Finally Something Literary!

Hey!

Guess what? I finally decided to pick up a book and it's a good one too! I'm very proud of myself. It's so literary. I was thinking of reading something for fun like finishing Eragon, but then I was like,
"Nahhhh. I should read that book by Stephen King."

So I did!

On Sunday night I cornered my parents into making a late night run to Borders (I say 'late night' but what I mean is, 6:30. When you have little siblings, and it gets dark out early, and the whole week was a busy chaotic mess, night tends to start about 4:45) and I managed to find On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King.

It's actually really interesting. The book is broken into sections, the first being an mini-account of King's memories growing up and getting into the writing business. The secound part of the book is about writing and what it takes to be a good writer (that's the part that I'm on. It's titled The Toolbox) and I assume that the third section is on the publishing/writing world.

I think the thing that I like about it is how informal and funny he writes. I've only read half of one of his lesser known novella's (the Langoliers) but-- lame as this may sound-- I've seen quite a few of his stories movie reproductions. The Stand, the Langoliers, Secret Window, The Mist, Dreamcatcher. And in each of his movies, he makes some sort of appearance. Usually it's just a quick cameo, but in the Stand he had was a minor character; a speaking role that was important to the plot. So I've heard him speak. He has this whine to his voice. And he speaks with a 'country' accent; he's from Maine, which I knew, but he also grew up in the lower class, moving around a lot with a single mother, which I didn't. When I was reading his memoirs, I could hear him speak. Seriously. It was like he was right next to me, reading over my shoulder. The man writes with such character! He's so personable! He shows everything as it is, he doesn't make a big deal over anything, but he gives it his own spin. He makes his life enjoyable by the way he writes.

That's what I want to do! I want to write like him, to make my experiences and memories better than as they are! I want to make girls and boys laugh out loud, and cry, and smile! He even makes his lesson's on the art of the written word amusing!

The timid fellow writes The meeting will be held at seven o'clock becuase this somehow says to him, 'Put it this way and people will believe you really know.' Purge this quisling thought! Don't be a muggle! Throw back your shoulders, stick out your chin,and put that meeting in charge! Write The meeting's at seven. There, by God! Don't you feel better?"
~ Stephen King, on passive voice versus active voice in On Writing,
pg 123

He makes what is being read entertaining, and that's what I worry the most about on my writing. Even if I write one hundred books, it doesn't mean jack unless people want to read them-- unless they are worth being read.
Right now he's talking about paragraphs and how they flow. How sentence length and composition can effect the flow of a piece. It's interesting, but sort of useless to me. At one point he says "The more fiction you read and write, the more you'll find your paragraphs forming on their own." I think that applies to me. I really don't care about paragraphs right now. I want the juicy stuff; bring on the things I don't know, Mr King! I'm ready and willing for the unknown!
(P.s. Did you see how this time, the post is more structured? I stuck to one subject. I didn't skip around like a fairy in a field, dancing in the own eddies of my mind. This time I kept it sweet and simple. Did you notice? Did you like it?)