The Best Book I read This Year by Gwen

The Best Book I read This Year by Gwen - October 2020 Scholarship Essay

The best book I read this year was On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, which was an autobiography written by the famous author, Stephen King who is well-known for his horror stories. I chose this book because I liked King’s writing in the Dark Tower book series and I want to become a writer. One thing that makes this book unique was that it was not just an autobiography, but it also had advice on writing. It is simply amazing to see that Stephen King was able to have an engaging life story, as well as advice on how to become a better writer. What is important is that these tips on being a better writer are being given by a veteran writer, who also explains the journey he took while also explaining his methods of writing. Now let’s dive into the life of Stephen King and his greatest passion.

The first major part of the book covers King narrating his life. The autobiography part of the novel takes up one half of the book, while the tips on writing take up the second half. The first part of the autobiography describes his time as a child to a full grown adult. He first discovered his passion for writing when he began to write newspaper articles with his brother. He later sold stories to his friends in school, until the teachers found out about his business and King had to return the profits he had made. Stephen King began to dive into drug and alcohol addictions after his mother died of cancer. The addictions were so serious that he could barely remember the book Cujo that he had written. He later overcame his addictions.

The second part of the book is the list of tips King wrote on becoming a better writer. This section is split into three parts. The first part of King’s advice is called what he wants to explain, “What Writing Is”. “What Writing Is” compares the art of writing a detailed story to telepathy, which is a pretty mystical comparison. The second part of the advice is called “Toolbox”, and it focuses on grammar and other minor yet major parts of writing like style and vocabulary. The third part of King’s advice simply goes into more details over his advice on writing.

Now it’s time for a major part of the story, the ending. King is still alive, so the end of the story is not the end of his life. The final part of On Writing describes an incident that occurred on June 19, 1999 when he got hit by a van while walking along a state highway. King explained that he was walking against the traffic when he was along the highway. King suffered many broken bones in his leg and a broken hip from the accident. His injuries were so serious that the doctors considered amputating his leg, until they managed to stabilize the bones. This incident was a big one for King for after getting out of the hospital. He struggled trying to return to his passion and was unsure if he would be able to publish another novel because it hurt to sit for long periods of time. Stephen King persevered and did publish another novel which was, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. It is a truly amazing book with the telling of the hardships he overcame along with advice about his greatest passion for other writers. That is why On Writing is my favorite book that I read in 2020.