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A review of On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

by Stephen King

Part autobiography, part instruction manual for writers, a refreshingly truthful and inspirational work.

Reviewed by: Joan Prefontaine
About Joan Prefontaine

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft The first section of this book takes the reader on a whirlwind tour through Stephen King's life as a writer. His earliest memory contains hints of the popular, risk-taking author he would become: at three years old, he imagined he was the Ringling Brothers Circus Strongboy, lifting up a large cinderblock in his garage. He recalls: "I was dressed in an animal skin singlet (probably a leopard skin) and carrying the cinderblock across the center ring. The vast crowd was silent. A brilliant blue-white spotlight marked my remarkable progress. Their wondering faces told the story: never had they seen such an incredibly strong kid." This fantasy of enormous power, of awing the public with his unusual abilities, resulted in young Stephen dropping the block on his bare toes (when a wasp, angry at having his comfortable cement home moved, stung him on the ear) and screaming bloody murder. But his imaginative life was not curbed by this incident (nor by others like it). Cinder blocks falling on one's toes, like rejection slips and bad reviews, are just part of the territory in which the craft of writing can be learned.

Stephen King believes in picking yourself up after a fall--even after a VERY BAD FALL such as he had in June of 1999, when he was hit by a blue van and almost killed while taking his afternoon walk. (He believes art is a support system for life and not the other way around.) In fact, it was the process of writing the second part of this book that helped King regain his optimism after the accident (though he could only write half of the 2000 words a day that had become his custom), along with his surgeon's competence and his wife Tabitha's unflagging love and support. The day he first went back to work, a few weeks after he got home from the hospital, he was in enormous pain, yet he felt a small pleasure in trying to set words down on paper again. He writes: "There was no sense of exhilaration, no buzz--not that day--but there was a sense of accomplishment that was almost as good. I'd gotten going, there was that much. The scariest moment is always just before you start."

Over the years many people have asked King if he writes for the money. (In our capitalistic culture, many people cannot imagine working for goals other than money, and writers who don't earn a lot of dough aren't usually considered "serious" or "successful.") But King says: "Writing isn't about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friends. In the end, it's about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life, as well. It's about getting up, getting well, and getting over. Getting happy, okay? Getting happy." Stephen King has always been happy writing, and that happiness shines through, even in tales involving horrific incidents or, as in the case of this book, when he offers solid advice to others who want to pick themselves up from the falls of life, and brush themselves off with art.

Click here to buy this book, or read more about it at Amazon.com: On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

Copyright © by Joan Prefontaine, 2003

Reviewed by Joan Prefontaine:
-- The Secret Life of Dust - by Hannah Holmes
-- Lying Awake: - by Mark Salzman
-- The Art & Craft of Playwriting - by Jeffrey Hatcher
-- On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft - by Stephen King
-- Earth Prayers From Around the World - Edited by Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon
-- The Beauty of the Beast - Selected by Jack Prelutsky, Illustrated by Meilo So
-- The Intimate Merton - Edited by Patrick Hart and Jonathan Montaldo
-- Plainsong - by Kent Haruf
-- The Stone Diaries - by Carol Shields
-- City of God - by E. L. Doctorow









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