In my continued reading of Stephen King's, "On Writing," there is still more discussion of his life before his fame and success. He talked of how his success was a long time coming and then finally getting the big break he was looking for. That big break was when the paperback rights to his story, "Carrie," were brought for $400,000. But with this success as in many cases there also is a downfall. Stephen spoke of his alcohol problem and how it got a hold on him and he lost his love for the craft. That was a shock to me because I didn't think this would happen to him but it did. Along with the alcohol came the drug use. With the help and support of family and friends he managed to shake off the drug and alcohol problem and began getting his feel back for writing.
I finally made it to the part of the book where he started talking about writing. King told of the powers that come with writing and what is needed. He feels the best environment required for writing is a isolated place, away from noise and enough room for you to gather your thoughts and proceed to write. What I also gathered was that there is the need to try and see objects in a different light of what they really are, which is being imaginative. Another key point he made was it's okay to be scared, nervous, or overly anxious to write but the bottom line is that you must love what you do. The statement that really stuck with me was, "If you can't or won't take writing seriously, it's time for you to close the book and do something else!" Next he began to talk about the necessary toolbox that you need to carry when writing. This toolbox he spoke of consisted of four levels or maybe six. Some of these levels were grammer, vocabulary, and paragraph organization. There were many examples of sentences that to him, are not a good way to go in writing. I see this as very informative and funny at the same time.
Dwayne, I like that highlighted that King 'feels the best environment required for writing is a isolated place, away from noise and enough room for you to gather your thoughts and proceed to write.' My husband is such a writer. He needs solitude, quiet and space. I do need the solitude and quiet, but not so much the space. I just require an uncluttered space any size.
ReplyDeleteI also like his emphasis 'writing tools'. If you don't have a grasp on grammar, vocabulary, and paragraph organization, you lose some of your power. As my old professor used to say, "You have to know the rules to break them."
Right. And some of these books sort of "assume" that perhaps the reader possesses some of these important (yet technical and some might think "boring") tools. But these tools are very important.
ReplyDeleteYes indeed the right environment is a must. I even find myself struggling to write in absolute silence which shocks me. I believe that I have so much going on in my head sometimes that I'm not able to put it down on paper fast enough because if i do, it will be a blend of thoughts. Not good in my book lol....But I think the toolbox is a definite necessity! But as always some people's toolboxeds may be bigger than others. It's all about knowing how to use your tools, when to use them, and being able to locate them at the right moment.
ReplyDeleteWriting is definatley very powerful. Not all writers have that power. I can understand that he feels if if the best places for writing are isolation. The book that I am reading also says the same thing. So I am guessing that it must be something to it. I also like the quote you used about not taking writing seriously. Whatever you do, should always be taken seriously.
ReplyDeleteI like the comment that in order to break the rules, you have to know what they are. The author I am reading about, Anne Dillard, describes her writing enviornment as very drab and plain,almost without any kind of optical stimulation because she feels that only then can the imagination truly soar to heights not atttainable in surroundings that are too provacative as to sidetrack the author. Almost a kind of blank slate theory.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to express my surprise of Stephen King stating that his alcoholism took away his passion for writing because it seems that many of the alltime great writers were on either drugs or alcohol or both. I applaud him for saying this disease was a hinderance when so many others , writers and performers seemed to be under the illusion that an artificial stimulant broadened their minds when in fact, just made there thoughts to a large degree just another cliche.
ReplyDeleteYes truly I was shocked at him saying how it alcoholism, and drug use took away from his writing skills too. Many other writers as u said tell of how the the use of such substances only enhances their skills even more. Its understandable why he lost his love like he did though. Sometime when you reach a certain level of success, you tend to turn to a substance, but not for the bad effect. But in doing using it, it tends to take a hold of you and you lose control and before you know you lose your focus on things. I feel this is what happened to him and if it wasn't for his family, and true friends, and writers who knew of his talent, that maybe he would have never battled back and won the battle over this addictions.
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