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Although I still have not read any of Stephen King's wildly popular horror fiction, I was prepared to like this book. I was prepared by a preface King wrote to a story anthology by science fiction writer Harlan Ellison. In the essay King compares one writer reading another's work to refrigerated milk in an open carton at risk of picking up other flavors. On Writing is an excellent, readable, and revealing primer of the life of a modern writer, a kind of Horatio Alger story devoid of both pomposity and false modesty. Although the book is devoted as much or more to King's life's than it is to writing, the two subjects are mutually illuminating. The actual advice he gives about writing is also, when he gets to it, most instructive. It can be summarized by the phrase: Omit Needless Words. King emphasizes editing, demonstrates the economy of eliminating adverbs, and looks objectively at his own and others' work. The result is refreshing honesty and practical advice. My favorite line is about the virtual necessity of destroying a book's "best parts"-fetishized passages beloved by the author-for the sake of the novel as a whole. Because these favorite parts often act like blood clots or traffic blocking narrative flow, they must be gotten rid of. Although not his own, the phrase is fittingly macabre for a work scribed by King: "Kill your darlings."

Stephen King remains one of the most amazing, intelligent and creative writers of our time...of ALL time. His words, once used to do no more than terrify, have become words of peace and hope...and ones that every aspiring writer should read at least a little of. I believe On Writing to be his most brilliant work, and not just because it is a wonderful guide of the craft of creation, it is a touching, sometimes even haunting memoir of King's life, and how he came to be such an appreciated writer.

Instead of being like a textbook, On Writing draws from King's own experiences, including using poison ivy as toilet paper, college and his near fatal accident...and relates them on tools for writing. Somehow, in the brilliance he possesses, King relates these awkward experiences to his readers, and understanding is attained. By the end, you feel saved, and inspired to write 10,000 words a day. It is a book that I would read just for fun, and do not understand why it is required reading for creative writing classes. It is one of the shortest books King has written, but its brilliance still shines bright.

If you want to feel inspired as well, and need to be pushed away from writer's block, pick this up and sit down with it. I promise you, you will not be able to put it down, and when you finally finish, you will want to know when the sequel comes out.

Stephen King's On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, is probably the best advice book you're goin to get.
It has three parts:
(1)An account on his younger life, and why he thinks he came to be the type of writer she is today.
(2)The second part is an absolutely fantastic account on writing. He runs you through Plot Development, Character development, different types of plot eg: Story/Situation, advice on Literary Agents, submitting short-stories to magazines etc etc etc...
(3)And the last 60 pages or so is an account on the horrifying accident he had in 1999 in Maine. He walks through it in detail.

As an aspiring writer myself, I found this book classic. When I think back to before, when I didnt read it - and was writing myself - If found that I really needed it.

So, for anyone who wants to know the low-down on becoming a successful writer, buy the book; for anyone who is a fan this is a must, you will read exciteing stories about his childhood and later life, and read the explicit chapter on his horrible accident.
King, at his best. :-)(-: