Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Writing is Hard: No Magic Bullet

Stephen King has an excellent article on The Washington Post's website about the Writing Life. Totally takes the mystery out of it, which is a good thing.

I can't count the number of times I've seen a successful writer asked by an aspiring writer, "Where do you get your ideas from?" As if the answer to that question will somehow lead the aspiring writer to those same ideas and make him or her a Successful Writer. It's the desire for the Magic Bullet. If only someone would just show me how to do it -- what the Secret is -- then I could replicate it and be the next (insert the literary idol of your choice).

By proclaiming that there is no Secret -- no Mystery -- to the writing process, King puts the hard work right back where it belongs: in the writer's lap.

"I'm often asked if writing classes are any help, and my immediate and enthusiastic answer is always, Yes! Writing classes are wonderful for the writers who teach them and can't make ends meet without that supplementary income. They are also good places for unattached people to meet, talk about books and movies, have a few drinks and possibly hook up. But teach you to write? No. A writing class will not teach you to write. The only things that can teach writing are reading, writing and the semi-domestication of one's muse. These are all activities one must pursue alone.

"Aspiring writers are told these things over and over again and constantly push them aside. They want something quicker."

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