I do want to start off with Doris Lenning’s “On not winning the Nobel Prize” since the story of her own background was really interesting to read. I do feel bad when Lenning explains about the village having little opportunities when it came to education. Made me really reflect on the resources and the advantages that Kean students like me have but don’t use it at its full potential. It was also surprising to see how teachers in Africa used creative methods to give children the best education as possible.
Now let’s focus on the meat of this post- this is for all the creative writers since were going to be focusing on one of the famous writers, Stephen King. There’s an author named Lauren Passell who discusses and simplifies Stephen King and his 20 rules through an article called “Stephen King’s Top 20 Rules for Writers“. I was so inspired by most of the points Stephen King has provided for creative storytellers, but there are few details that I want to dispute.
10. You have three months. “The first draft of a book—even a long one—should take no more than three months, the length of a season.”
Passell 2013
As a college student, I find it almost impossible to get a draft done in this short time due to the amount work a normal college student has to do. However, in some other cases in where college isn’t applied- it’s possible to get it done. But even then, I think it would be better to just add one more month so that a writer could get some more time to either revise even though it’s a first draft.
12. Write one word at a time. “A radio talk-show host asked me how I wrote. My reply—’One word at a time’—seemingly left him without a reply. I think he was trying to decide whether or not I was joking. I wasn’t. In the end, it’s always that simple.”
Passell 2013
This rule kind of messes with the previous rule that I’ve just mentioned because if someone were to be stuck on finding one powerful word every time they wrote, it would take so long to get through the draft alone. Instead of just doing one word at a time, why not stretch it out to one paragraph at a time? More likely the writer will be more active and invested into the process of writing.
19. You become a writer simply by reading and writing. “You don’t need writing classes or seminars any more than you need this or any other book on writing… You learn best by reading a lot and writing a lot, and the most valuable lessons of all are the ones you teach yourself.”
Passell 2013
This isn’t a disagreement by no means, more of just my opinion on this matter. It’s definitely possible to write a miraculous book with no further experiences in English and Writing. As for me, I think it would be very beneficial to learn and comprehend through classes and seminars. So much so that I feel like I need the education, I know I don’t have to push myself with assignments and exams- I just think there’s more to storytelling than I think and maybe the classes will help me get a little more in depth.
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