I admit I had my doubts about this book, based on my only experience reading Stephen King, Rose Madder, but so many other writing books, writers organizations, and writers that I admire recommended it that I finally gave it a shot. Thank goodness I didn't let preconceived notions hold me back! This book was awesome! For one, it was gut-bustingly funny and a total page-turner. I seriously didn't expect to be laughing out loud while reading this, especially not half the time! It was very easy to read, too, with the chapters focusing on the author's life being so riveting they could have been a book unto themselves. But the writing tips, sandwiched in the middle, completely lived up to the hype that led me to this book in the first place and were indispensable. In some ways, they reinforced things I was already doing, and in other ways, they opened my mind to new possibilities that made the occupation of writing long-form fiction seem even easier and freer than other writing books I had read before. More than anything, this book gave me confidence and affirmed my choice to become a professional novelist. Any writer will benefit from reading this book, and long-form fiction authors will feel it's especially relevant to them, but I think any reader would enjoy this book, even if they don't consider themselves a writer of any kind. There's very good reason this book is universally recommended! And as for Rose Madder? The author himself considers the story to be one of his weakest, which only encouraged me to give his fiction work another shot! I'm thinking The Green Mile next; it seems like a story I'd enjoy 🤔

To finish, here are some of my favorite quotes from On Writing: