"Don't bother trying to read between the lines, and don't look for a through-line. There are no lines -- only snapshots, most out of focus."

Stephen King's On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

C.V. & What Writing Is 

A reluctant fan of Stephen King, I was unsure of how I would view his "autobiography" and outline to the writer's world. But then I read the front matter reflection page:

"Honesty's the best policy.

"Liars prosper."

I immediately laughed and thought -- I may like this guy afterall. Then came his forewords (all three of them!) These explained how he came to writing about writing. "No one ever asks about language," his close friend, Amy said. And she was right. He says, "in our humble way, we care passionately about the art and craft [of writing].

I also love the way he explained the need for this to be short and prompt. "Omit needless words," he said. As the copy editor of the Warriot Beat newspaper, I loved reading that! Ask anyone on staff, I use that tip almost every day.

In the final foreword, he acknowledges his editor -- "to edit is divine."

(I loved that, too. Just glad someone appreciates the work of an editor!)

C.V.

In the opening of the book, I was drawn in and intrigued by his emphasis of words, hyphens, dashes, italics, description, detail, and asides. Remember: he said he would keep it concise. And he has. Using all of these devices has helped me as the reader -- it's kept me from wanting to put the book down! Even his crude humor has kept me hanging on every word.

I've also enjoyed reading about his "firsts" for everything from writing to life lessons. His earliest memory of imaging himself as someone else was at a young age of three. This embarked his journey into fiction, really. "Pow!" is used all throughout the book -- a reference to his ludicrous and grotesque mishaps throughout his childhood and early adulthood. Although dry, his sense of humor is daunting enthralling.

Another favorite, I enjoyed his seventh story of his discovery of meanings of words as a young child. I'm envious of how King can share so many tools for writing through his early memories. All I remember as a child are play dates, trick-or-treating, and time-out.

King is unafraid of others and their point-of-views. He says what he wants, when he wants, and how he wants. It's pretty ridiculous how he can convey something disastrous and make it seem optimistic. Take his first stories for example: rejection after rejection, he nailed the return slips to the wall and used those as his fire -- his drive to prove himself to the world (of writing, that is).

"Your job isn't to find these ideas but to recognize them when they show up." Here, King describes finding an original idea -- something to claim as your own.

"When you're still too young to shave, optimism is a perfectly legitimate response to failure." This has been, by far, my favorite quote (and I'm almost finished with the book!). He's so right -- optimism can be used for anything in life lessons.

From his stories about watching Poepictures at the Ritz theater to writing for Dave's Rag, you can see King's wit and way with words began at a young age. After a school incident when writing for The Drum, he soon realized he wouldn't "truck with satire" anymore.

I'm sure many of my classmates have similar stories they admire from the
curriculum vitae. Maybe it's his poison ivy incident after "pushing" outside. Maybe it's his story about Dodie (the pour soul who was ridiculed for wearing the same outfit day after day). But mine is most likely different from the rest of the students. His demonstration of editing on pages 55-58 was one of the better parts of the memoir. He conveyed a not-so-interesting subject and made it fascinating to read and learn!

As I turned the pages, I enjoyed watching his career grow from $200 to HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS!

A writer herself, his wife Tabitha encouraged him along the way. "You've got something here. I really think you do," she said as he threw away his first draft of Carrie.

Later in the earlier part of his career (did that make sense?), King faced alcoholism and other major addictions. But he kept on writing...and published many books in that time! Not that I condone the behavior...but hey! It worked. Through an intervention, King soon realized he never remembered writing some of his pieces.

 

He concludes his C.V. by discussing his desk and its importance -- "Life isn't a support system for art. It's the other way around."

What Writing Is

This short section on "meeting of the minds" blew my mind. It was such a great way to engage the reader, the subject, and the writer. With detail and a heck of an imagination, King prepared me for his view on writing...which is covered in the Toolbox in the next section.