I've never read ANY of Stephen King's books. After reading this book, I realized why--they're all horror/creepy books, and that's just not my style. This book obviously isn't fiction, so it doesn't fall into those categories, and I really enjoyed it. The book is really meant for people who are looking to write their own books, as advice and information about writing, and although I don't necessarily fall into that category (right now) I still found it interesting.
The first half of the book is straight memoir--a brief autobiography of sorts, in small vignettes about his growing-up years and different elements from his life that contributed to him becoming a writer. This part of the book was my favorite--I love human stories as much as the next person. The rest of the book was his idea of how to become a good writer, with really straightforward tips and ideas about how to improve your writing style and opportunities. I agree with a lot of what he says (as a reader, not so much as a writer since I'm not one), and love how he's totally focused on the STORY above all. Something that totally intimidates me from ever even thinking about wanting to write anything is the English-major idea I have that books need to have themes, and metaphors, and symbolism--that books need to be LITERATURE if they're worth being read at all--but that's not true. If you have a good story, all the rest of that will come along (or it won't, and nobody will care). Good to know, and good to think about.
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