by Rebecca Laffar-Smith

Created on: March 24, 2007   Last Updated: May 08, 2007

With lighthearted humor, Stephen King expresses anecdotes of his life and offers insight into his writing process and the journey of his career in his memoir, "On Writing". Stephen shares the light and the darkness that molded him through his life in a courageous, empowering voice that is inspiring and motivational.

The book evolves as events in his life continued to alter his outlook and the second half of On Writing has a distinct intensity. His voice carries a deep integrity as he expresses key thoughts on writing and how he approaches his work. One of the most vital of these is the need to give ourselves permission to write. For Stephen King, permission to write came at an early age with his mother's encouragement, "Writing one of your own, Stevie."

This book is a wonderful read for all writers and entertaining for non-writers. Stephen King has a fluid hand that is a delight to read. The second half of the book contains helpful advice, but I felt a writer would find the first half more inspiring. I did find the profanity scattered across the book grating, but he has a section where he speaks of that also. It says a lot about who Stephen is and how he was raised. The entire book opens him up. Readers are given the opportunity to 'know' him, and that connection of minds shows the truth he shares of writer's telepathy.

Despite all he has suffered in life Stephen comes out a stronger man. In "On Writing" he offers aspiring writers a wealth of advice the most significant being, "Read a lot, Write a lot." You can only learn your subject by immersing yourself in it and as with all artistic desire to reach perfection the Carnegie hall anecdote comes to mine, "Practice, practice, practice".

Title: On Writing: A Memoir Of The Craft
Author: Stephen King
Publisher: Pocket (July 1, 2002)
Find Out More: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0743455967/ip seitys-20

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