Stephen King's "On Writing," Notes and Thoughts

by Pa Rock

Reader

I believe that I have read exactly three works by Stephen King:  the novels "Christine" and "Cujo," and the novella "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption," all of which were compelling reads that were later turned into popular movies.  Mr. King has written dozens of books and hundreds of stories - and I have read hundreds of books and thousands of stories, so why our paths have not crossed more is somewhat odd.

Now, however, that seems likely to change.

For the past couple of days I have been enjoying King's "On Writing," a non-fiction effort that he wrote in the late 1990's as an aid to aspiring writers.  In addition to being a "how to" guide to the craft of writing, the famed author also uses "On Writing" as a collection point for numerous personal tidbits from his childhood and adult life which ultimately influenced the way that he writes.  

(King was in the process of writing this reflection 'on writing' when, as a pedestrian out for an afternoon walk, he was struck and almost killed by a distracted driver.   He included a narrative of that close encounter with death in this narrative as well as his struggle to regain the ability to engage in prolonged writing on a regular basis.)

"On Writing" is generally regarded as one of the best works on the topic of writing.  King encourages writers to acquire the basics of grammar and vocabulary, much of which can be absorbed through reading and exposing oneself to the written works of others, and he stresses narrative, description, and dialogue in the creative process.

And he is death on adverbs!

King talks about writing in terms of constructing a house.  A competent carpenter has a toolbox that he uses in the construction process, and a competent writer also brings along his toolbox when he is working.  The writer's toolbox contains that competencies (things like grammar and vocabulary) that writers need to construct the sentences which then are used to form paragraphs - and the paragraphs become the ultimate building blocks of stories.

The author compares his own writing process to the excavation of fossils.  When he encounters an idea, some tidbit of a thought that strikes a chord of interest, he regards it as the tip of a fossil sticking out of the ground.  Then, instead of "plotting" where the story will go, he begins writing - or carefully excavating the fossil - to see where the story and the characters take him - and what the fossil (story) looks like when it is completely unearthed.

King also talks about the levels of writer competency, which he illustrates through a pyramid.  At the base are "bad writers," people whose writing may be functional but whose overall abilities at the craft are uninspiring and unlikely to ever show much improvement.  Next up on the pyramid are the "competent" writers, people with a basic skill of writing and who, with practice, will improve to the next level and become "good writers," or people who have developed and polished their skills and can sometimes even make a living off of writing.  Above all of those, in the rarified air at the tip of the pyramid, reside the "great writers," the very few whose gifts as writers are well beyond those of ordinary mortals, people, according to Stephen King, like Shakespeare, Faulkner, and Eudora Welty.  

(I would add Twain, but who am I to advise a master of the craft?)

Actually, Stephen King and I do have a few things in common.  He is six months older than me - and always will be - and we both graduated from high school in 1966 just as the Vietnam War was going completely off the rails.  We both taught high school for a few years, and the many music references that he makes in "On Writing" have all been part of the soundtrack of my life as well.   We are both fans of H.P. Lovecraft, and we have both received multiple rejection slips from Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine.   Stephen King rides a Harley and I ride a Dixie Chopper, 

And, like the celebrated author, I always have a book with me and read during any down time, like long waits at the DMV or the doctor's office.

For those who wonder about what books Stephen King reads, he lists a couple of hundred that he has enjoyed over the past thirty years or so in "On Writing," and for those, like me, who have not read much by Stephen King, he tells enough personal stories about how particular books germinated or survived that curiosity begins to kick in.  I will now be adding "The Stand" and "From a Buick 8" to my bedside pile.    "On Writing" has pulled me back into the Stephen King orbit.

For those who "pull into" Sturgis this week, don't expect to encounter a Dixie Chopper.  It's a lawnmower!