“Now comes the big question: what are you going to write about? And the equally big answer: anything you damn well want, anything at all… as long as you tell the truth.”
~Stephen King
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Done reading “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft” by Stephen King. Such a privilege to know about his thought process when writing fiction. Not only that, Stephen also shared about his childhood, his family, his odd jobs just to make ends meet, and what moved him to become a writer. He shared with us his journey on writing and finishing “Carrie,” a psychological-thriller that became bestseller and was adapted into a motion picture. He shared with us what was going on behind the scenes while writing some of his books. He shared with us that moment that he almost died when he got hit by a truck.
Writing fiction is an art or a skill that I want to learn. But I think it’s a gift. Because I remember myself as a child until my puberty effortlessly writing an invented story in my pad paper. A love story that I never finished, that I threw away in the trash. What was I doing? I said to myself. I did not know then that what I was writing was a script. I also liked playing chess and dominoes, imagining them as characters in my story just happening in my head. Each chess figure and domino had a face. In my head, they were people, moving and driving a car, talking with each other, etc. The story in my head would range from horror, romantic, sensual, to sitcom. Sometimes it was a teen show. When a cousin lived with us, he asked what I was doing, for he saw me staring at the chess or dominoes, concentrating. I forgot what was my reply. Somewhere along the way, as I was making my way to finish high school, then college, those chess and dominoes became what they really are, just chess and dominoes. No more faces. Until they had to be given away. In my 30s, I tried writing fiction, because I had a crush, but it was only three paragraphs short. Then no follow-up after that. Guess I just needed a release. But I love writing essays, writing down my thoughts and experiences in a notebook. That’s why blogging became my outlet. I wanted to share those thoughts and experiences with the people who would stumble upon my post.
I want to write fiction, not for money, but as another form of outlet. But I always end up writing the actual incident or event or moment.
“The scariest moment is always just before you start. After that, things can only get better,” shares Stephen.
“I’m hopeful that you’ll see how raw the first-draft work of even a so-called ‘professional writer’ is once you really examine it.” ~Stephen King
“You don’t need writing classes or seminars any more than you need this or any other book on writing. Faulkner learned his trade while working in the Oxford, Mississippi post office. Other writers have learned the basics while serving in the Navy, working in steel mills, or doing time in America’s finer crossbar hotels. I learned the most valuable (and commercial) part of my life’s work while washing motel sheets and restaurant tableclothes at the new Franklin laundry in Bangor. You learn best by reading a lot and writing a lot, and the most valuable lessons of all are the ones you teach yourself. These lessons almost always occur with the study door closed.”
But he also said this, on writing classes or seminars:
“If you got a chance to participate in a deal like that, I’d say go right ahead. You might not learn The Magic Secrets of Writing (there aren’t any–bummer, huh?) but it would certainly be a grand time, and grand times are something I’m always in favor of.”
On writing:
“Writing did not save my life–Dr. David Brown’s skill and my wife’s loving care did that–but it has continued to do what it has always has done: it makes my life a brighter and more pleasant place.”
Rhythm and blues 