So it finally happened. I skipped a day. I didn't forget; I tried writing my Thoughtful Thursday all day. But it kept falling flat. My mind wasn't on it, and neither was my heart. I did progress a bit on my novel, but that was all. Yesterday wasn't a good day. I decided not to write anything at all to spare you the poor writing at best and cringey, emo stuff at worst.
Anyway, did you notice that I sneakily changed the prompt for today? This book is not my favorite, but I've been reading writing subreddits and they act like this book is gospel. I got it used because I didn't anticipate getting much of it. I just wanted to see what the fuss was about. Besides, I have read a handful of his books and I was curious what a successful author like Stephen King had to say.
I have gotten other books about writing before and it never amounted to anything really. There would be a few nuggets of wisdom and handful of good advice, but I don't believe they made me a good writer or a better writer in any way. I hate the advice, "Just keep writing," but it seems like that's all you can do to write better. It's like when you are trying to lose weight and you look for tips to be more efficient and effective at losing weight and everyone just says, "Eat healthy and exercise!" You're like, "Yeah, I know." It's frustrating because it becomes like a mantra, and if you keep looking up better ways of eating healthy by trying different foods and trying different forms of exercise, then people just say that it doesn't matter, just EAT HEALTHY AND EXERCISE. It makes me think of my short story where the crazy neighbor keeps repeating, "It really works!"
Maybe it's just me, but I like to know how to become better, more efficient, and more effective at writing. I wrote all the time in high school and college: diaries, short stories, poems, you name it. Most of them were garbage. I threw almost all of my writing out from that time. (I had to keep a few for nostalgia sake.) I wrote all the time, but I wasn't getting any better at it. So, already, I hate that mantra: JUST KEEP WRITING.
On the other hand, I know why people say it because it's really all you can do. Write and read, read and write. There are no short cuts, no magic potion, no ace up your sleeve. I don't think it's an accident that I finally started writing my novel only after writing on my blog everyday (minus one). Like exercise, you build up an endurance for writing. Don't get me wrong; I love writing. Writing has given me a satisfaction and fulfillment that my life was missing. However, putting thought into words is an endurance, a stamina of sorts that you get better at the more you do it. Practice makes perfect. Even right now, as I write, the words start to flow easier. I'm searching less for the words that I need to express a particular thought. I just write it. I still have to stop and think, but it already is becoming more fluid. I know my writing isn't great. Just acceptable. I mean, you can understand me, so that's something.
So by now, it must seem like I haven't talked about the book On Writing at all. But actually I have been this whole time. See, even Stephen King doesn't truly know what makes a good writer. He has stories to tell and he writes them. Pow! That's the gist of what I'm getting from the book. I haven't finished the whole thing yet, but almost.
The first part of the book is really just an autobiography. At first, I felt cheated because I wanted to know his thoughts about writing, not about how he had really bad ear infections when he was a kid. So even though I was slightly annoyed, I kept reading. Why? Because he is good writer! "Good writing is seduction," he wrote. Yes, I kept on reading because Stephen King seduced me with his words (I'm sorry, I'm laughing too hard at the thought; I just had to write it.) How? He made me care. I started to care about his life and what he went through and so I kept reading. The words are well written, of course. My eyes glided over the words like my hand over a smooth stone, one that has been carefully and perfectly polished. (How dare I use adverbs!)
However, it was odd to get schooled by Stephen King. When he finally got around to talking about writing (or should I say, writing about writing? Sounds weird but more accurate), he began by starting at the beginning. "The toolbox," as he refers to it. He starts by talking about the nouns and verbs. "Plum deify!" Okay, yep, that is a sentence. (Seriously, I bought this book!)
But then he gets to more into what I actually wanted to read about - his philosophy on writing. "I'm convinced that fear is at the root of most bad writing (p. 127)." He explains the reason bad/inexperienced writers over explain their thought process is "because I am afraid the reader won't understand me if I don't (p. 127)." That spoke to me because I worry about that too sometimes. He continues on by saying, "Good writing is often about letting go of fear and affectation (p. 128)."
Now, during this whole time I've been reading, he has barely mentioned God, only once to say that he did believe in God but he wasn't a part of a specific Christian denomination (Something like that. I didn't bookmark that part because it was said so casually and now I can't find it). Anyway, he then proceeds to ask this question, "If God gives you something you can do, why in God's name wouldn't you do it (p. 152)?" That question made me do a double take, like a slap in the face. I was not expecting that question at all.
In context, he was talking about authors who only wrote a novel or two (like Harper Lee who only wrote To Kill a Mockingbird) and then just stopped writing. He couldn't understand why someone would just stop writing. That question made me think, "What would I be doing if I didn't write? What was I doing before I got back into writing?" I reflected on these questions for a moment.
What did I do? I wasted a lot of time. Now, I filled that wasted time with writing and reading. I still work, clean, cook, take care of and spend with my family. But now I also write. I love Google Drive app on my phone. I use any spare time to write. Wherever I have my phone, I have a way to write. It's not ideal to use my phone's keyboard to type, but it's better than not writing. I feel so much more fulfilled. God gave me something I can do and I'm doing it.
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