Stephen King - On Writing - Essay

Practice makes perfect, but in the eyes of Stephen King practice shouldn’t feel like practice. A writer should write often and enjoy doing it, “if there’s no joy in it, it’s just no good” (page 150). A writer has to take writing seriously but be passionate about what they’re writing at the same time. Throughout his life King has always written, even when situations were tough, and that’s why he’s such a successful writer.

At a young age King was writing his own short stories and submitting them to magazines. With as many rejection notices he King received, most other adolescents would give up. He took the rejections and used them to build his determination. He looked forward to little critiques on the slips; these pieces of advice formed him as a writer. Critique shouldn’t break you down, it should build you up, and Stephen King is a great example of this. No matter how many rejection slips he had to pin on that spike, he never stopped writing.

Writing doesn’t always come easy, as King learned while writing Carrie. He lost emotional connection with his story, which is never good (Page 76). He just about gave up on the story, threw it out even. All he needed was a little encouragement from his wife to get him back on track. Even though writing Carrie was difficult from the start, his determination to finish the story is what caused his prolonged breakthrough to success. Carrie was his first major publication. The advice he got as a child, and all the practice he got from non-stop writing contributed to Carrie’s success. Had he given up on this story for good, there’s the possibility he never would’ve gotten his taste of fame. It’s important to keep writing no matter what because you never know if your next story could be the one to “make it big”. King never would’ve thought Carrie would achieve as much as it has. He kept writing, just as every good writer should.

Even after Stephen King’s horrific accident he continued to write. He was an immense amount of pain, definitely not in a writing mood, but he got back to work anyway. With determination and passion anything is possible. Success come to those who persevere, King of all people should know this concept well. If you’re writing for the right reasons, with the right amount of drive, and as often as time allows success should be an evident outcome.