On Writing Stephen King Summary

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft is a book written by author Stephen King, published in 2000, which documents his experiences as a writer and also serves as a guide book for those who choose to enter the craft themselves. On Writing is both a textbook for writers and a memoir of Stephen King’s life and will, thus, appeal even to those that aren’t aspiring writers. If you’ve always wondered what led Steve to his career and how he became the success he is today, this will answer your questions. Not only does King give descriptive and rather humorous stories about his stages of writing but also gives power advice to the readers from the learning experiences he’s had both is success and failure. King reveals his

Authors use literary elements and techniques as tools to convey meaning. These devices are the means by which authors bring richness and clarity to a text. They express moods or feelings that allow the reader to connect with the writing. In On Writing, the author, Stephen King makes use of literary elements to tell his story. The techniques King uses are effective in portraying vivid images and feelings in the reader’s mind.

Stephen King, in his chapter titled “Toolbox” in On Writing, aims to convince the struggling writer that taking simple steps to organize a metaphorical box of writing tools will improve their writing. He does so through the use of organization, substance, and style and by appealing to his audience with logical examples to support his claims. “Toolbox” is, in summary, a crash course given by King on writing improvement. He depicts the fundamentals of good writing as levels of a toolbox then demonstrates how and when each writing tool should be used (King 106-107). The chapter is a veritable response to the question, “How can I improve my writing?” which one can imagine King is routinely asked as a world-renowned author. He already enjoyed an immensely successful writing career when Hodder published On Writing in 2012, so King wrote the chapter “Toolbox” as literary advice to fellow writers by drawing from his own success (“Stephen King”).

On Writing is a work written by Stephen King. This book takes you into his world and what all he offers to say about being a writer. You’ll read all about the circumstances and events that shaped Stephen King as a child and as a writer. It describes his struggles and accomplishments as an author. He also gives advice for ambitious writers. The book is structured into five parts, with each having different focuses. These five parts include: "C.V.", “What Writing Is”, “Toolbox”, “On Writing”, and “On Living”.

Throughout childhood and adolescence, there are numerous events and situations that impact the rest of the person’s life. While these experiences can leave impressions on the individual's life ranging from future profession to possible criminal record, the way an author creates his work is almost always related to their childhood upbringing. Between topics, symbols, motifs, and themes, authors are more than likely to write from prior experience, which in most cases comes from youth life. Rick Riordan for example, author of numerous children’s literary series demonstrates various examples of how his early life affected numerous aspects of his literature.

The importance of reading is well described by two highly educated and skilled authors. “Reading to Write” by Stephen King and “Learning to Read” by Malcom X. King’s piece looks to encourage hopeful writers by expounding upon the importance of incessantly reading in order to become a better writer. X’s account goes into how he was able to teach himself to read which opened up unlimited knowledge to him. He hopes to encourage others to read to defeat ignorance and prevent being controlled by misinformation and hidden truths. Both authors do their job in relating their passion for reading and absolutely inspire the reader to pick up a book. King does this far better by being much more relatable by sharing personal experiences whereas X’s description digresses into his own personal motives far too often to be as effective.

Stephen King gave many rules on writing. It’s up to us to decide what works best. He encouraged a person to write to the best of her ability because some people’s writing may be limited due to the lack of knowing how to properly use their tools and/or the purpose of their tools. As a social worker, I was taught to write in the passive voice; so, now I have to retrain myself and write more in the active voice. Moreover, I am learning to expand more tools on my topself.

Many writers aspire to become well known for their texts. But this is easier said than done. Writers that have become household names didn’t have their success handed to them. They went through struggles and hardships, which they preserved through to become successful. Stephen King details his path of becoming Stephen King, how he became the writer who created Carrie, in his text On Writing. Based on William Zinsser’s text On Writing Well, King’s narrative of his life was both effective and interesting because he followed the main points made in Zinsser’s text, although not all of them.

For a novice writer, one can only dream of publishing a novel, selling copies across the word, or being recognized for honesty and dedication poured into a story. Stephen King, across his writing career has achieved these dreams and accomplished scores further. King has published 55+ novels (some under the pen name Richard Bachman) and at least 200 short stories. He has also received numerous awards for his pieces, sold 350 million copies worldwide, and turned several of his stories into movies and television shows. Atop his many triumphs, King has maintained the same love for writing that he began with. In his memoir, “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft”, he allows the reader to understand the mind of a writing virtuoso whilst continuing an air of humility, humor, and personality.

In On Writing, a memoir by Stephen King, he expresses dozens of opinions on his craft and shares his beliefs with an audience of readers and aspiring writers alike. Similarly, although she never explicitly discusses them, Jeannette Walls (author of The Glass Castle) displays the same writing habits as Stephen King. To be more specific, Walls and King both leave out unnecessary words, use dialogue as a characterization tool, and believe in writing honestly.

   A successful writer is he who is able to transmit ideas, emotions, and wisdom on to his readers. He is cable of stirring emotions and capturing the reader's attention with vivid descriptions and clever dialogues. The writer can even play with the meanings of words and fuse reality with fiction to achieve his goal of taking the reader on a wonderful journey. His tools are but words, yet the art of writing is found in the use of the language to create though-provoking pieces that defy the changing times. Between the lines, voices and images emerge. Not everyone can write effectively and invoke these voices. It is those few who can create certain psychological effects on the reader who can seize him (or

Stephen King’s book ‘On Writing’ is a book like I’ve never read before, the book is set-up in a way that I would not have thought it to be. Part one and Part Two are set-up to be like a memoir illustrating the life of king before his big break as an author and an accident that almost killed him and ended his writing career. Part three of the book tells on the mechanics of writing, all of the little pieces and details that make a writing piece into masterpiece. King not only entwines his life into the art that he has taken up, he educates us on how to become better writers ourselves. Main mechanical techniques that king brings are: Adverbs, symbolism, and grammar.

The book On writing by Stephen King talks all about King’s experiences and journeys as a writer. King let’s the reader in on his personal life to explain why he writes the way he does. The book shows his idea and style about writing. King gives much advice throughout the text to the reader, but the purpose of the novel is not so much about advice on writing. The purpose is that anyone can become successful not only in writing, but anything you put your mind to and focus on, can sculpt you to become better at the thing you want to become better at. Also that life is random and so are the ideas that are given to a writer so be patient.

Personally, I did not enjoy the “Reading to Write” passage by Stephen King. The passage was not very interesting so I had a hard time getting myself to read it. It reminded me of the dull passages I had to read in high school, because it’s nothing I would ever choose to read outside of class. However, I did learn a few things, for example, “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: Read a lot and write a lot” (King 221), a person can learn the most from the really bad written books, most of the time an author can use one specific word to many times, and that someone can always find the time to read. If I had the option to read more on this passage I probably wouldn’t read it, just because it’s not something that

Writing is a skill that everyone develops differently. Writers have developed their own ways to write and to communicate to the readers their ideas, thoughts or stories, these ways are not the same by all the authors. For example, Imagination is something unique to each person, and it gives the special magic for each written. Some writers can describe their style and inspiration different from the others. As these four writers which talent involve more and more people every day: Stephen King, Wally Lamb, Karen Thompson and Marcus Zusak. Each of these persons with different ways of expression and inspiration, but with the same vocation. Initially, Stephen King, who thinks that to star writhing its necessary, just one idea