:(

Final blog post for this class :'(

“Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader’s.” 


In life, everything that occurs is all up for interpretation. The way that someone says "hey" even to the way that someone looks for you, it's all based on the way that you chose to interpret it. 


So.. why should this even be relevant?


OH IT IS QUITE SIMPLE. Our job as a writer is to create a story for the reader to get lost in. This is something that can be accomplished with sorts of figurative language and various types of imagery.


But the writer cannot determine how the reader will interpret it. 


It is all based on how the reader perceives the text to be. What may seem funny to one reader may seem crude to another. The main thing to remember is that we interpret things the way that our mind wants us to, we cannot control how we feel about certain things. This is important to remember because as we write, we need to remember how this can affect a broader audience rather than specifying on certain aspects.

SEVEN THINGS?!

From reading the novel, Stephen King has essentially said that these are the top seven tips for becoming a better writer: 

1. Get to the point.

2. Write a draft. Then let it rest.

3. Cut down your text.

4. Be relatable and honest.

5. Don’t care too much what others may think.

6. Read a lot.

7. Write a lot.

What I really like about reading this is that the writing center can relate to it as well. To us, this list is our 'priorities of writing.' We need to make sure that we take all of these things into consideration as we tutor, and this is something that writers need to take into consideration as they write.

Without these basic principles, our writing would fail to be at the level that it potentially could be. Before you learn to run, you have to learn how to crawl. By making sure that we follow the guidelines that are given to us, we can strive to make sure that we have our best. Once we start to grow more accustomed to it, then that's when we can start to improve from there. We just have to make sure that we remember our roots and don't get too branched out from our original place.

uhm meh merp derp hi?

One of the things that I lack is confidence. It's just the way that it's written in my DNA, I just care too much about what other people think of me. Meh, I'm starting to change my outlook on it, but it's really difficult.


Something about On Writing that most people wouldn't suspect - it's not only there to help improve your writing but it's also meant to evoke self-empowerement.


When I was reading and filling my book with sticky notes, I marked off one quote that I absolutely loved.


“You can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will.”


I'm tired of sitting around and wondering WHAT IF or what other people will think of me. If I truly want to accomplish something, then I should just go out and do it. Regardless of what other people will think of me, I just need to start doing things because that's what I want to do. Once I start having the mentality that everything will be okay, then it will be!

it all comes down to this

“The scariest moment is always just before you start.” 


Mr. King seemed to have read my mind.


I have never experienced such fear rather than right before I'm going to start something. What I really like the best is that as I read this I realized how this pertains to my life right now.


Graduation. This Friday.


I know it hasn't come yet, but graduation scares me because it's us starting to actually become who we are. We all have plans for college, and from there it's the rest of our lives. 


Am I actually ready for this?


Sure, high school has prepared us for college, but everything is in our hands. What we chose to do with our lives and how we handle our situations all depends on us. It's as if we started off our lives as little pieces of clay, and everything we have experienced up until graduation has shaped us into the people who we are today.


I know that I'm prepared for the next chapter in my life, but the scariest part is actually starting this chapter. Once I get a couple of pages in, I'm sure I'll turn out fine! <3

The Dark Depths of Stephen King's Mind

When Stephen King started off his writing, there seemed to be a wittiness to his writing - something that I was unaccustomed to. In my previous article, he discussed a death without showing any remorse towards the person or the situation. I was wondering when I would discover the darkness of his mind, where all of the monsters hide waiting to come forth into the reality of his writing.

The next passage did not fail to disappoint. 

"By 1985 I had added drug addiction to my alcohol problem, yet I continued to function, as a good many substance abusers do, on a marginally competent level."

Ladies and gentlemen... He just went there.

The thing that I like the most about King's writing is the fact that it is raw. He doesn't edit what he says because of the readers or because it may portray a darker aspect of his life, it influences his career. He embraces the lowest points in his life and uses it as inspiration for his writing. He even states that he "knew I was an alcoholic as early as 1975, when I wrote The Shining." 

Most people would run away from their issues as soon as it comes up, but King uses this to fuel his writing. The Shining was one of his most popular works, and he was dealing with alcoholism at the time he wrote it.

I really like this because it shows how the flaws we have can drive us to try anything. It shows that we should learn to embrace ourselves for who we are, because in the end we can benefit from things that we typically would be ashamed of showing.

"He splattered"

While reading On Writing, I noticed that Stephen King always maintains his calm tone throughout the entirity of the text. In  one passage, King discusses death with his mom, and throughout the passage there did not seem to be any remorse regarding the subject.

King discusses two deaths within the passage. One was a young girl who drowned, and he discusses how his mother, who witnessed the tragedy, was "waiting for a rescue boat that never came and listening to that girl scream until her strength gave out and she went under." After this, he talks about how his mother read him a comic book.

The other death was a sailor who committed suicide by jumping off of the roof in Maine. "'He splattered,' my mother said in her most matter-of-fact tone."

With a "matter-of-fact" tone? One of Stephen King's personal fears is the fear of death, so I don't understand how someone exposed to death can write calmly about it. Stephen King discusses in his novel on channeling emotions and writing how you feel. He also elaborates on the fact of using personal experiences to embellish the writing.

So with that being said, wouldn't it be beneficial to the reader to write with some remorse? Stephen King is a renowned horror writer, but dealing with fictional events such as this, I expected something more.

I know what it's like to see a dead body, to have the presence of death looming in the same room. Sucking the life out of everything within the space. I expected King to pick up on the elements of this, but instead he briefly discussed their deaths. I just expected more gloom, not just a tiny vague paragraph regarding such a strong subject.

Writers are Shaped, not Created

Not how one writer was made; I don't believe that writers can be made, either by circumstances or by self-will (although I did believe those things once). The equipment comes with the original package.


Mr. Stephen King is brilliant. As I was reading through my book, he brings up an interesting point about how writers have raw talent, and you can shape that talent and create something ordinary into something extraordinary.


He uses an example of when he was younger he was moving a cinderblock across the garage, and he envisioned himself as the 'strong man' from the circus. He is able to show that the creativity starts at a young age and that by refining it they could harness their writing potential.


I love this. Reading about his vivid experiences when he was younger allowed for me to reflect on my own childhood. Well.. My altered childhood.


Every year, my family and I go to Myrtle Beach and do EVERYTHING there. And by everything, I literally mean everything you can think of. Shopping? Check. Swimming? Check. Tanning? Check. Parasailing? Check. The list goes on and on, but for the sake of retaining your attention I'll cut it off there.
One of the things that I remember the most was crawling through Ripley's Aquarium pretending I was a marine biologist. Not even a scuba diver like most kids would pretend to be, I had to give the fish medicine. I would climb up the sides of the glass and start hugging it, screaming to my Mom to get me medicine for the fish because they were dying. You would think that after getting pried off of the glass by my grandmother that I would have learned my lesson... not even close.


At the aquarium there is a large tunnel that engulfs you in their habitat. On several occasions, I found myself face to face with several Sand Tiger Sharks. But seeing how I believed I was a marine biologist, the content sharks 'needed' my help. Embracing my marine biologist role, I ran and pressed the emergency stop button within the tunnel. I remember thinking to myself, "Now no one can hurt my babies!" Once the police came and had a stern talk to me, I thought that it was time for my babies to grow up and take care of themselves.


Writing may come easily to some, but for other people it could be a struggle. King emphasizes that as long as you practice it'll become easier to write. As long as there are memories along the way to help ignite the flame of writing, then it'll become an easy process to master!