JN217 Week 7 Blog

I've sent Mattie several emails about this and photos of her. She has canceled two meetings we arranged but I'm still trying to make it work.

TOPIC 1: PROFILE FACT CHECK -- Contact the subject of your PROFILE. You can call, send an e-mail or check in with them face-to-face. Then answer these questions:

1. What did he/she think of the story?
2. Did you need to correct any errors? If so, what were they?
3. What revisions should be made on the story?
4. What will you do different the next time you are assigned to write a profile?

TOPIC 2: "ON WRITING” -- Now that you've had a chance to savor Stephen King's combination memoir/guide to writing ...

1. Write about (don't just list...) the TWO most important things you learned about writing from the author, being sure to include some examples AND ways you've applied what he suggested.

King's representation of where ideas and inspiration come from has stuck with me and really changed how I view my creative process. The way he discusses how Carrie was created as a character makes it seem like this character and story idea probably developed and morphed over years but it felt like the idea just hit him one day. He acknowledges that great ideas come from nowhere, but are really a connection of old ideas that seemed unrelated. I can relate to the feeling that sometimes, the ideas just click, they fall into place and it's often one singular event or sentence that propelled them into relevance and cohesion. I often feel a lack of creativity because many writers portray their ideas as coming from this mystical place in their minds that they have to ability to access with ease. Reading various passages by King actually made me feel better about the seeming lack of intent I feel when coming up a good idea, and the frustration I feel when I have intent and all I can write is ill-contrived drivel steeped in inorganic symbolism and forced elements of an ethos.

"There is no Idea Dump, not Story Central, no Island of the Buried Bestsellers; good story ideas seem to come quite literally from nowhere, sailing at you right out of the empty sky: two previously unrelated ideas come together and make something new under the sun. Your job isn't to find these ideas but to recognize them when they show up."

The other most impacting lesson I think I got from King, is an old and often heard piece of advice: don't give up. King wasn't as kind as Dan Gutman was when I met him as a kid, who told me something to the effect of 'never let anyone tell you that you can't be a writer.' (I was a huge fan of his series about a kid who could time travel using baseball cards.) I appreciate King's brutal honesty.

"I can't lie and say there are no bad writers. Sorry, but there are lots of bad writers."

King does make the point that everyone, no matter their talent and quality of work, will have their work put down and trashed. One must have the confidence that a single rejection letter -- or a stack of them -- does not necessarily spell doom for an aspiring author.

"By the time I was fourteen (and shaving twice a week whether I needed to or not) the nail in my wall would no longer support the weight of the rejection slips impaled upon it. I replaced the nail with a spike and went on writing."

My favorite quote from the book is actually an entire paragraph.

"If I were a Henry James or Jane Austen sort of guy, writing only about toffs or smart college folks, I’d hardly ever have to use a dirty word or a profane phrase; I might never have had a book banned from America’s school libraries or gotten a letter from some helpful fundamentalist fellow who wants me to know that I’m going to burn in hell, where all my millions of dollars won’t buy me so much as a single drink of water. I did not, however, grow up among folks of that sort. I grew up as apart of America’s lower middle class, and they’re the people I can write about with the most honesty and knowledge. It means that they say shit more often than sugar when they bang their thumbs, but I’ve made my peace with that. Was never much at war with it in the first place, as a matter of fact."

This paragraph resonated with me on so many levels. First of all, I thought it was hilarious and really displayed King's sharp sense of humor. However, the main reason I like this quote so much is because of how relatable I feel it is. I've never felt particularly awe-struck by the romanticized, over-represented depictions of the wealthy upper class. I don't read those stories in a constant state of envy and fascination as many seem to. I feel bored, unable to relate, and attempting to digest a story I feel as though I've read a million times. Granted with people like Austen, the writing is incredible, but I feel the stories are not. I relate to this quote because I have no desire to be "proper" in my writing or cater to "helpful fundamentalists." I like a certain sense of defiance in anyone's writing, I often can't accept mine without it.