Final response to King's "On Writing"

In On Writing: A Memoir to the Craft, King states his motto of "Read a lot, and more importantly, write a lot." His dedication throughout the years prove that if one wants to excel at something, practice really does make perfect.  Even in the hard times, King gives examples of how living this motto out can bring success to unexpectant people.

When King first began writing, it would've been easy for him to give up. King faced rejection and criticism (not always constructive) as early as high school while writing for his school's paper. He didn't let pride get in the way of continuing to write though. He found that he loved writing fiction and stuck with it, even when others thought he shouldn't.

Once older, King started to face hardships. Drugs and alcohols became addictions, and even though some of his best books came through this, he says he wishes he could remember and enjoying the actual writing of these works. This would have been an easy time for King to give in to the struggles and stop writing, but he didn't. Help through this rough patch came from his wife, Tabitha. She is a writer herself, and many times she was the first to read his latest novel and honestly critique it. When King threw away a draft of Carrie, Tabitha dug it out of the trash to read. Her encouragement and availability aided King through his addictions and urged him to keep writing.

In 1999, King was hit by a car. It's truly a miracle that he survived at all. The injuries were extensive and provided yet another opportunity for King to give up writing once and for all. He had money from his previous works, so that wasn't an issue. His recovery time would be long, and for a while, King didn't think he'd ever write again. Once again, Tabitha came to his rescue. She found his old writing desk and set it up where he could access it. he wrote for three hours and 45 minutes straight. That amount of time has to count as "practice". Even if he has to deal with pain, King still "reads a lot, and writes a lot".

King summed up his view of writing best when he concluded, "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."
This memoir can be an encouragement and extremely helpful tool to any young writer.