I first came across King’s On Writing at the durable C.M. Recto branch of National Book Store (where I also discovered Judith L. Rapoport, MD’s The Boy Who Couldn’t Stop Washing way before OCD begat Monk.) After browsing a slightly peeled copy (the wrap was already torn when I saw it), I was convinced it was worth owning. A few paydays and several "checkups" later – to check if there was still a copy – I finally bagged the paperback.
Though a slim publication, On Writing – subtitled "A Memoir of the Craft" – is actually two books in one: an autobiographical writing manual. This is no freak-lit that fright fans would normally savor from the Maine-based master. Instead, On Writing is a concise yet substantial, my-experience-your-teacher look into the life and times of a bestselling author who has survived and thrived. As such, it is probably the most engaging writing tome ever penned, free from the clunky wieldiness and impersonal stance of many writing handbooks.
Writers, aspiring and accomplished alike, would relish King’s anecdotes and self-learned lessons on what it takes to live and succeed with the craft – lessons that include the fact that, although "[There is] no story central" where ideas are ours for the taking, inspiration can be quite an omnipresence, generated by direct or indirect experiences with other people. Yet even non-writers would appreciate On Writing for King’s vivid, often subtly amusing recollections from childhood onwards, as well as emotional episodes like his first huge publishing payday and his account – a detailed one, fair warning – of his near fatal accident in 1999. Along the way, the book reveals what the curious may not yet know: that King writes horror simply because wholesome tales bore him – itself a lesson in being yourself.
I likewise find On Writing pleasurable, downright fun to read, for King’s conversational, matter-of-fact style; friendly yet never patronizing. Thanks too to his vow herein to "Omit needless words," as mandated by Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style – the one writing manual, King cites, "every aspiring writer should read"– On Writing is probably King’s snappiest work yet. Besides abounding in writing pointers – some newfound, others familiar – On Writing is infectious enough to have compelled me to flip through my own mental photo album as he recounts this or that growing-up moment. Best of all, whether during or right after reading this bestseller, my mind was consequently loaded with a good idea or two. It’s splendid too that, for all his multi-million dollar success, King remains grounded, humble enough to prod budding writers to go beyond his book ("Write a lot and read a lot"), even providing a sizable list of books he has enjoyed that aspirants could start with.
While the entirety of On Writing ends with the said reading list, the main body concludes with a swell summation from a man who continues to dazzle in and be dazzled by his profession: "In the end, [writing is] about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life, as well."
I’m certain that not every one (hello, literary snobs) would fancy On Writing. Still, it’s the one book in my small library of once- or partly read volumes that, to paraphrase movie critic Roger Ebert, makes me envy everyone else who will experience it for the first time.