Diary of a Mad Editor

Archive for 2004

In Response to Stephen King’s ON WRITING

When I was an undergraduate majoring in English, I took a class with Dr. Richard Mitchell called Advanced Classical Literature. It was clear from the first that he had no love for any book written after The Aeneid. The class was supposed to be a study of the works of Sophocles and the like, but Mitchell spent most of class time condemning contemporary art and language. On one occasion, he spent an entire class period trashing Stephen King. Several times during the class, he referred to King as “that despicable man,” even though, by his own admission, he had never met the author nor read so much as a word King had written. My own interest in Stephen King’s writing was on the wane at the time, but I was offended by Mitchell’s remarks, nonetheless. It’s true King is not a great stylist, and for one who has spent his career exploring good and evil, his vision of both is more than a little naive. Still, even as a lowly English student, I understood that Stephen King knew as much about the craft of storytelling as Homer on his best day. Afterall, I don’t recall staying up until four a.m. hyped on Dr. Pepper and caffeine pills reading The Iliad.
Stephen King’s On Writing is not really a “how-to” book so much as it is a “how-I-did-it” book. As such, the book is more interesting than it is useful. I was surprised by how much of his life I recognized from his fiction. I can certainly identify with some of his experiences. If I were seventeen and still slugging it out in the dreary stacks of the high school library, I might even find this volume inspirational. At thirty-six, my outlook is a bit more jaded, so I require more from a book on writing than this volume offers.
As a memoir, I like this book. King’s rags-to-riches story of a sickly, lonely boy who wrote his way to great fortune and happiness is compelling stuff. Certainly, it is not the story of a “despicable man.”
I am less pleased with it as a book on writing craft. If you’ve read his addresses to his “constant readers,”in other books, then you can easily recognize the section “What Writing Is” as little more than a wink to his fans and a teaser for his next novel.
King’s “Toolbox” is a nifty metaphor for writing craft. He presents his views in a clear and logical fashion as well as providing good examples from novels he admires to illustrate his points. I think, where I part ways with King, is when he states that “most bad writing comes from fear.” I don’t necessarily agree with that. Some bad writing probably does come from a fear of failing. I’m sure this is why some writers rely on the passive instead of the active voice. But this kind of bad writing is usually curable. The greater truth can perhaps be found earlier in the book, when he cautions writers not to “come lightly to the blank” page. It’s been my experience that the worst writing comes from writers who do come lightly to the blank page. They don’t have enough fear.

Penny for Unsolicited Thoughts

Hi. I just wanted to share a quick thought with you regarding 13th Warrior’s write-up on the Writer’s Resource web site.

I’m a published story author,(Oh? Do tell…) and I was considering submitting a piece to you (And just last night I was on my knees praying that the great story writer, Brandon Cornett would do just that). However, upon digesting the angry, bossy tone in the write-up, I decided against it. And surely I’m not the first to do so. (I really wouldn’t know,) We all know editors are busy, overworked (Yet despite this, you figured I had nothing better to do than to read your complaints), blah-blah-blah, but who twisted your arm to make you choose that line of work? That’s right, nobody. (How do you know? Maybe i’m working off a gambling debt) I wanted to share this with you (Oh, and I’m so glad you did.) in the hope that you may take a second, more objective look at your write-up, for when I look at it, I’m left asking, Who does this person think he is, God? (Well, if I were God, you’d be in a spot of trouble right now, wouldn’t you?) Have a nice day.(Sure thing, Hoss)

Sincerely,
(And here I thought you were just kidding.)

Brandon Cornett

Don’t Fire Until You See the Whites of His Eyes

I knew this guy back when I was a sophomore in college who wrote poetry. He wrote some of the most brilliant poems I had ever read by someone my own age. As far as I know he never submitted them. Then the strangest thing happened – he quit writing. I have no doubt that if he had continued on his path, he would have become one of the greatest poets of his generation.

When I asked him why he quit, he simply shrugged and said, “I didn’t feel like doing it anymore.” I’ll admit, I didn’t understand his decision. Most of the writers I know can only dream of having his talent and would, in fact, kill to possess half as much. Yet, despite his ability, he didn’t love doing it. Try to dissuade a no-talent hack who loves to write to stop. He’ll keep writing, failure after failure.

Fear plays a role, of course. Anything we care about instills in us as much fear as it does love. What fear I have as a writer serves me more than it hinders me. When I choose to walk away from the blank page, it’s rarely because I have nothing to say. It has more to do with the fact that I’d rather do something else at that moment. To me, fear of writing is all about having respect for the process and in wanting to get it right. The blank page is the enemy, but you have to respect the enemy enough to stay away when your mind and heart aren’t seriously into it. It takes much more courage to walk away at those moments than it does to sit down in front of a blank screen when the desire and commitment are not there.