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Erica Robyn Reads

a horror book review blog

Recent Posts

Black Out The Stars by Christopher Bond - book sitting on wooden flooring. Book cover of Black Out the Stars by Christopher Bond, cover illustrated by Todd Kiesling. The design showcases a dark, atmospheric pond and sky filled with swirling fog and scattered stars. The title is prominently displayed in bold, white, pink and purple lettering, contrasting against the deep purple and black hues of the background.

Black Out The Stars by Christopher Bond | Book Review

Indie Bookstore Day 2025 | Book Event

A tablet lies on dry grass and surrounded by dandelions in a natural outdoor setting. The screen displays the cover of the book Everybody Is in the Place by Emma J. Gibbon. The cover features a colorful, fantastical illustration of a female figure with glowing eyes and curved horns, holding something mysterious in her hands. Stars and swirling cosmic elements fill the background, giving the cover a magical and otherworldly feel. The title text is in bold, colorful letters across the top and middle, with the author's name at the bottom.

Everybody Is in the Place by Emma J. Gibbon | Book Review

[Book Review] On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

January 10, 2019      Erica Robyn      26 Comments

On Writing by Stephen King

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King was a wonderful blend of memoir and lessons about writing fiction. I am a huge Stephen King fan, so I really enjoyed learning about his life and his process!

I can’t believe it took me so long to give this one a read! If you’ve been putting it off as well, I highly recommend moving it closer to the top of your TBR list!

Let’s dive in!

My Thoughts on On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

As this is Stephen King, I’m not going to focus on the writing style for long. I will simply say that I really enjoyed how this book was organized; it was sectioned into various chunks, but it all flowed so well and King tied everything together wonderfully. I loved that he added in a few callbacks to something that he had written about earlier in the book, this was such a fun touch!

The first chunk of the book was about his life, centering mainly on his childhood and teen years before moving on to his marriage and early career. This helped to show the reader what his life was like and how his childhood shaped him as a writer. This was the most interesting section to me because I really enjoy learning more about individuals that I am a huge fan of, especially when they are the ones writing their story!

The What Writing Is chapter was awesome! I love how he painted a picture and then broke it down and relayed that to writing and telepathy. This chapter also housed one of my favorite quotes of all time:

Stephen King On Writing Book Quote

Next up was the section called “Toolbox” where he begins with a wonderful story about childhood and a toolbox and then relates that to basic writing skills, or your tools, and explains these tools a bit.

Then we get into the section with the lessons about writing called “On Writing.” This section was slightly dry to me, simply because I am not a fiction writer so some of the tips and tricks didn’t really stand out for me. That being said, I still found it really interesting to read and I loved learning more about the craft! I will definitely be using a few things that I learned when an author sends me an draft of their book and asks for feedback. I also need to make use of a few lessons that I learned in my blog posts!

The book then begins to wind down with a section called “On Living: A Postscript.” This section was very difficult to read as it discusses King’s accident in detail. It was so heartbreaking to learn more about the van that hit him. I remember when this happened. As a Mainer, this was all over the news so I was aware of the details, but hearing it straight from him was so powerful.

This last section ends on a wonderful note, but it’s certainly not a section for the squeamish.

A few additional notes:
King doesn’t remember setting Cujo, as it was during his drug and alcohol stage. I thought this was a rumor, but turns out it is true! Poor guy, I’m glad he got out of that phase!

Throughout the book, I adored how much he talked about his wife, Tabitha! It was so heartwarming to read about their support of one another. 

My Favorite Passages from On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

Writing is a lonely job. Having someone who believes in you makes a lot of difference. They don’t have to make speeches. Just believing is usually enough.

Sometimes you have to go on when you don’t feel like it, and sometimes you’re doing good work when it feels like all you’re managing is to shovel shit from a sitting position.

… books are a uniquely portable magic.

If I have to spend time in purgatory before going to one place or the other, I guess I’ll be all right as long as there’s a lending library…

I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs, and I will shout it from the rooftops.

If there’s no joy in it, it’s just no good.

Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader’s.

… and one of the cardinal rules of good fiction is never tell us a thing if you can show us…

And I believe that most people smart enough to read a novel are also tactful enough to find a gentler mode of expression than “This sucks.”

The scariest moment is always just before you start. After that, things can only get better.

My Final Thoughts on On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

If you are a writer of fiction, I highly recommend this one! There are so many wonderful lessons included that are written in such an interesting way.

If you’re simply a reader, I also highly recommend this one! I am not a fiction writer, but I still loved learning more about the craft! And of course, the section that was mainly memoir was so interesting!


Snag a copy through Bookshop to help support local indie bookshops:

Thanks for reading!
Have you read any books on writing? If so, what was your favorite?

Here are a few more recent posts you might like:

  • Black Out The Stars by Christopher Bond | Book Review
  • Indie Bookstore Day 2025 | Book Event
  • Everybody Is in the Place by Emma J. Gibbon | Book Review

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Shooting Stars Mag says

    January 10, 2019 at 4:50 pm

    I do hear this is a good one, and since I write fiction, I probably should grab it at some point. I knew he had a drug/alcohol phase and forgot things he wrote, but I didn't know he had gotten hit by a van at some point. How scary!

    -Lauren
    http://www.shootingstarsmag.net

    Reply
    • Erica Metcalf says

      January 10, 2019 at 6:41 pm

      I definitely recommend this one! I'd love to hear your thoughts when you pick it up and what you take away as a writer! 🙂 And right?! He came incredibly close to dying!

      Reply
  2. Heather G. says

    January 10, 2019 at 5:13 pm

    I actually just picked this one up from the library. I hope to get it read this month! So glad it's a good one with lots of tidbits for everyone.

    Reply
    • Erica Metcalf says

      January 10, 2019 at 6:39 pm

      Awesome! Enjoy!!

      Reply
  3. Greg says

    January 10, 2019 at 10:58 pm

    Looks so interesting! Love the quotes. And I never knew until recently he had a drug phase- I remember reading something about some of the movies that were made from his books in the 80's or whatever and how he was affected by the habit. Glad he got out of that phase too!

    Reply
    • Erica Metcalf says

      January 11, 2019 at 11:48 am

      😀

      Reply
  4. chucklesthescot says

    January 11, 2019 at 10:56 am

    I found this book interesting when I read it years back. It was interesting to find out more about King and his thoughts.

    Reply
    • Erica Metcalf says

      January 11, 2019 at 11:47 am

      😀 I agree!

      Reply
  5. Angela Lawrence says

    January 11, 2019 at 12:38 pm

    I would say if you're going to read about writing, you can't do much better than Stephen King!

    Reply
    • Erica Metcalf says

      January 12, 2019 at 2:08 am

      😀

      Reply
  6. AJ Sterkel says

    January 11, 2019 at 2:01 pm

    I’m so terrible at writing fiction that I don’t think a book can help me, but I read this one in college and enjoyed it. Stephen King is one of my favorite writers. I liked learning about his life. Great review!

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

    Reply
    • Erica Metcalf says

      January 12, 2019 at 2:08 am

      <3

      Reply
  7. Lory says

    January 12, 2019 at 12:28 am

    I've seen this recommended several times as a book on the craft of writing. I'm not much of a King reader (too squeamish!) but I respect him as a writer. I'm also always interested in the intersection between life and art and I love memoirs that explore those links.

    Reply
    • Erica Metcalf says

      January 12, 2019 at 2:09 am

      I would recommend this one for you up until the last chapter! 🙂 The first part of his life and all of the lessons about writing was so much fun! But that last chapter was where the graphic elements came in with his accident.

      Reply
  8. Heather Cilley says

    January 12, 2019 at 9:41 pm

    I loved this book so much! I am so happy you loved it too. 🙂

    Reply
    • Erica Metcalf says

      January 13, 2019 at 5:18 pm

      😀

      Reply
  9. Lauren Stoolfire says

    January 12, 2019 at 11:12 pm

    One of the few Stephen King books I haven't read – I am working on Elevation now though. 🙂

    Reply
    • Erica Metcalf says

      January 13, 2019 at 5:19 pm

      Enjoy!! 🙂

      Reply
  10. Suzanne at The Bookish Libra says

    January 13, 2019 at 12:04 am

    This sounds like a great read and I've always wanted a look inside of King's mind to see how he does what he does when it comes to crafting his stories.

    Reply
    • Erica Metcalf says

      January 13, 2019 at 5:19 pm

      It's so interesting!!

      Reply
  11. Jennifer | Book Den says

    January 13, 2019 at 7:01 pm

    I loved this book so much. I was very surprised by it when I first read it. I'm long overdue for a reread.

    Reply
    • Erica Metcalf says

      January 13, 2019 at 7:12 pm

      😀

      Reply
  12. Olivia-Savannah says

    January 16, 2019 at 9:57 am

    I have read this one and I absolutely loved it. I love how he talks about his wife – he clearly sees her as his support and evidently loves her. I really loved the ending. Maybe not for the squeamish, but it also shows how much he truly loves writing.

    Reply
    • Erica Metcalf says

      January 16, 2019 at 6:25 pm

      <3

      Reply
  13. Anstice Brown says

    January 23, 2019 at 6:22 am

    My mum gifted this to me a few weeks ago and I'm really looking forward to reading it.

    Reply
    • Erica Metcalf says

      January 24, 2019 at 12:03 am

      <3

      Reply

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Erica Robyn of Erica Robyn Reads
Hello! I’m Erica, a Mainer living in New Hampshire who runs on hot tea, good books, and loud music. Join me as I seek out amazing horror tales and help support the indie horror community!
 

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