My Never Ending List

I got to know Stephen King on a personal level by reading this short novel. I learned how he made his first buck and I felt like we connected even though we never really personally met. I never expected to get this much out of this small novel and never did I expect to even find this novel to be something that I would recommend to anyone else.   The title of this novel is what turned me off. I am not a writer. I like to express my thoughts about the books that I read but I don’t put myself into the category of a writer so when my daughter-in-law suggested that I read this novel, I was hesitate. So much so, I have shelved the novel for many months. Crazy me! This novel was fantastic, this novel had energy and I can now see why she loves it so. My daughter-in-law adores a novel written by one of the kings of horror yet she hates horror, it’s amazing! As a high school literacy teacher, I can see why she adores it. Inside this novel, Stephen begins by addressing his childhood and you begin to see how his upbringing shapes the stories that he writes later in life. As a teen, he liked the things that excite me: horror movies, movies with teenagers on the prowl and science fiction movies. Reading about his teenage years, you can see his novels beginning to take shape.   He talks about his marriage, how it works for them and how they survived the rough years. No, this book is not all about the writing process yet it is about writing as he talks about how an individual’s life and their journey will shape their writing and this book will show you that everyone has a story to tell. There is a story within you Stephen believes, a story just needs to be pulled together and you, the writer needs to find it and put it all together, the way you see fit. I was excited as I read this novel; I was seeing it all come together as Stephen laid out his own journey/story for us.

I don’t agree with everything that he writes inside this novel but he made me think about a lot of things. I love what he says about fear. He believes that fear makes people write badly. I have to agree with him. Fear of rejection, fear of confrontation, fear of unknowns and fear of uncertainty are things that make people not write as good as they could. He also writes about word choice and how people choose their words. Are you an individual who writes down the first word that pops into their head or do you think about what word to use? I won’t tell you what Stephen thinks but he has some thoughts on the subject. This novel is funny at times; his stories really had me going which I did not expect at all. He is real in this novel and I appreciated his honesty and now I feel a connection to the stories that he wrote and I know that they came from his heart. The second half of the novel he writes more about how to write. He talks more about the writing process. Not being a writer, I didn’t find this section boring. I found what he wrote fascinating and energizing, he gives the reader interesting ideas to think about. Providing excellent examples, you understand exactly what he means, he’s doesn’t preach to you and tell what to do, Stephen makes you think and he offers suggestions. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel as he gives the reader an excellent perspective on his writing and he offers suggestions and ideas hoping to ignite the writer that is within all of us. I, myself liked looking at his novels through his eyes.

“Writing is seduction,” you should write so that the reader feels as if they are not reading at all.