POSTCARDS FROM THE MUSE

How to Write

By Nandy Ekle

On Writing, by Stephen King. In my opinion, the best instructional writing book out there. 

The first half of the book is a very honest sort of autobiography (which I think, as a happy “Constant Reader,” is very interesting). The second half of the book is lessons and tips. Since Mr. King is a high school English teacher, along with the fact of his enormous success as a writer, in my eyes, he is a penultimate writing teacher.

The biography half of the book gives us, the readers, an insight into his thought process. He starts with his earliest memories and goes through his experience after being hit by a car in 1999. Extremely interesting material for those of us with a deep love of words, a smattering of talent, and small income vs. daily expenses. According to the book, the King family was next to bankrupt when his first book, Carrie, hit the market. An extremely encouraging epistle.

The writing part of the book is equally helpful. This part gives some grammar advice, dialogue advice, description advice, and insight into what your reader might be thinking. He gives a scenario and a challenge to the readers of the book to write a story (set up by Mr. King himself) and send it to him for review. However, the version of the book I, myself, own is from the year 2000. 

This is why I recommend Stephen King’s On Writing, A Memoir of the Craft for anyone who wants to learn to write fictional stories.