The Mystery of Writing

I just finished Stephen King's writing memoir, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. It is an easy read and actually a lot of fun. It originally was published ten years ago now and was finished as he was recuperating from a near fatal accident when he was hit by a van while walking along a back road in Maine. The first part is a memoir of his youth and writing career. He then spends most of his time talking about the craft of writing and then ends with recounting the accident and how, in essence, writing got him through.

There was not a lot in the book that I didn't know about writing. He covers in his own unique style some of the important tools of writing- grammar, theme, etc. But what was refreshing about the book was his personal approach and a reaffirmation for me of the craft of writing.

One particular piece was affirming to my own style of writing stories. I have often described it as while stories flow from the imagination, they also have a life of their own. Each story has a plot line, or a starting point, or even a vague understanding of where it might be going. But sooner or later in the crafting of the story it gets out of hand. The characters begin to say or do things that no one, least of all the writer, expected. People appear and disappear but the story continues on to its appropriate ending.

King described a very similar process. He talks about it as it was an archaeological dig, unearthing things that are hidden. In the action of putting words down in some sequence or theme, the writer is actually digging through the story and telling it, describing what he or she sees.

In the end, as I have said before, these stories can often be far more true than any collection of facts. They go beyond facts to the truths- paradigms, hopes, fears, myths, wisdom- of humanity.