I've been reading
Alright, I'm going to admit it: I haven't worked a tad on the Thursday and Friday 50 Prompts fics besides having the concept of the stories. I seriously doubt I'll be working on them over the weekend, as I'm out of town again because hell, I'm having the longest summer of my educational life so I should enjoy it, right? Instead of drafting up a fic, I spent an entire 6 hour car ride reading Misery by Stephen King.
And then I realized, because I've taken two full years of AP English, that I can't stop analyzing literature so I concluded: the book is about the plight of writers and their audience. The entire book is a metaphor for the writing process: an author is trapped in a mad woman's house where he is forced to write a book for her. This isolates the whole writing period for a writer and strips away the menial other parts of life such as going out, meeting other people, etc. I believe the story is trying to say that while the main character, Paul, is trying to endeavor on a "real writing mission" by creating his newest book, he is still hung up on what his audience thinks - the woman keeping him hostage claims to be his "biggest fan" and rejects his attempt at writing something he likes in order to get a new book in her favorite series, which has been considered "popular fiction". The entire novel details his struggles with this woman, which I think parallels a writer's battle to write what he/she wants versus what the general public wants to read. She torments him as critics may for a piece of literature that isn't "mainstream". In the end, he succeeds in killing her, nearly losing his sanity and writing ability in the process, but manages to start working on another original piece.
I'm sorry, but as a writer, I thought this book was BRILLIANT. I could relate in strange ways. As the main character was a writer, he raised points that I firmly believe in and methods of writing that I do myself. I'm sure it was really not symbolic of anything, but I chose to interpret the book as above because it seems deeper to me that way.
I found some really inspiring quotes that King sums up writing with that I couldn't put in better words:
Regarding the beginning of the writing process:
"As always, the blessed relief of starting, a feeling that was like falling into a hole filled with bright light.
As always, the glum knowledge that he would not write as well as he wanted to write.
As always, the terror of not being able to finish, of accelerating into a blank wall.
As always, the marvellous joyful nervy feeling of journey begun."
Regarding inspiration:
"He understood what he was doing now as TRYING TO HAVE AN IDEA. TRYING TO HAVE AN IDEA wasn't the same thing as GETTING AN IDEA. GETTING AN IDEA was a more humble way of saying 'I am inspired' or 'Eureka! My muse has spoken!'."
and
"If you needed to HAVE AN IDEA, boredom could be to a roadblocked novel what chemotherapy was to a cancer patient."
Amazingly, King's description of getting inspiration is uncannily how I get inspiration for a story:
"He....had seen an attendant trying to jimmy his way into a car...by the time he had walked another two or three blocks, he no longer cared. The attendant had become Tony Bonasaro [the author's original character]. He knew everything about Tony but his name...half of the story existed, full-blown, in his mind and the rest was rapidly falling into place. He felt jivey, happy, almost drunk. His muse had arrived, every bit as welcome as an unexpected check in the mail...he had GOTTEN AN IDEA."
Regarding being a writer in general:
"A little talent is a nice thing to have if you want to be a writer, but the only real requirement is that ability to remember the story of every scar."
"The reason authors almost always put a dedication on a book...is because their selfishness even horrifies themselves in the end."
But I think the most inspiring quote, for me at least, was:
"There's a million things in this world I can't do. Couldn't hit a curve ball, even back in high school. Can't fix a leaky faucet. Can't roller-skate or make an F-chord on the guitar that sounds like anything but shit...But if you want me to take you away, to scare you or involve you or make you cry or grin, yeah. I can. I can bring it to you and keep bringing it until you holler uncle. I am able. I CAN."
Basically Stephen King is really winning points with me as a favorite author. He's just amazing and I've been too scared to read scary stories to work on his novels, but man, I really want to end up like him.
And then I realized, because I've taken two full years of AP English, that I can't stop analyzing literature so I concluded: the book is about the plight of writers and their audience. The entire book is a metaphor for the writing process: an author is trapped in a mad woman's house where he is forced to write a book for her. This isolates the whole writing period for a writer and strips away the menial other parts of life such as going out, meeting other people, etc. I believe the story is trying to say that while the main character, Paul, is trying to endeavor on a "real writing mission" by creating his newest book, he is still hung up on what his audience thinks - the woman keeping him hostage claims to be his "biggest fan" and rejects his attempt at writing something he likes in order to get a new book in her favorite series, which has been considered "popular fiction". The entire novel details his struggles with this woman, which I think parallels a writer's battle to write what he/she wants versus what the general public wants to read. She torments him as critics may for a piece of literature that isn't "mainstream". In the end, he succeeds in killing her, nearly losing his sanity and writing ability in the process, but manages to start working on another original piece.
I'm sorry, but as a writer, I thought this book was BRILLIANT. I could relate in strange ways. As the main character was a writer, he raised points that I firmly believe in and methods of writing that I do myself. I'm sure it was really not symbolic of anything, but I chose to interpret the book as above because it seems deeper to me that way.
I found some really inspiring quotes that King sums up writing with that I couldn't put in better words:
Regarding the beginning of the writing process:
"As always, the blessed relief of starting, a feeling that was like falling into a hole filled with bright light.
As always, the glum knowledge that he would not write as well as he wanted to write.
As always, the terror of not being able to finish, of accelerating into a blank wall.
As always, the marvellous joyful nervy feeling of journey begun."
Regarding inspiration:
"He understood what he was doing now as TRYING TO HAVE AN IDEA. TRYING TO HAVE AN IDEA wasn't the same thing as GETTING AN IDEA. GETTING AN IDEA was a more humble way of saying 'I am inspired' or 'Eureka! My muse has spoken!'."
and
"If you needed to HAVE AN IDEA, boredom could be to a roadblocked novel what chemotherapy was to a cancer patient."
Amazingly, King's description of getting inspiration is uncannily how I get inspiration for a story:
"He....had seen an attendant trying to jimmy his way into a car...by the time he had walked another two or three blocks, he no longer cared. The attendant had become Tony Bonasaro [the author's original character]. He knew everything about Tony but his name...half of the story existed, full-blown, in his mind and the rest was rapidly falling into place. He felt jivey, happy, almost drunk. His muse had arrived, every bit as welcome as an unexpected check in the mail...he had GOTTEN AN IDEA."
Regarding being a writer in general:
"A little talent is a nice thing to have if you want to be a writer, but the only real requirement is that ability to remember the story of every scar."
"The reason authors almost always put a dedication on a book...is because their selfishness even horrifies themselves in the end."
But I think the most inspiring quote, for me at least, was:
"There's a million things in this world I can't do. Couldn't hit a curve ball, even back in high school. Can't fix a leaky faucet. Can't roller-skate or make an F-chord on the guitar that sounds like anything but shit...But if you want me to take you away, to scare you or involve you or make you cry or grin, yeah. I can. I can bring it to you and keep bringing it until you holler uncle. I am able. I CAN."
Basically Stephen King is really winning points with me as a favorite author. He's just amazing and I've been too scared to read scary stories to work on his novels, but man, I really want to end up like him.