On my recent trip to Belize I read Stephen King's book, On Writing. I must admit that he is my favorite writer and The Stand is my favorite book. Being a fan, I know a little about the man. From Maine, was a teacher, Carrie was his first published book, got hit by a car and almost died.
On Writing is a memoir of a man becoming a writer. All the events in his life that guided him, shaped him into becoming the scribe he is today. His childhood, his addiction to drugs, being an English teacher. All the layers that create him. He peels them away to reveal what some would say are his secrets. The truth is, there are no true secrets. There are a few rules (most of which can and should be broken from time to time), and some helpful habits but the bottom line is; if you want to write. then do it. The only way to become a writer is to write, and the only way to become a better writer is to write more.
This book is the single most inspiring book on writing I have read. Stephen’s love of his craft, words, ideas, stories, bleeds through the pages and stains my hands. Instead of wanting to wash them off, I am anxious to type, leaving little red smudges on the keyboard.
Write what you know. Write what you love. Write what is in your heart and soul. Write for the love of writing, not for fame or money. Write to have written, to form a connection with your reader. Just write.
So I am letting you, my few readers, know that I am going to write. This past year has been a concentration on travel writing, which I will still pursue. But my fiction stories have been tickling my imagination for some time now. You may see some changes to the blog…it may not always be about travel. The important thing, according to Stephen (and honestly any writing teacher I have had) is to write.
There are two other things I want to mention about this book. Stephen includes a first draft of the opening of 1408. It was, by far, one of the most educational things in the book. To see the process and to know that what comes out first isn’t perfect and then to see his rewrite. Thank you Stephen.
In addition, he included a list of books he read over a three or four year period. I was astonished not only by the quantity (he states in On Writing that a writer must be an avid reader as well) but the variety. I have found, in the last year, that the more I write, the more I want to read. And the way I read has changed. I notice the sentence structures and descriptions. The excellent writing in The Memory Keepers Daughter blew me away. And I have noticed that sometime the writing is marginal but the story and the characters are memorable.
Meanwhile, I am looking forward to reading Stephen’s new book of short stories and rereading On Writing.
