Big Idea: To be a writer of any consequence, I must cement two inflexible habits into my daily life. These habits must be maintained at all hazards. According to Stephen King, I must read and write in no small quantity. He says I must write at least one thousand words per day (This doesn’t include work emails, though perhaps some of my more creative ones might count 🙂 ). I must read multiple books each month. King says he consumes 70-80 books per year! That seems impossible, but I’m inspired to bump up my standard 24 books annually to 36. We will see how I do! These two admonitions are the big idea of the book. He says reading fills up the mind, and writing is the stream of consciousness that gets it out.
For the Love: The best writers don’t write for money, power, or prestige. They write for the love of it. King says there is nothing like: “That buzz of happiness that comes when you have found the right words and put them in a line.” I know that exact feeling. It’s wonderfully addictive.
Murder is Healthy: Over and over again, King says, “Kill your darlings.” Writers write, but always too much. When King is flowing in his “stream of consciousness baby!” All he worries about is getting things down. In those zone moments, having his pen (yes, he is old school) forming the words on the page as quickly as possible is all that matters. King has realized that not all his rush of inspiration and creativity will be good. Mountains of it will be garbage. Good pen work must always be followed with even better knife work.
Throw out the Boob Tube: While King appreciates sports and movies (particularly horror movies – no surprise there), he has no use for mindless television. T.V. dims the imagination, stunts creativity, and wastes time. For those of us who have made a habit of spending hours watching whatever’s on, his reprimand is crystal clear “Get off the glass tit!” he says.
Don’t Build it. Unearth it. The story is a fossil. It’s already there underneath the surface. Good writers don’t build out a story as much as they unearth it. King thinks that building strategies like meticulous plot development or a thematic focus are wrong-headed approaches to writing. Create a situation, and then write the story from that situation. Get good at description and dialogue, but don’t worry too much about the plot or the theme because it will show up naturally as you unearth the story. An overfocus on plot and theme often ruins the story, like using a jackhammer to unearth a fossil.
A Love Letter or Primer on Writing? A good chunk of this book is King’s biography. He jokes that his readers demanded it because they are curious to know how fucked up his childhood must have been based on the profoundly disturbing horror books he has written. What emerges, however, is a deep and true love story that has spanned decades. King’s love and appreciation for his wife drip off the page like an overripe slice of watermelon leaking down the face of a hungry two-year-old. — It’s everywhere. She’s the one who pulled his first bestseller out of the trash bin, dusted it off, read it, and said, “Wait a minute, Steve, you’ve got something here.” She’s the one who drew a hard line on his drug and alcohol addiction but stuck with him and became the source of inspiration for his sobriety. She’s the one who nursed him back to life when he got flattened by a careless truck driver. In some respects, this book reflects more on gratitude for having a good mate than on how to write a good book. But that’s no criticism from me. I got two great themes for the price of one.
Believe the Better Story: Stephen King chooses to believe in life after death. He has no conception of what that might look like, but he is behind the idea because the story of “This is all there is” is terrible. What a waste of humanity, he says; he can’t fathom it, so he believes. — Had I found him sooner, I might have quoted him in my newly released book Escaping the Mortal Cage, A Cautious Rebellion Against Life Without God. Click the link to pick up your copy today!
