On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King is a book I see recommended over and over and over to aspiring writers. I am unreasonably furious every time. Why? Because I read it about a decade ago, when I was a writer working in marketing1 but hoping to get in touch with another version of myself who loved writing fiction, and it devastated me.
Two points, for the sake of fairness: 1) All due respect to Stephen King as a talented writer because wow, can that man spin a tale, and 2) please know I was EXTREMELY depressed at the time.
That being said … On Writing was probably the worst writing book that I could have picked up. It set me back for years. Continue reading on Substack
