On Writing Summary
On Writing, as its title suggests, is Stephen King’s book on how to write.
- King has split the book into two parts; in the first, he narrates the story of his life in a series of vignettes to describe how he became the author he is today.
- As the narrative progresses, King shifts discusses his fascination with horror films, his nascent writing attempts, and his moving account of selling his first novel, Carrie.
- The second part of the book is devoted to the actual mechanics of good writing, and King offers advice about various topics, including voice, grammar, and strong storytelling.
Summary
The first part of On Writing is called “C.V.” and, as this title suggests, is mainly about King’s life. King writes about his “odd, herky-jerky childhood” in which he was raised by a single mother, beginning with his earliest memory. This memory involves picking up a cinder block to uncover a wasp’s nest, being stung on the ear by a wasp, and dropping the cinder block on his foot. He claims that this is not a conventional autobiography, but an attempt to show how and why he became a writer, using “snapshots” like this one from his past.
King provides character vignettes as well as incidents that happened to him. He says that he had many babysitters, but the only one he recalls with any clarity was a teenage girl called Eula or Beulah. Eula-Beulah had a dangerous sense of humor and was always laughing at him. His mother dismissed her after she fed King seven fried eggs one morning for breakfast, then locked him in a closet when he was sick.
The author describes his school days, the stories he wrote as a child, and the first time he fell in love. He writes about his relationship with his brother, David, whose intelligence and restless nature were continually getting both of them into trouble, and the publication of his first story in a horror fanzine. He also talks about the influence of horror movies on his early work, particularly that of a film version of Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Pit and the Pendulum,” which he turned back into a written work, printed, and distributed “in violation of every plagiarism and copyright statute in the history of the world.”
King describes how he met and married Tabitha Spruce, who is still his wife, and had two children with her. He then talks about how he embarked on his career as a professional writer and teacher. His fourth novel, Carrie, was the first to be published and the one which taught him the most about the craft of writing. In particular, he learned that “the writer’s original perception of a character or characters may be as erroneous as the reader’s” and that stopping work because a novel is emotionally or imaginatively difficult is a bad idea. He never liked the eponymous protagonist, Carrie White, but came to understand her and feel pity for her.
In parallel with his descriptions of literary development and success, King writes about how he became an alcoholic and a drug addict who wrote much of his work and even delivered his mother’s eulogy while drunk. He barely remembers writing one of his novels, Cujo, at all. King eventually decided to embrace a sober lifestyle when his wife organized a painful and awkward intervention and told him to choose between his addictions and their marriage. He ends by advising the aspiring writer to put their desk in the corner and “every time you sit down there to write, remind yourself why it isn’t in the middle of the room. Life isn’t a support system for art. It’s the other way around.”
The second and shortest part of the book is called “What Writing Is.” King begins by saying that writing is telepathy, the surest way human beings have to see the same thing. He describes a rabbit cage on a table covered by a red cloth. Inside is a white rabbit with the number eight on its back. While there will be slight differences in the pictures individual readers have in their minds, the general outline will be the same.
The third section...
(This entire section contains 1284 words.)
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is called “Toolbox.” King’s grandfather was a carpenter and had a large toolbox that he made himself. King suggests that a writer should do the same thing: “construct your own toolbox and then build up enough muscle so you can carry it with you.” The writer’s most elementary tools include vocabulary and grammar. However, the largest vocabulary and the most scrupulously correct grammar do not necessarily lead to the best writing. Examples of great writers who do not use large vocabularies include Ernest Hemingway and John Steinbeck. Writers should generally avoid the passive voice, which sounds weak and evasive, and should be wary of adverbs. King concludes this part of the book by pointing out that, even as writers build up their toolkits, they should remember that writing is not only a matter of tools and carpentry but also involves magic.
The fourth part of the book is called “On Writing.” King begins with two theses. One is that good writing is largely a matter of mastering the craft and using the tools described in the third section. The second is that there are various levels of writer: bad, competent, good, and great. It is not possible to make a competent writer out of a bad one, or a great writer out of a good one, but King believes that if you are already a competent writer, hard work, dedication, and luck can make you a good one.
The aspiring writer must do two things: “read a lot and write a lot.” King is a slow reader but still reads between seventy and eighty books a year because he loves to read and takes every possible opportunity to do so. The writer must forgo other pleasures, particularly television, to make time for reading. What constitutes a lot of reading or a lot of writing varies from person to person. King cannot hope to be as prolific as Anthony Trollope but tries to be as consistent as the great Victorian novelist and write 2,000 words a day.
King advises writing at least two drafts, one “with the study door closed” and one with it open. By this, he means that the first draft should be written for oneself alone and written quickly, “downloading what’s in my head directly to the page.” The second draft should be written more slowly and carefully, with the reader in mind. Between these drafts, you should let your book rest, King suggests, for a minimum of six weeks. After the second draft, you can show the book to people whose opinions you value, though some writers are resistant to doing this, and King will not attempt to change their minds. Not all opinions weigh equally, and the writer may well be addressing a particular person, who may not exist or may be dead, whom King calls the “Ideal Reader.”
An appeal to the Ideal Reader is the best way to settle such questions as the pace and plotting of the novel. King does not use plot diagrams and seldom knows exactly how his stories are going to turn out. Instead, he thinks of what the Ideal Reader’s reaction would be to any artistic decision he might make. Plot is not the same as story; it is merely a technical device for telling the story, which is itself all-important. The Harry Potter books are such a great success because they are “pure story from beginning to end.”
In “On Living: A Postscript,” King returns to writing about his life, this time to a recent incident in which he was hit by a van and almost died. King says that, while writing did not save his life—his doctor and his wife did that—it did what it has always done: “it makes my life a brighter and more pleasant place.” In the final analysis, writing is about enriching the lives of both the reader and the writer. He concludes with an example showing his own revision and editing process, and a list of books that have entertained and influenced him.
