On Writing - Stephen King

On Writing is Stephen King's book about the craft of writing - inspiration, technique and style.

I imagine it is essential reading for aspiring fiction writers.

However, since I'm not a fiction writer, I found some of the book to be a little boring.  But I found some commonalities between writing fiction and writing music, the most profound being that you need to spend as much time reading books as you do writing them.  Same goes for music - one needs to spend as much time listening to music as one does writing.

Oddly, though I don't write fiction (or non-fiction for that matter) and occasionally write music, I spend way more time reading than I do listening to music.

I really enjoyed the way he ended this book.  Upon healing from a really bad accident, he says "Writing did not save my life.  Dr. David Brown's skill and my wife's loving care did that.  But, it has continued to do what it always has done.  It makes my life a brighter and more pleasant place.  Writing isn't about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friends.  In the end, it's about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life as well.  It's about getting up, getting well, and getting over.  Getting happy, okay?  Getting happy.  Some of this book, perhaps too much, has been about how I learned to do it.  Much of it has been about how you can do it better.  The rest of it, and perhaps the best of it, is a permission slip - you can, you should, and if you're brave enough to start, you will.  Writing is magic, as much the water of life as any other creative art.  The water is free.  So drink.  Drink and be filled up."

I'd give this book a 6 out of 10 for my personal enjoyment, though I have to say that the conclusion quoted above was inspirational to me as a musician.  If I was a writer, I'd probably give this a 9 out of 10.