Review and gift idea presented by Róisín Tuohy
For nigh on forty years, Stephen King has been bashing out powerful stories and iconic characters, not to mention terrifying the hell out of people.
On writing is a different kind of book. Written in 2000, as King made a slow recovery from a horrific road accident, it’s a thoughtful reflection on the part words and stories have played in his own life.
King reminisces on the events that made him a writer, a not always easy childhood, an early adulthood that was filled with professional rejection, until he struck gold with a story his wife fished out of the bin (it was, of course, Carrie).
King dispenses advice that makes it all seem so easy, but even for us lesser souls there are pearls of invaluable wisdom.
If you’re a seat-of-your-pants kind of writer, you’ll love his advice on splurging your first draft onto the page and fixing later. “Write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open,” he says. If it’s good enough for the Master of Horror, it’s good enough for the rest of us.
Reading this book is like chatting with an old friend. Pop it into a stocking for the writer in your life.