In On Writing, Stephen King writes about his own life from childhood to adulthood. The memoir is divided into five sections: CV, What Writing Is, Toolbox, On Writing, and On Living. In the CV section, King details about childhood experience where a single mother raised him. His mother, Nellie, and older brother, David, faced several challenges before King developed an interest in writing. King argues that he started writing at a tender age. First, he plagiarized content from comic books before indulging in professional writing. King also writes about meeting and marrying his wife, Tabitha, at the College. His struggle with drugs and how he overcame the addiction are some of the details given in the first section.
The second section of this book is What Writing Is. In this section, King likens writing to telepathy. According to him, writing is much like telepathy because the writer transmits information to another person without using the physical or sensory pathway. In simple terms, writing is communication through thoughts. The third section is Toolbox, where King argues that writers need tools. He compares the situation to his Uncle Oren’s handmade toolbox, where he carries the box all over. Therefore, writers need to have their tools everywhere. The tools for writing are vocabulary, grammar, and elements of style.
The fourth section is On Writing, which is also the title of the book. In this section, King claims that every person has a talent either as a storyteller or a writer. Talents only need to be practiced. King believes that readers need time to read. People who don’t have time to read do not have time to write either. The last section is On Living. In this section, King gives details about an accident that occurred in 1999. However, after recovery, he continued with writing.
