Failure sucks. When you set a goal for yourself, it can be disheartening to not reach it, no matter the circumstances. I have mentioned on this blog for several months now, I think, that I was working my way through Stephen King's IT, one of the favorite stories of my childhood. But I just can't do … Continue reading Stephen King’s IT — I Just Can’t
Tag: Stephen King
An Ambitious Work
I hope that my comments yesterday on Stephen King's IT did not come off as hyper-critical. I know I tend to rant when the passion gets in me. I could have easily continued rambling on about what is wrong with the book (one thing that really bugs me is the over-reliance on pop culture references, which … Continue reading An Ambitious Work
What Makes a Classic?
This is something that has been brewing in my head for some time. Perhaps fermenting is a better word, because it's begun to stink. I ask you, what makes a book a classic? Besides that some stuffy old white men in an ivory tower say so. What makes a book or a story endure? It's … Continue reading What Makes a Classic?
My Writing Process, or Dirty Dancing with the Muses
Some people are plotters, some people leave their characters adrift in hopes they will do something interesting. Stephen King is in the latter camp, adamantly a member of the let-the-characters-do-their-thing party. I imagine Tolkien must have been a plotter, and a big one. He started out building a language and then wrote a story for it. I'm … Continue reading My Writing Process, or Dirty Dancing with the Muses
3 Ways to Become a Better Writer
Most writers know two simple ways to get better at writing. They are the basic tips of any professional writing program or class. Stephen King summed it up quite well in his great treatise of the craft On Writing, suggesting "If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a … Continue reading 3 Ways to Become a Better Writer
My Writing Space (Or How Not to Follow Stephen King’s Advice)
Fortune favors the bold, or so they say. I have been reading Stephen King's great treatise on the craft, On Writing. While I do intend to extract and discuss many key points of the book later, there is one bit that is likely not to make the cut for me: the discussion of proper writing spaces. This … Continue reading My Writing Space (Or How Not to Follow Stephen King’s Advice)
JM Williams 