Stephen King On Writing

In one of my LinkedIn writers' groups, this book was one of the most frequently recommended handbooks for writers.  While I found the casual, conversational style somewhat annoying, it was interesting to see how similar the advice of a popular novelist is to that of the more literary writers whose advice I've read more often.  It was also encouraging - King came from lower, middle class (white trash) roots and received dozens of rejections before he sold a novel.  He started selling stories to comic books and "men's" magazines.  He also believes reading a lot is essential to becoming a good writer, which makes all my pleasure reading feel like necessary background research.  The book also contains some interesting biographical information, including an account of the near fatal car accident he suffered in 1999 while in the middle of writing this book.  However, I wouldn't read it unless you're interested in the writing techniques which is the main focus.