I have read On Writing, Stephen King's "Memoir Of The Craft" many times. The postscript, On Living, where King describes being run down by an out of control van, is poignant. It surprises me that King, who had written hundreds of thousands of words by that time, struggled to write again. I admire his determination and courage. From Stephen King:
"That first writing session lasted an hour and forty minutes, by far the longest period I'd spent sitting upright…. When it was over, I was dripping with sweat and almost too exhausted to sit up straight in my wheelchair. And the first 500 words were uniquely terrifying – it was as if I'd never written anything before them in my life. All my old tricks seemed to have deserted me. I stepped from one word to the next like a very old man finding his way across a stream on a zigzag line of wet stones. There was no inspiration that first afternoon, only a kind of stubborn determination and the hope that things would get better if I kept at it."
I, too, have read King's "On Writing." A funny book. Nearly every page has something worthwhile about writing. Sometimes, I read it to my students. Determination, stubborn determination, especially when no one believes with you, and everyone laughs at you and thinks you should give up, ends with you as the hero, riding off into the sunset on the white horse with the girl of your dreams reading "On Writing" and laughing merrily.
Posted by: Jill L. | September 8, 2006 10:57 AM | Permalink to Comment