What Stephen King Says About Writing May Frighten You

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I have to admit that for a long time, I wouldn’t read anything written by Stephen King. I was always afraid that his horror stories would keep me awake at night. After reading numerous term papers about this author, however, I finally asked my class to recommend a King story or two that wouldn’t frighten me. Surprisingly, I liked what I read.

I began with a friend’s copy of The Shawshank Redemption. Then, I went to the library and borrowed King’s serial bestseller, The Green Mile. Next, I read his electronic novella called “Riding the Bullet” on my computer. In fact, I so enjoyed King’s storytelling that I actually purchased his non-fiction book called On Writing — A Memoir on the Craft. Now this is a scary piece of work.

This book is scary because King, whose works have always been popular with college students, actually re-enforces what college writing instructors have been saying for years. Three key areas that King covers have to do with the three R’s: Reading, ‘Riting, and Revising.

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Reading. If you want to be a writer, according to King, you only have to do two things: “read a lot and write a lot” (145). King’s first exposure to…