ON WRITING Essay: Another One Down

Honestly, I do not feel like writing this essay right now. My big toe hurts, plus today is Monday. Reading On Writing, however, has changed my perspective on the craft and the commitment and it requires. According to author Stephen King, a writer becomes a full-fledged author when he or she writes frequently, regardless of circumstance. Throughout his own life, King has written frequently through adolescence, addiction, and injury. King's perseverance has resulted in many best-selling titles as well as the author's title as a dynamic modern writer.
King's love of writing began when he was a child. At first, he imitated his favorite science-fiction stories with elementary precision. As he found himself in the pit of confusion known as adolescence, Stephen King approached his writing career with great ambition. He began to submit his stories to magazines and continued to submit even after they were rejected. King recognized his passion for the craft at a young age and resolved to keep writing throughout his life. His early writing career shows the aspiring author that not all projects will be glamorous or successful. Often, they are copies of the successes of others or rough blueprints of the young author's potential.
Stephen King's personal life was not quite as horrifying as some of his novels, but his battle with addiction was dismal. As an adult, King found himself drinking at alarming frequency and experimenting with cocaine. If his wife, Tabitha, had not interfered with the drugs that were killing him, he might not be here today. King's writing career, although darkened by addiction, never stopped. He mentions that he kept writing novels throughout this period; sometimes he wrote in a drunken stupor. King even notes that there are certain books and parts of books that he does not clearly remember writing. The quality of his writing was diminished by the quality of his liver, but he never gave up the craft. King's  battle has shown me that writing, if done correctly, becomes a part of the author's life. Writing often saves the author, just as King realized while writing Misery that he was writing about himself. His wife and his writing saved him from a flat, dull life of addiction. Writing is therapeutic, and, most importantly, it sustains the will to eke purpose out of life.
The last few pages of Stephen King's On Writing really hit me like a truck, or, rather,  a blue Dodge van. (I could not resist.) In the summer of 1999, Stephen King was hit head-on by a van while walking on the side of the road in Maine. His recovery was painful and tiring. A lack of the will to write would be completely understandable under these circumstances; instead, King held the pen with tenacity and kept writing. He was actually in the middle of On Writing when the accident happened, so his completion of the book in the midst of physical pain is the perfect ending to a book about the power and techniques of writing. Of course, I am not inferring that I am glad King was injured. I am glad, however, that King did not let physical damage harm his capacities as an influential author and teacher. Stephen King wrote regardless of his circumstances. He did not write with bitterness or robotic anger, though. He wrote with the gratitude and passion that every author should have for the craft. His last few remarks in the book showed me that writing is supposed to make people happy. Its essence should make the author rejoice that he has words and the creativity to arrange them any way he wants, whenever he wants.
On Writing has shifted my perspective on every assignment I receive and every quiet moment I have to express my thoughts. I have wanted to be an author for a while, but this book has made me realize that I already am. Every paper, every poem scribbled in the margins, every half-finished short story about that one old lady that I simply cannot stop characterizing, is a reflection of my commitment to the craft. I now approach assignments like these with more joy than I previously have because they are just opportunities for me to use my words. Stephen King could write with rejection, alcohol, and pain medication pumping through his veins; surely I can forget my big toe and lose myself to the clicking of keys and the grinding of ideas for just a little while.