We are back to Wednesday, and every other Wednesday, I try to showcase something I am reading. This past week, I began to read Stephen King's On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.
First off, I want to point out that one thing we have in common is being stabbed in the ear, although his stabbings were by a doctor draining pus from his ears, and my stabbings were by my mother deciding to pierce my ears with a surgical needle and using ice only after the first ear hurt too much.
Secondly, I'm not used to seeing Stephen King as a person--is that bad? My first movie memory was Carrie walking out of the high school gym after she had set it on fire. I know Stephen King to be the "King" (giggle) of horror. And the occasional story that makes me die crying like The Green Mile. Reading things about him, such as he plays in an occasional band with Amy Tan, and that he got in trouble for the things he wrote about and being made to feel ashamed of it, humanized him so much for me, and I'm not even halfway through the book yet.
I usually use Random.org to pick a page for me, but I felt like, because this is a book on writing, I should share a piece of his advice, so here it is, the beginning of part 15 on page 37.
Let's get one thing clear right now, shall we? There is no Idea Dump, no Story Central, no Island of the Buried Bestsellers; good story ideas seem to come quite literally from nowhere, sailing at you right out of the empty sky: two previously unrelated ideas come together and make something new under the sun. Your job isn't to find these ideas but to recognize them when they show up.
So what are you currently reading?
3 comments:
I've read this, but I've also listened to it on CD. Hearing him read it is awesome. :)
Amen. Stephen King is a writing Master.
I've seen countless people praise Stephen King's On Writing over the years. Not surprised, after reading that snippet. This book sounds like a great resource, for sure!
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