Part memoir, part reflection on the writing life--all from King’s personal experience and point of view. In short, this book will not provide an aspiring novelist with a how-to manual in terms of structure, plotting, dialogue or anything else in the way of producing a marketable work. But it does reveal the writing life, the ups and downs, and what one established creator of best-sellers goes through.
Put another way, it serves to double-back on any fiction writer’s chosen venture.
For instance, while writing a tale about a troubled teenager named Carrie, he found that her plight didn’t move him emotionally. His lead character just seemed to be a ready-made victim. He also didn’t feel at home with her surroundings and an all-girl supporting cast. For King, writing is always best when it’s intimate, when he’s truly personally involved.
On the other hand, he began to realize that his first impression may have been as erroneous as the reader’s. And stopping because the work doesn’t seem to be going well, because the going is hard, is a bad idea. Sometimes you have to go on even if you don’t feel like it. And sometimes you’re actually doing good work even though, at the moment, the project seems hopeless
In a later passage, while working on yet another fright tale called The Shining, he finally realized on a much deeper level his stories were actually a scream for help, a way to confront his demons as an alcoholic from perhaps a safer remove while embarked on a dangerous game all the same.
If nothing else, as a byproduct, King’s book serves to prod the reader into considering why one writes fiction, is drawn to certain dramatic circumstances, and has to go on no matter what.
Put another way, it serves to double-back on any fiction writer’s chosen venture.
For instance, while writing a tale about a troubled teenager named Carrie, he found that her plight didn’t move him emotionally. His lead character just seemed to be a ready-made victim. He also didn’t feel at home with her surroundings and an all-girl supporting cast. For King, writing is always best when it’s intimate, when he’s truly personally involved.
On the other hand, he began to realize that his first impression may have been as erroneous as the reader’s. And stopping because the work doesn’t seem to be going well, because the going is hard, is a bad idea. Sometimes you have to go on even if you don’t feel like it. And sometimes you’re actually doing good work even though, at the moment, the project seems hopeless
In a later passage, while working on yet another fright tale called The Shining, he finally realized on a much deeper level his stories were actually a scream for help, a way to confront his demons as an alcoholic from perhaps a safer remove while embarked on a dangerous game all the same.
If nothing else, as a byproduct, King’s book serves to prod the reader into considering why one writes fiction, is drawn to certain dramatic circumstances, and has to go on no matter what.
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