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theremightbecupcakes's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcohol and Alcoholism
samchase112's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
My lack of love for this book is definitely "it's not you, it's me" situation. I've never read a Stephen King fiction piece nor ever been interested in becoming a creative writer, let alone author. This wasn't the book for me, and that became clear pretty early on. Nonetheless, I can see it being interesting to King fans, and in that case I'd definitely recommend the audiobook. As for me, it was background noise that I tuned out while starting a puzzle — not exactly the attitude I love to have while reading a memoir.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Death of parent, Cancer, and Cursing
livruther's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
3.25
i didnt like the memoir sections bc they didnt seem meaningful or relevant to the work as a whole, and i didnt feel like i learned very much at all.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content and Injury/Injury detail
heathersinkwell's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
If you want to write, read this book. It's probably one of the most valuable books you'll read on the subject. King is entertaining, down to earth, and realistic with his advice. It was also neat to learn more about him and his life!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Minor: Cancer and Death of parent
King talks about his period of alcohol and drug addiction. He doesn't get too graphic about it and it's a relatively short part of the book. He also mentions cancer briefly within his memoir. He also details his near-death experience from being hit by a van. King does not get too gorey with the subject, but there is detail.skysbooknook's review against another edition
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, and Drug abuse
sapphiresky's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
5.0
Excellent read! Stephen inspires! This book is witty, thoughtful, and loaded with useful insights about writing. Stephen has a beautiful soul! Don’t be fooled if people tell you he writes horrible books. LOOK DEEPER! He’s trying to make a point for the reader to take home. Don’t dismiss horror at the surface level!
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcoholism and Injury/Injury detail
catandherbooks's review against another edition
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
4.0
Not sure if I'll ever read anything else by King but I liked this one. He seems like a nice guy who loves what he does. Love Tabitha too. Really want to try to write something, see if some of his advice works for me. I also want to read some of the books the author recommended in the end of the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Alcoholism
mythriser14's review against another edition
slow-paced
1.25
I was disappointed and disgusted in this book on several levels. I made sure to read the hole thing so I wouldn’t leave a half baked review on first impressions. But it sucked and I’ll try to explain why:
- We spend the first third of the book in Random life stories and a strange biography I couldn’t really figure out the point of. Yes, I know it’s a memoir, but if he wants to write a memoir write a memoir, if he wants to write a how-to book, do that, but I really wasn’t a fan of reading about him throwing up scrambled eggs into his mothers shoes and turning around and talking about how you may only become “merely competent.” If you have a memoir as part of a book on writing, shouldn’t it be about writing?
- When you get to the actual writing advice, it’s redundant and reminiscent of anything you might have found googling the topic. He adds nothing new except a level of crudity he passes off as humor and the entire rest of the book could have been very well left at these two lines: “good writing consists of mastering the fundamentals (vocabulary, grammar, the elements of style).“ and “it is impossible to make a competent writer out of a bad writer, and while it is equally impossible to make a great writer out of a good one, it is possible, with lots of hard work, dedication, and timely help, to make a good writer out of a merely competent one.” So basically, go to elementary school and if you linger on the unlucky side of writing skills, you are doomed to be no more than merely competent. Thanks for that, Stevie. That makes all aspiring writers with imposter syndrome feel truly awesome.
- The aforementioned crudeness and poor language literally gave a poor excuse of it being a part of the world and mocks those who don’t like it as being “legions of decency.” Just because it’s a thing that has become so common doesn’t mean I want it to be shoved in my face every other word either. I don’t appreciate being called “cowardly and dishonest” if I chose to write without it or dislike it in his writing.
- The most interesting part of the book was the section on his car accident, but I still have to wonder about the point of it.
My advice? If you’re looking for a good book on how to write better, go read Ally Carter’s “Dear Ally, how do you write a book” and ignore her prompting to read this one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident and Injury/Injury detail
stargirlmolly's review against another edition
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Injury/Injury detail
raesansom's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Car accident, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, and Medical content
Moderate: Cancer and Bullying
Minor: Child abuse, Misogyny, and Suicide