ŷ������

“On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft�� by Stephen King is one of those rare books that comes across your way and leaves an imprint on you for the rest of your life. This is especially so if you’re a writer trying to hone your craft in this beautiful world of writing and learn a thing or two from one of the best authors to ever do it.

Now, before I begin my review, here are some of the trigger warnings I found while reading this novel��

- Alcoholism
- Drugs
- Suicide
- Bullying
- Traffic collision with a pedestrian

If any of these trigger you, please do not read this novel. Moving along, here’s a little backstory on me and why this novel spoke to me in ways I’ve never experienced before. You see, besides loving to write these book reviews, I’m also a professional sports writer and editor. I’ve been writing for over 25 years now on everything from wrestling, football, baseball, and other various sports.

I truly wish I read this novel back in 2000 when it was first published since this would have been immensely helpful for that young aspiring writer in me. Yeah, I read a lot of self-help, how-to, grammar, and general writing books to hopefully “make it�� in the world of sports writing. They all helped me but who knows, perhaps if I read “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft�� back then, I might have achieved my dreams a lot sooner in my life than later on. That’s how resourceful this novel is in the grand scheme of things.

One thing about me is that throughout the various stages of my writing career, I knew I wasn’t the best writer but make no mistake about it, I worked harder than anyone around me. I wrote as many high-quality articles as I could, hitting over 100+ a month to keep getting my name out there. I kept learning, growing, and adapting over time and I’m very proud to say that yes, I made it and have made my dreams come true. I work in sports media in a managerial Editorial Director role and it’s one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me in my life. It wasn’t easy to earn this role but I made it and reading “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft�� proved that every single thing King advises in this novel on the craft of writing is 100 percent true.

Work hard, be humble, read more than you write, and never forget where you came from. My goodness, this was such a powerful read. I loved how raw and real King was about the craft of writing where he spoke the unfiltered truth about what it takes to be a great writer. Reading this felt as if I was sitting with him in a nice cafe in Maine where he talked to me about his life, shared some great stories, and gave me writing advice over iced coffee.

I loved all the unique stories of King’s life that shaped him into the master storyteller that he is today. To read about King as a kid and how he slowly got introduced to the world of reading was pretty awesome since it all started there.

As I kept reading, I learned this novel can hit you in multiple ways depending on what you want to get out of it. You can learn a ton about King himself, how he comes up with the horror masterpieces that he does, and of course, get detailed writing advice from one of the greatest authors of all time.

It was beyond fascinating to read how King got the inspiration while growing up for future short stories, especially “Graveyard Shift�� which is one of my favorites. I also thought it was great reading about how he met and fell in love with his wife Tabitha and how instrumental she was in making sure he did what she knew he was great at was astounding. It’s crazy to think that “Carrie�� would never have been published if it wasn’t for his wife. King probably wouldn’t even have been an author if she hadn’t come through in the clutch.

This novel teaches a lot, especially how important it is to work your way up through hard work, effort, and determination if you’re serious about being a writer. These were also some of the cornerstones I focused on in my path and I can tell you firsthand that King hit the nail right on the head with those key factors, especially with having patience.

There are no shortcuts to this. It’s a lot of late nights, early mornings, and a lot of frustration. If you love it as much as you need to breathe and are patient, you will get there in due time. If you’re doing this for money or popularity, you won’t last. King confirmed that and even though I am nowhere near his level, I can at least say that my sports content has been read by millions of readers over the years and I didn’t achieve any of that success at first. It took me a very long time to achieve those levels which is exactly what King preaches about rejection and failure tends to come first before you ever taste success.

Another thing I loved that King emphasized was how important it is to read a lot if you want to be a great writer. Even in my early years of sports writing, I always read tons of other sports articles before typing a single word of my content. It’s important to get those creative juices flowing, learn different writing styles, and start developing your signature by reading the best of the best. It comes with time and before you know it, you’ll carve your niche in writing.

One of my favorite quotes that King said about this has resonated with me for many years now. I feel every writer should have this written down somewhere to read at any given notice...

“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcuts.��

Powerful, eh? Now, one thing to note about reading this novel is that King does indeed spoil a lot of his best and most popular novels. So if you’ve never read “Carrie��, “The Institute��, “Misery��, “Under the Dome��, or “‘Salem’s Lot�� just keep an eye out when he discusses these novels and skip those sections. If you’ve read the majority of King’s work including the aforementioned novels, you’ll be fine.

In addition to being very proud of what I’ve accomplished in the sports writing industry so far (being a manager now means less writing and more coaching but I love what I do because I do what I love), I’m also extremely proud of the impact when it comes to these reviews I write on ŷ������ and Amazon. I am honest in everything I write whether it’s a sports article or book review. King confirmed a lot of what I believe in when it comes to the difference between a 5-Star and 1-Star rating for a book.

It’s all about the story, characters, backstory, pacing, doing your research so everything feels as authentic as possible, and making it as tight as it can be by omitting needless words. Every single time I read a book and write a review, these are the core things I look for when determining my final rating. If I see fluff, I’m going to call it out. If I am bored due to terrible pacing, I’m going to call it out. If the story does nothing for me you better believe I’m going to call it out. All I’m looking for is to give me a great and memorable story and you’ll have me forever as a reader.

I connected with King in this novel on so many levels and as a fellow writer, it’s a surreal feeling. This was such a personal, insightful, and incredible read that I will never forget for the rest of my life. It’s inspiring for someone like me to continue honing my craft as a writer and even though I write a lot more book reviews than sports articles these days, everything I learned here has sharpened the tools in my toolbox. You’ll know what I mean by that analogy if you end up reading this magnificent novel.

Besides all the wonderful writing advice King drops on here and a deep look at his life’s stories, I’d say the craziest part was when he explained his near-death experience when he got hit by that damn blue van back in 1999. That was heartbreaking, emotional, and very painful to read. I can only imagine what that ordeal must have been like but to hear King break it all down including how he feared for his own life was intense.

From beginning to end, this was a genuine pageturner and I loved how this twentieth-anniversary edition featured two sections at the end by his sons Owen King and Joe Hill. It was pretty awesome to read how King got Owen to record audiobooks as a kid for an allowance and a transcript of a fun conversation he had with Joe Hill at a 2019 event at Porter Square Books.

I give “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft�� by Stephen King a 5/5 as this is a must-read novel for any aspiring writer. The advice given here is superb and will help anyone serious about this craft learn all the tools needed to be in a position to succeed. I know for me personally, even after two decades of being a professional sports writer, I still learned many things from this novel. I have never had the privilege of meeting King in person but if I ever do or if by some miracle, he reads this review, all I have to say is for yet another 5-Star reading experience he’s given me�� thank you.

Thank you for being an inspiration to countless writers across the globe. Thank you for sharing your writing wisdom with the masses and enforcing the principles of being humble, working hard, and killing adverbs one word at a time. Thank you for all the fantastic reading memories, creepy characters, and some of the best horror I have ever read. Thank you for always inspiring me <3