I admit it. I'm not a Stephen King fan. Sure, I liked the movie "Stand By Me" and watched "Shawshank Redemption" through my fingers. But I've never read a King novel or short story. It's not because he's too "commercial" or because he's not a good writer. It's merely because I'm too squeamish to stomach his content. There, I said it. I'm a wimp.
One book I have read, however, is his "how-to" book called On Writing. It's brilliant. It's blunt. It's downright funny. Most of all, it's absolutely spot on. I found myself nodding through the book, agreeing with the way he approaches the craft of writing, the technique itself, the attitude of writing, and the importance of reading. So, occasionally, I want to add a Stephen King quote to my blog entries. Here's one for today:
"You can approach the act of writing with nervousness, excitement, hopefulness, or even despair--the sense that you can never completely put on the page what's in your mind and heart. You can come to the act with your fists clenched and your eyes narrowed, ready to kick ass and take down names. You can come to it because you want a girl to marry you or because you want to change the world. Come to it any way but lightly. Let me say it again: you must not come lightly to the blank page." ~Stephen King
I have the same feeling. I don't read King's books, because it's just not my type of stuff. However, I would not dispute that he is a good writer, and clearly a successful one. I found "On writing" very inspirational.
ReplyDeleteI've yet to read On Writing and must read it soon as recently quite a few writer friends have mentioned how brilliant it is. Like Lost Wanderer, I don't read Stephen King as a rule (generally not my thing although I have read a couple of his books).
ReplyDeleteNot my type of book either. However, I met King
ReplyDeletein a publishing course at college when the teacher, an editor, invited him as a special guest. He had just written Carrie...a new writer. Now, the master of the horror genre.