Wisdom of Stephen King
diana jenner
I find inspiration in the strangest places <g>... I'm reading Stephen
King's _On Writing: a memoir of the craft_. Before I finished 100
pages, I found a few places where external attitudes changed his life.
Granted, he was not unschooled by any definition and probably has no
idea what that term means... still these paragraphs really spoke to me.
Substitute the principles of "parenting" or "unschooling" where he
speaks of writing...
=-=-=-=-=-=-
[after his second venture into writing for pay at his school, he is
called *again* into the principal's office...]
""What I don't understand, Stevie," she said, "is why you'd write
junk like this in the first place. You're talented. Why do you want to
waste your abilities?"... She waited for me to answer -- to her credit
the question was not entirely rhetorical -- but I had no good answer to
give. I was ashamed. I have spent a good many years since -- too many
I think -- being ashamed about what I write. I think I was forty before
I realized that almost every writer of fiction and poetry who has ever
published a line has been accused by someone of wasting his or her
God-given talent. If you write (or paint or dance or sculpt or sing, I
suppose), someone will try to make you feel lousy about it, that's all.
I'm not editorializing, just trying to give you the facts as I see them."
-=-=-=-=-=-=
"My wife made a crucial difference during those two years I spent
teaching at Hampden (and washing sheets at New Franklin Laundry during
summer vacation). If she had suggested that the time I spent writing
stories on the front porch of our rented house on Pond Street or in the
laundry room of our rented trailer on Klatt Road in Hermon was wasted
time, I think a lot of the heart would have gone out of me. Tabby never
voiced a single doubt, however. Her support was a constant, one of the
few things I could take as a given. And whenever I see a first novel
dedicated to a wife (or husband), I smile and think, /There's someone
who knows/. Writing is a lonely job. Having someone who believes in
you makes a lot of difference. They don't have to make speeches. Just
believing is usually enough."
=-=-=-=-=-=-
"You can approach the act of writing with nervousness, excitement,
hopefulness, or even despair -- the sense that you can never completely
put on a page what's in your mind and heart. You can come to the act
with your fists clenched and your eyes narrowed, ready to kick ass and
take down names. You can come to it because you want a girl to marry
you or because you want to change the world. Come to it any way but
lightly. Let me say it again: */you must not come lightly to the blank
page/*.
I'm not asking you to come reverently or unquestioningly; I'm not
asking you to be politically correct or cast aside your sense of humor
(please God you have one). This isn't a popularity contest, it's not
the moral Olympics, and it's not church. But it's /writing/, damn it,
not washing the car or putting on eyeliner. If you can take it
seriously, we can do business. If you can't or won't, it's time for you
to close the book and do something else.
Wash the car, maybe."
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[diana again]
This last one really struck me when you replace the writing concepts
with unschooling ones -- take your whole kid seriously, take your job as
parent/life coach seriously... if you can't or won't, send those kids to
school. I don't want my kids to have memories of me that sound like
Stephen's interaction with his principal, I want to create LOTS of
memories like the ones he has of his wife's constant support of his
dreams/who he Is. This *isn't* something to be done half-assed. We and
our children deserve more.
:) diana
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
King's _On Writing: a memoir of the craft_. Before I finished 100
pages, I found a few places where external attitudes changed his life.
Granted, he was not unschooled by any definition and probably has no
idea what that term means... still these paragraphs really spoke to me.
Substitute the principles of "parenting" or "unschooling" where he
speaks of writing...
=-=-=-=-=-=-
[after his second venture into writing for pay at his school, he is
called *again* into the principal's office...]
""What I don't understand, Stevie," she said, "is why you'd write
junk like this in the first place. You're talented. Why do you want to
waste your abilities?"... She waited for me to answer -- to her credit
the question was not entirely rhetorical -- but I had no good answer to
give. I was ashamed. I have spent a good many years since -- too many
I think -- being ashamed about what I write. I think I was forty before
I realized that almost every writer of fiction and poetry who has ever
published a line has been accused by someone of wasting his or her
God-given talent. If you write (or paint or dance or sculpt or sing, I
suppose), someone will try to make you feel lousy about it, that's all.
I'm not editorializing, just trying to give you the facts as I see them."
-=-=-=-=-=-=
"My wife made a crucial difference during those two years I spent
teaching at Hampden (and washing sheets at New Franklin Laundry during
summer vacation). If she had suggested that the time I spent writing
stories on the front porch of our rented house on Pond Street or in the
laundry room of our rented trailer on Klatt Road in Hermon was wasted
time, I think a lot of the heart would have gone out of me. Tabby never
voiced a single doubt, however. Her support was a constant, one of the
few things I could take as a given. And whenever I see a first novel
dedicated to a wife (or husband), I smile and think, /There's someone
who knows/. Writing is a lonely job. Having someone who believes in
you makes a lot of difference. They don't have to make speeches. Just
believing is usually enough."
=-=-=-=-=-=-
"You can approach the act of writing with nervousness, excitement,
hopefulness, or even despair -- the sense that you can never completely
put on a page what's in your mind and heart. You can come to the act
with your fists clenched and your eyes narrowed, ready to kick ass and
take down names. You can come to it because you want a girl to marry
you or because you want to change the world. Come to it any way but
lightly. Let me say it again: */you must not come lightly to the blank
page/*.
I'm not asking you to come reverently or unquestioningly; I'm not
asking you to be politically correct or cast aside your sense of humor
(please God you have one). This isn't a popularity contest, it's not
the moral Olympics, and it's not church. But it's /writing/, damn it,
not washing the car or putting on eyeliner. If you can take it
seriously, we can do business. If you can't or won't, it's time for you
to close the book and do something else.
Wash the car, maybe."
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[diana again]
This last one really struck me when you replace the writing concepts
with unschooling ones -- take your whole kid seriously, take your job as
parent/life coach seriously... if you can't or won't, send those kids to
school. I don't want my kids to have memories of me that sound like
Stephen's interaction with his principal, I want to create LOTS of
memories like the ones he has of his wife's constant support of his
dreams/who he Is. This *isn't* something to be done half-assed. We and
our children deserve more.
:) diana
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Elizabeth Hill
**
I find inspiration in the strangest places <g>... I'm reading Stephen
King's _On Writing: a memoir of the craft_. Before I finished 100
pages, I found a few places where external attitudes changed his life.
Granted, he was not unschooled by any definition and probably has no
idea what that term means...**
Hi, Diana --
I think I recall, that like many many writers and creative people, Stephen King had an extended period out of school as a child, due to illness. It would make sense to most all of us that of course being in school is terrible preparation for becoming a creative person, and being out of school is much better.
Betsy
I find inspiration in the strangest places <g>... I'm reading Stephen
King's _On Writing: a memoir of the craft_. Before I finished 100
pages, I found a few places where external attitudes changed his life.
Granted, he was not unschooled by any definition and probably has no
idea what that term means...**
Hi, Diana --
I think I recall, that like many many writers and creative people, Stephen King had an extended period out of school as a child, due to illness. It would make sense to most all of us that of course being in school is terrible preparation for becoming a creative person, and being out of school is much better.
Betsy