On Writing by Stephen King (#2)

Stephen King finishes his "life story to date" in pages 31 - 90 or so and then gets into the art of writing. This was a very cool read today.

He met his wife in college. She appears in many stories as supportive (not outwardly though) and capable of providing valuable perspective. In one case, the first 3 pages of Carrie were pulled from the trash (and the cigarette ashes were brushed off of them) by Stephen King's wife. "You've got something here" she says. Several years later Stephen King makes $200,000 on the book (he received 50% of the $400,000).

Not bad for a 1st shot Mr. King.

"I learned from Carrie White" (this was the main character in Carrie.) "The most important is that the writer's original perception of a character or characters may be as erroneous as the reader's. Running a close second was the realization that spotting a piece of work just because it's hard, either emotionally or imaginatively, is a bad idea. Sometimes you have to go on when you don't feel like it, and sometimes you're doing good work when it feels like all you're managing is to shovel $h!t from a sitting position." (Page 69)

King also describes his launch into alcoholism. If you have ever thought that nothing good comes from recycling, perhaps others have a different view based on their own experience. For example:

"Then, in the early eighties, Maine's legislature enacted a returnable-bottle and -can law. Instead of going into the trash, my sixteen-ounce cans of Miller Lite started going into a plastic container in the garage. One Thursday night I went out there to toss in a few dead soldiers and say that this container, which had been empty on Monday night, was not almost full. And since I was the only one in the house who drank Miller Lite -

Holy $h!t, I'm an alcoholic" (Page 88).

King did struggle with alcohol and drugs later but reports in his book that it was sober for more than 12 years (as of the late 1990s when the book was started)

King describes in a short section of the book (which is a bridge into the "craft" from the "story of his life" part of the book) a table with a red table cloth, small cage, white rabbit with a pink nose and pink around his eyes, and the number "8" on his back.

"That is what we're looking at, and we all see it. I didn't tell you. You didn't ask me. I never opened my mouth and you never opened yours. We're not even in the same year together, let along the same room...except we are together. We're close.

We're having a meeting of the minds." (Page 98)

Did you wake up today and think you would have a meeting of the minds with Stephen King. Yeah, me too...