The Misery of Writing by Stephen King

No, it's not his new title, it's not even a real book. But it could be. Have you read Misery by Stephen King? It came out in the 80's, I saw the movie and loved it but for some reason never read the book until yesterday. Although I am a huge fan of his writing, I get a bit tired of the genre. Horror stories aren't my thing, neither is the religious zealot spawns psychotic killer, a recurring theme in his books since Carrie. But still, I've read many of his books just to get my fix of his incredible writing. A master storyteller with all the skills that go along with that, this guy has never gotten the acclaim he deserves for his literary accomplishments. He's too often been seen as the bestselling hack writer, and he is so, so much more than that!

If you want a trip, read King's On Writing, followed up by Misery. Basically everything he says about writing in his nonfiction, staid, autobiographical and controlled book (excellent btw) is also said in his horror, thriller, nightmarish tale of the psychotic Annie Wilkes and her captive writer Paul Sheldon. The symbolism in Misery was hilariously clear to me. Maybe because I'm really deep into writing, editing and struggling with a new wip, but I kept seeing analogies everywhere.

The writer with two broken legs forced to keep on writing. He's trying to get away. Ooops, time to chop off a foot. He complains about his tools at hand. Time to lose a thumb, then see how hard it is! He can't leave the house, can't party, can't avoid the work of writing--and guess what? This turns out to be his masterpiece.

It's all there in Misery. The writer's life in glorious, horrible Stephen King excess and gore:

The love/hate, dependent relationship between the author and editor.
The tendency to "cheat" in storytelling-- why it's wrong and how to fix it.
The idea of "can he?" when plotting checked against the "did he?".
The role that drugs and alcohol will often play in the writer's life.
The concept of writing for the public as opposed to writing for oneself.
The idea of "the hole in the paper," when a writer experiences that place of storytelling where he can get lost and time loses all meaning.
The "gotta" moments when all else gets put on hold and the words can't come fast enough--I gotta finish this! (and that's me reading a Stephen King novel. I gotta finish!)

The copy I read last night came from the library. I gotta buy one for myself! And I gotta buy On Writing! They'll go side by side on the shelf next to my other motivational writing books. And really, I think Misery is the one that's the most motivational.