by Stephen King
I bought the book because it was available on taobao, and it was on sale. A pirate edition obviously, and costs me 5 yuan. I never read Stephen King before, never meant to. Whatever fame he has acquired, I am simply not a sci-fi person, feel creepy about some of the sensual scenes from the movies based on his works, and therefore, avoiding those movies as well. To me, he is just a famous guy living in a completely different and irrelevant world.
And I never thought I could find a book on writing fun to read. Not that I am not interested in writing. My feeling towards penmanship is rather complicated. I was brought up to believe being an author, an author of literature or scholarly research is one of the most honorable profession in the world. I spent many of my primary and middle school days writing essays and poems. Some of them found their way to kids magazines, and some, even real literary ones. I made a small fortune with it as well, considering most of the students at that time, around that age didn't even dream of having an income by themselves. As I grew older however, I started to doubt this vision of me becoming a great writer, and most important, I lost my respect for penmanship, all sorts of.
I don't know how this happened. My mom blamed my boyfriend at the time, thinking he distracted me from many good practice and virtue. I doubt it. In retrospect, though I wrote from time to time, and read too, but I have never been a voracious reader as some of my classmates or people around me. I turn to books when I need to find something, I read what was trendy among teens of my age, but I can do without reading quite well.
Reading the first part of Stephen King's book, it becomes clear to me that why I never took the path and would never be able to take it. To be a writer, as King tries to show us, one need to be a tireless reader, be passionate about at least one or two genres, and above all, be persistent in writing. Persistence means you keep writing everyday, even though you are living in a shelter, even though no one rewards your effort, yet. Of course you need to have certain talents and training, but for me, those are the only things I have, and therefore, not important.
I feel some intimacy toward writing, but no passion. I got reward for my writing from the very beginning, so when I write, instead of listening to my audience, I am thinking about money and fame.
Besides helping to analyze my want of achievement, King's book also clears my thoughts on certain traits of a writer. For example, he talked about jobs he held. He could write when he worked in a laundry, but found it difficult when taught. In other words, a job you don't care at all, especially a blue collar labor, seldom gets in the way of you and your ambition. Yet, a job you care, even just a little, distracts you from your dream.
He also talked about his wife. Self-reliant is the word he used. I guess that means she can leave him alone when he needs to be alone, no matter how long it is and under what circumstance.
