 

As someone who is keenly interested in the craft of writing, I adored this book. I listened on audio and, narrated by King himself, the words felt genuine and clearly held so much passion. I might just go and find myself one of his books to read now next because I have huge respect for the man after reading this! Which should I start with?