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July 18, 2005
On Writing
By Stephen King
I haven't read a lot of Stephen King�s work, primarily because the things that interest him (ie, scary things that go bump in the night) don�t really interest me. But I have always recognized him as an excellent writer: His novella �The Body,� for instance, (made into the movie "Stand by Me") totally slayed me.
So when my 15-year-old son urged me to read this book, saying he was sure I would appreciate it, I took his suggestion. I do a lot of driving back and forth to Maine, where I am working on a documentary on the building of a replica ship, and since Mr. King famously resides in Maine, I thought it would be appropriate to listen to him tell me about writing as I drove between Lexington MA and Rockport ME.
King says his book is short because he didn't put a lot of bullshit in it, and I'll try to return the favor in this capsule review. Listening to him read this book made the four hour drives very short indeed. It is funny and fascinating and not a little inspiring. I found myself wishing that I was driving farther, so I could listen a little longer. He offers a dollop of biography (from a peripatetic childhood to a chilling account of the 1999 car accident that almost cost him his life) along with a few spadefuls of pithy and useful observations about the craft of putting one word after another.
I especially liked his characterization of writing/reading as telepathy, with the written word being the medium by which the author sends his or her thoughts into the minds of readers. By this way of thinking, the author�s main job is to accomplish this thought transmission with as little signal loss as possible, to make sure the thought that image that forms in the reader�s head is as close as possible to what the author wanted to describe. Obvious as that might seem, I found it a powerful way to think about writing.
My reading (listening) was interrupted when my wife traded cars with me for a trip to New Hampshire. She started listening, and then she swiped the disks and I had to wait for her to finish. She is a writer too, a good one, although unpublished,and she liked it so much she wants to buy a copy of the written version so we can use it as a reference.
There's lots more I could say, but I'll limit it to this: I loved listening to King. After a while, I felt like the two of us were in the car together, and my old buddy Steve was just telling me a thing or two about writing and his life that he thought I might like to know. And that, Mr. King, is high praise.
Posted by rickbeyer at July 18, 2005 10:27 PM
Comments
Hi there Rick Beyer!!
Just checking in with you and hope that your last book went well! If you ever need any help, PR-wise etc...let me know!
Just an update, I now live in the Upstate NY region and starting a family in approx. 6 weeks, hahahaha...wish me luck!
Have a great day
Lisa
Posted by: Lisa Sweet at August 26, 2005 05:38 AM
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