Stephen King’s On Writing: A Memoir, was a very interesting book to read, to say the least. Frank in his opinions, King did not shy away from telling the reader what makes a good writer: talent and ambition. King had a colloquial tone throughout his book even cautioning the reader that “this is a short book because most books about writing are filled with bullshit” (9). Through this book, readers found out about eventful events that happened to King as a child and how they influenced him to write some of his most popular books. For instance, a wilderness area near his house gave him the inspiration for the setting of his book, It. He states, “the kids in It called it the Barrens; we called it the jungle” (30). King, does not believe himself to be a perfect writer, regardless of his popularity. The reader was not only entertained with his stories, but also gained knowledge about writing and the fact that it isn’t easy. Although King grew up with nothing and even lost hope a few times, he always went back to writing. …show more content…
King, like Zinsser, believed that a writer’s job is to write and regardless of how they feel, they have to write. This is a point made by Zinsser “...that the professional writer must establish a daily schedule and stick to it” and that “writing is a craft, not an art, and that the man who runs away from his craft because he lacks inspiration is fooling himself” (4). This belief is shared with Stephen King’s as well. Through his struggle with drugs and alcohol, King never stopped writing. Books such as Misery, The Shining, The Tommyknockers, Cujo were all written when King was under the influence. Another one of Zinsser’s advice was to “never say anything in writing that you wouldn’t comfortably say in conversation” (26). King achieved this task and the results could be seen all throughout the
“Where Is It Written?”, by Adam Schwartz, is a story about Sam. A young man living in a hard time because his parents are divorced. Sam first told his dad to sue his mother. Then his mom schedules an appointment with a psychologist. Finally, he cared for his mom like she did to him. Coming of age is an important time in which a person becomes more mature and thinks differently about someone/something. Another way to see a person coming of age is when a person starts to develop and see things as an adult. Sam came of age because in the beginning and the middle he didn’t like his mom. However, all the problems that went on between them. He knew his mom cared for him and he understood her in the end when she said that, that was her son and she also deserves to be in the family picture. Sam in the end wants to change her but he knows his mom won’t ever
O’Connor himself wasn’t partially physically intimidating. This fact became abundantly clear once he stepped off his chair and approached me. While not necessarily short in stature, his seat gave him an extra few inches compared to his natural stance.
Famous author Stephen King said in his book On Writing: a Memoir of the Craft that “ Every book you pick up has its life lessons, and quite often the bad books have more to teach than the good ones” (King 145), but unfortunately not everyone agrees. In today's world, people are becoming more and more easily offended by simple things like the subjects in classic literature, for example To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and are even trying to ban it in a classroom setting. However, To Kill a Mockingbird should continue to be taught in schools because it positively affects society by changing the way people think about the world, through a very historically accurate setting, and by teaching its readers valuable lessons.
In this day and age, writing is being portrayed through various mediums, such as film and television. Some of those portrayals depict writing as both good and bad depending on the situation that is present. Authors such as, by E. Shelley Reid, Kevin Roozen, and Anne Lamott all write about important writing concepts that are being depicted in films, like Freedom Writers. The film Freedom Writers shows a positive and accurate portrayal of writing in the sense that the writers should have a connection to what they are writing about, writing is a form of communication, and that writing does not have to be perfect the first time.
Many people think that reading more can help them to think and develop before writing something. Others might think that they don’t need to read and or write that it can really help them to brainstorm things a lot quicker and to develop their own ideas immediately (right away). The author’s purpose of Stephen King’s essay, Reading to Write, is to understand the concepts, strategies and understandings of how to always read first and then start something. The importance of this essay is to understand and comprehend our reading and writing skills by brainstorming our ideas and thoughts a lot quicker. In other words, we must always try to read first before we can brainstorm some ideas and to think before we write something. There are many reasons why I chose Stephen King’s essay, Reading to Write, by many ways that reading can help you to comprehend, writing, can help you to evaluate and summarize things after reading a passage, if you read, it can help you to write things better and as you read, it can help you to think and evaluate of what to write about.
In conclusion, two important literary nonfiction forms that Frederick Douglass identifies in “How I Learned to Read and Write” are a sense of place, and personal experience. Douglass’s essay executed examples of these two forms separately as well as together, numerous times throughout his piece. Douglass centralized his writing around his personal experiences, studying and accomplishing the ability to read and write despite the many difficulties he faced. The portrayal of a sense of place ingrained throughout his writing sheds a light on the locations and stages in his life he experienced these events. He was able to successful correlate these two forms together to create an unforgettable and inspirational story. A story of overcoming adversity, and achieving the impossible in a time whenever all odds were against him.
What many people don’t know about King is his how he was as a person, not a writer. People may think that he is a very violent and mysterious person, but Stephen King is not like that at all, said an ex-student of Kings. Arthur Norton said in an interview with King, “There is this genial childlike quality about King… He is an average guy.” King says in the same interview, “I am a very credulous person. I will believe what I am told.”
In 1958, when King was eleven years old, the family moved to Durham, Maine. This was where King discovered that he had something in common with his father. In the attic of his aunt and uncle’s garage he discovered an old trunk that contained a box of his father’s books, including some by horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, and some of his father’s attempts as writing short stories. King’s teachers reported that one of his greatest passions was writing stories of his own, which he started doing at age six (Hoppenstand 8; Stephen King). Stephen King’s life has influenced his works and served as an important source of inspiration, which is evident in his education and early writing experiences, his pseudonym Richard Bachman, and his near-fatal acc...
The obstacles that Welty and King faced are in diametric opposition -- not only were the challenges different, but the types of challenges differ. Welty’s greatest demon was a form of internal conflict: self-inhibition. Becoming an author takes confidence, and that can be difficult, even crippling, if one has self doubt. Since writing is a reflective form of art, writers are forced to express themselves on the page, even if that means digging up rotten memories, revealing traumatic experiences, or exposing insecurities. Welty says “I am a
For such a successful writer, Stephen King really had no secret to his writing style. King has credited free writing for his best ideas. He also has a very down to earth way of looking at his fame. Stephen King would read for four hours, and then he would write for four hours or until he reached 2,000 words. In a Time magazine interview, King called this his nine to five approach and that he, “worked until beer o’ clock.” When asked where his ideas came from, King would often reply, “I have the heart of a small boy. . . And I keep it in a jar on my desk.” Also, he does not have just one particular way of writing horror, and what often sets off the terror in his readers most was the vast amount of detail portrayed.
My relationship with writing has been much like roller coaster.Some experiences I had no control over. Other experiences were more influential. Ultimately it wasn’t until I started reading not because I had to read but because I wanted to, that's when my relationship reached change. I would have probably never cared about writing as I do today if it weren't for the critics in my family. When I was a child, my aunts and uncles always been in competition with who's child is better in school. I have always hated reading and writing because of the pressure to prove my family wrong was overwhelming for me. I had to prove them wrong and show them that I was capable of being "smart" which according to them was getting straight A's in all your classes.
So, is Joseph Hillstrom King (Joe Hill) a writer because he and his father, Stephen King, share an artistic "gene" that makes them want to write? Or is Joe Hill a writer because he grew up in a house with Stephen King, where he learned to love the things his father loved to do?
My literacy journey began long before I had actually learned how to read or write. While recently going through baby pictures with my mother, we came across a photo of my father and I book shopping on the Logos boat, a boat that would come to my island every year that was filled with books for our purchasing. Upon looking at this picture, my mother was quite nostalgic and explained how they began my journey to literacy through experiences like this. My earliest memory of experiencing literature was as a small child. My parents would read bedtime stories to me each night before I went to bed. I vividly remember us sitting on the bed together with this big book of “365 bedtime stories for 365 days” and we read one story each day until we had
King owes his success to his ability to take what he says are “real fears” (The Stephen King Story, 47) and turn them into a horror story. When he says “real fears” they are things we have all thought of such as a monster under the bed or even a child kidnapping and he is making them a reality in his story. King looks at “horror fiction...as a metaphor” (46) for everything that goes wrong in our lives. His mind and writing seems to dwell in the depths of the American people’s fears and nightmares and this is what causes his writing to reach so many people and cause the terror he writes about to be instilled in his reader.
‘The Source of Bad Writing’ is a piece that starts and ends in the perfect ways to immediately grab the reader’s attention. It is perfectly accessible to the readers or the audience, and the blunt and straightforward mannerisms of Steven Pinker’s writing appeal to the readers’ humour. The reason why the matters Pinker writes about is accessible is because High School is the one experience that everybody has had. Using this as an explanatory device, Pinker manages to successfully make his writing vibrant and fun to read. Pinker also makes big and bold statements in a very subtle manner. He casually uses words of criticism like “gibberish” and “demonise” without the slightest effort. The piece is also never dragging and Pinker manages to express