“The Man in Black Fled Across the Desert, and the Gunslinger Followed.”

The title of this post is the opening line to the Dark Tower series by Stephen King. The following is a review of the series I’ve read thus far, and a commentary on the motivation I’m gaining as I’ve been reading it: 

As you know I’ve been reading the Dark Tower series, and it’s safe to say I’m pretty hooked. I didn’t think I would get taken in this deeply by Stephen King (a author whom I have a very sordid history with). For those of you who aren’t familiar with the series it’s about a man named Roland and his journey to find the dark tower. He is a gunslinger (think like a knight of the old west) and he is defined by his antiquated nature and his devotion to honor and destiny. He is also the last of his kind.

Everything takes place in this “world” that’s a lot like our own, but it’s mixed in with a very dystopian western future/past. Think: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly meets The Lord of the Rings and then they made very good looking baby with The Postman (a Kevin Costner classic).

The imagery of this whole landscape is enthralling and makes you wonder about what’s lurking around the next corner. The humor (what little there is) is poignant and helps break up the very heavy nature of this tale. The story is a slow burn, but slow like a mine fire; there is a lot is under the surface, likely a raging inferno, but all you can see is the poisonous gases and smoke the seem to fill the air. But I feel the most important aspect of this story are the different characters. (Certainly, as all great stories have).

(Very mild spoilers ahead)

All of these characters have their major flaws; just like ourselves. That’s why you read. You start to realize that maybe you have the same demons as Eddie (an addict), or Susannah (anger), or Jake (naivety). But once these characters enter Mid-world (the name of this crazy Middle Earth) then they sort of get knighted by Roland as gunslingers. These people have their struggles but they learn to stop, listen, and aim true. They start solving problems because they remember their past and know it can help them. They know their roles in this world and do the right thing. (It also helps when they’re all obsessed with reaching the end of their journey)

When you reach the point in the story where I am you start to learn a little more about Roland’s past. This is remarkable because Roland is a character shrouded in secrecy. He says very little and usually let’s bullets do most of the talking. You learn that, as a boy, he had to watch his family get torn apart by deception. He had to witness the decline of his people and the love of his life.

Knowing all these hurts in his life you start to wonder “what is Roland really chasing?”. It’s not just a big dark tower in the middle of a field of roses…is it? What does he want from this journey? Redemption? Vengeance? Saving a damsel in distress?

I’m willing to bet, if I could ask Roland that question he’d likely reply with “I wot, maybe it’s not about what I’m chasing, it’s about what’s chasing me.”

Now, I still have a ways to go in this story, but that’s what keeps hitting me. What is Roland searching for? It’s the reason I keep picking the book up. Maybe I’ll learn more. Maybe I’ll be teased further. Either way, it’s good storytelling.

And that’s why I’m making this post. This story is pulling me in because, I feel, that it reflects our own journey much better than other books do. No, I don’t have a great deal of tragedy in my life that has left me rabid with a desire to chase my enemy to the ends of the earth. Nope, I haven’t tried to find meaning in life by devoting myself to restoring justice and balance in the universe. I mostly drink too much soda and spend too much time on the internet. But this doesn’t mean I don’t have my own dark tower looming on the horizon. I just haven’t really started chasing it yet.

I think my dark tower is the same as Roland’s. I think yours is as well. We are all looking for that one thing, we just don’t exactly know what that one thing is. When we find it, it will feel like we’ve found a key that finally fits the lock in our heart. Maybe you’ll get to that dark tower and it turns into a Super Mario scenario. Maybe you defeat the monster but learn that the Princess has been moved to another castle. Still, you will persist.

I think a lot of people get discouraged in life because of this. “What is the meaning of life?”, “How come nothing goes my way?”, “Life is so unfair.” are phrases that we all say (I know I’ve asked myself these once or twice). Some people ask themselves those questions and they just sort of give up on the journey. They tell themselves they’ve achieved enough and that will be okay or maybe they say they are not fit for the journey and can’t go on. But the truth is, they’re just settling with your weaknesses. You can make this trip.

So, using this odd source of inspiration, I’ve decided to continually improve myself. Maybe I need to stop making fun of people so much. Maybe I need to stop the soda and the internet (or mostly stop). Maybe I need to exercise more self control to find more self motivation. Maybe I need to go out into the world so I can really find my dark tower.

Do as Roland did; chase that thing which seems nigh impossible to catch. Walk across a desert, a place of death, and persist. Don’t give up. Even when the buzzards are flying overhead and you find new paths along The Beam, continue onward. You may have to establish new and unexpected relationships, you might even have to sacrifice some other relationships. Press forward.

So, if i can, I’d like to hand you a pair of guns. They have the same ivory handles and have been passed down from gunslinger to gunslinger for generations. They will always be by your side. They will always shoot straight. They will keep you protected. Don’t forget to treat them with the care they have received before. These will serve as your tools on your long journey to find the dark tower.

It doesn’t matter who your family is, what creed you follow, or what (sub)culture(s) you claim as your own. What matters is you learn from your past, get things done in the now, and look toward the future.

 

You have been knighted, so steady your hand, aim true, and pull the trigger.

The dark tower awaits.

D.A.

No, This Post Totally Has An Important Title

I haven’t made one of those retrospective New Year/End of Year posts yet.

So, let’s just pretend that I did and move on with business as usual.

Today I read a book. A whole book. At 12:30 this morning I tried reading a book to help me sleep but it only served to keep me awake until 4:30. I only went to sleep because I knew I needed to be awake at some point in the morning (I work up at 11:59 a.m. to be exact). Tonight I finished the novel while I put the Sugar Bowl on the background with the sound off. It’s not cool to see the Gators losing to Louisville but hey, this season went a lot better than expected and it was a fun ride.

So the book I read was Agent to the Stars. It’s a book by John Scalzi and it has accomplished two things for me.

1. It left me entertained by a book unlike some of my more recent readings.

2. It made me a little jealous.

Why the jealousy? Because the man states that this book was his “practice novel”. His practice novel was very good. A little sluggish in some of the details (I think he likes to let the reader know the logic behind his decisions for his characters a little too much because he also knows sometimes he puts in some wonky science to keep things fun.) Overall a solid read. And this was just…practice.

Dang…

Well I guess that means I’ve got a lot of work to do so I can produce a “practice novel” as well.

So, I’ve made myself a nice little glass of chocolate milk and grabbed a pen and pad for jotting down those precious ideas. I’m going to sit down tonight and bang out a few ideas. Maybe give one a whirl with a nice little rough draft. Then I’ll sleep on it. Let the miniature people that live in my gray matter do their work of repairing the damage from the day. Wake up and give it an edit and have a small existential crisis…then post it here for all to read.

That’s the plan.

Now I’m going to watch the final seconds tick away on the game clock for the Gators and then get to work.

D.A.

I Know What You’re Thinking…

Didn’t that one guy used to blog on occasion?

Yeah…he did…he did… It was even almost entertaining at times.

Sad times.

But that will be fixed up here soon enough. As of Friday evening I will be seated on the football stadium field while I watch many seniors I have never met graduate. It will be hot, boring, and will most certainly test my bladder’s ability to survive the two hour long ordeal.

Then the weekend will come.

Then Monday is a short day. Tuesday and Wednesday are exam days (so they’re even shorter), and then it’s teacher work days Thursday and Friday.

Then…freedom. Summer starts.

It’s like the weekend, but longer.

I’m so excited.

(I may stop wearing pants.)

Sorry, you didn’t want to know that. But realistically I will be free of a creative burden for some weeks. That means I will likely end up expressing more of my mindless droll toward you rather than my students. This will be good for all of us.

I also have some plans-a-cookin’ this summer. Interested?

Possible ideas for the summer:

1. Read. A lot.
2. Write. A lot.
3. Stare into the sun. Very little.
4. Do some conferences for school. (I will not be using my brain for those activities)
5. ROAD TRIP! (I’m particularly excited about this, more details will follow)
6. Buy a DSLR camera.
7. Reconsider my position on the pants topic.
8. Move out of the house.

Woah…

That’s…quite a bit of stuff there big guy. Moving out? B-but…That means…

Yes. I will grow up a little more. Expand my maturity levels. Becomes more than what I am now.

Seriously, that’s pretty crazy for you. What ever made you think you could pull of something like this out of the blue? You haven’t blogged for over a week and now you’re talking all crazy. Are you ill?

No, I’m completely fine. Well, not totally fine. I’ve got this rash on my-

NO! Stop typing. We don’t want to hear that. 

Who are you anyway? What is happening here? Am I having a conversation with myself? You’re just me but in a different color. 

See? That’s another reason why I suspect that you’re not well. You’re talking to yourself via a blog. That’s a sure sign of crazy in my book.

Alright Fake Me, you shut it up. I’m through talking to you. This is getting too weird.

As for the rest of you, more blogging will resume shortly. Just allow me to find my head in the final stretch of the school year. After that I should be back to my normal self. Maybe.

D.A.

Fluffy Goodness

My life has changed darastically in the past 96 hours. You know why? Because I’m the proud owner of these bad boys.

(Not actually these pillows of course. These were stolen from the internet in order to serve as a very pleasant visual descriptor of the joy I’ve been experiencing lately. So if you own these images, please don’t sue me. Just send me more free pillows that are of this quality. Thank you.)

I bought some new pillows and I highly recommend that you do the same. (Particularly of this fine brand that can be found right in the middle of the Google image search you pull up after typing in “pillows”.)

Even this very moment I’m imagining myself just curling up in my bed caressing these wonderful pillows. They’re like being hugged by a cloud made of happiness and 500 milligrams of tryptophan.

And they’re not even that nice of pillows. They’re just new. They aren’t  flat and lumpy. They aren’t causing a crick in my neck from the odd angle of my head resting on its side. They don’t even have those mysterious smells in them anymore that reminded me of peanut butter and crab cakes. (No, I didn’t sleep on pillows that were smothered with peanut butter and crab cakes. And if I did then I wouldn’t openly admit that to you right now. I would play the deny game.

Just good, clean, soft pillows. That’s all it takes.

:::Takes deep breath:::

:::Exhale:::

I like this breathing thing. I should do it more often.

I should also mention how I’m so excited with my new pillows that I think these bags of cotton have made me reexamine my entire life.

So here’s a list of things that simple pillows have made me look at:

1. Straight lines are only good on clothing/furniture if the lines stay straight. They just look weird if they get wrinkled.
2. I need to buy some more shelf space for random items (books) in my room.
3. There are also a few older books that I really should depart with…(harsh reality)
4. I may need to buy an electric guitar soon. Why? Because I have wanted one for 11 years and still don’t own one. And it’s not like I couldn’t afford it.
5. I’ve kept some old assignments from college that will never be used ever again. These should go as well.
6. Boxes are at least seven times better than bags.
7. I need to clear some things off my plate. (Or at least limit those activities to a specific time every day).
8. Wads of cash that I compulsively hoard don’t do any good unless I spend them.

Yes, all these thoughts were conceived from the rest and relaxation I have experienced from new pillows. You should probably join the fluffy goodness as soon as possible. (I’m thinking I could start a cult that does nothing but nap all day on fresh pillows and I wouldn’t have any seconds thoughts about it.)

Snoring peacefully,

D.A.

 

Into The Fire

Occasionally, the world seems to crash down around you. Other times it seems to put itself on your shoulders like an ugly sweater made of lead. And sometimes the world just keeping poking you until you yelp out in pain, then it keeps poking.

Different people deal with stress relief differently. Some people have to surround themselves with friends. Sometimes people need to be alone.

Most of the time, I’m the person that needs to be alone.

Even if I got in an argument with somebody or I had to make a very heavy decision, I would need to chill out.

Actually, I would need to look into the fire.

I mean this both literally and metaphorically.

Literally, starting into fire is a comforting thing to do. Almost any fire will work but most of the time it should be a campfire. A fireplace would suffice as well. As long as it has an orange flicker and wiggles as it destroys something it’ll work.

Why fire? Well, it’s pretty simple. Men like myself have always stared at fire. Way back in the day when humans were wearing loin cloths and banging rocks together men still stared into the fire. It’s a beautiful thing. The flames seem to draw you in. It’s relaxing.

It also means I can focus on the fire. I can let it cook my thoughts away. Not permanently however, only for a short period of time. As soon as that flame goes out, I focus back on the situation that put me there.

But at least I was able to take my brain off the topic for that little bit.

Metaphorically, looking into the fire could be a way of refining or cleansing my mind. It burns away all the underbrush so it will prevent a much larger fire from starting. Inside of just being a small fire in a confined area, it would spread to the entire forest. This is like a little disturbance messing with my head but later spreading to insert itself into my heart and personality.

We all need to let things burn away every now and again.

If some of these thoughts made you say something like “Wow, this guy’s really saying something here.” then you probably need to stop. I’m not really saying it. It sort of stolen from this couple who writes books for couples and relationships. The book I’m referencing is called Why Men Don’t Listen and Women Can’t Read Read Maps. The people who wrote it are Barbara and Allan Pease.

No, I didn’t read this book, only heard some people today talk about the subject of it. And it sort of makes sense to me right now.

Sometimes I just want to get away from everything, not just people, but from my brain as well. And just like a child being distracted by shiny keys I get distracted by fire.

Of course this doesn’t HAVE to be fire. It could be working out in a wood shop or just browsing the clearance section at Books-A-Million. Either way, I don’t have to talk to anybody, I can just focus on the pretty colors of the covers and move on to the next.

I think this explains my weekly ritual of going to the comic shop every Friday after work.  I unwind by just looking at the same comics that were on the wall last week. I don’t call anybody after work and ask them if they want to take the 25 mile drive just to got buy 8 bucks worth of comics.

And nobody in the store really questions why I’m there. They know I’ll talk when I’m ready.

It’s good to know what my fire is.

D.A.

 

Quaint Dream and Reading

Yesterday I awoke with the strangest memory of the strangest dream. I’m going to relay every detail to you. Maybe there is a special meaning behind it. Maybe it’s just random firing of synapses in my cerebral cortex while I enter R.E.M stages of sleep. Maybe it’s not really a dream but a memory from some very odd sleep walking.

In my dream I wake up. I’m in my bed and everything seems normal. Bed sheets are green, lights are off, and fan is on.

I drudge myself out from under the covers and stumble toward my shorts that are laying on the ground. The shorts are the same shorts that I had worn the day previously and had taken them off before I went to bed. As I shakily place one leg into the opening I manage to lose my balance more than usual. I step through and feel constrained. I try the other leg and can’t quite reach through the other side.

My shorts have magically become pants.

And then I woke up. For real wake up.

Weird…I know. But that was the entire thing.

I should take this opportunity to mention that I’ve been reading a lot lately. This feels really good because I haven’t read anything of substance for a long time.

But this sword is double bladed. While I’m reading more, I’m writing less. I know this shouldn’t be true. The experts (whoever they are) always say, “writers read.” I’ll be honest, I know I should read more, but if I were to do that, my brain would be more preoccupied with reading than writing. I just feel so engrossed in a good story that I really don’t want to put it down. (Also, I think I’ve mentioned this before, but I read very slowly.)

What exactly have I been reading?

I’m so glad you asked.

• The Gunslinger by Stephen King
• Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi
• The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King
• Thud! by Terry Pratchett (currently reading)

No, I’m not really into reviewing books but here’s a statement that works for all of them.

They’re all good.

Those of you who have followed my blog for a while may be quick to notice this isn’t the first time I’ve posted updates to my reading list. Those of you with impeccable memory will also notice that none of these books are on that list.

:::Gives self the finger of shame:::

I’m terrible at sticking to reading plans.

Yeah, well, so what? What about your reading list, huh? How you read anything that’s actually on it? I have my doubts…

D.A.

This certainly is a strange mix of novels. But

 

 

Tell Me What To Do!

This weekend will be my first full weekend in 3 weeks. It will also be a long one.

I’m looking at the precious 72 hours as a real opportunity to do something special. I would come up with a cool plan myself, but I’ve already used up all my good ideas and inspiration this week. So YOU need to tell me what to do.

What would you recommend? Should I…

1. Go camping?
2. explore a city I’ve never been to before?
3. Eat a two pound BBQ pulled pork sandwich?
4. Begin a Pez collection?
5. Workout to the song “You’re the Best Around” by Joe Esposito?
6. Shave my head?
7. Clean out a neighbors gutters?
8. Go see a doctor to receive a full colonic irrigation?
9. Go rent a car and tell everybody about my disdain for the company because they “only had a compact”?
10. Finish my lamp?
11. Go bowling and bowl 3 consecutive games of exactly 156?
12. Try out for a professional soccer team?
13. Perform my own rendition of ‘One Flew Over the Cockoo’s Nest’ in a city park?
14. Learn to weave baskets?
15. Grow a beard overnight and then enter a beard contest?
16. Flash mob in a mall?
17. Buy a new towel?
18. Rent a tent for a large outdoor event?
19. Clean the undercarriage of my car?
20. Sleep?

Yeah, those are just a few things I thought up but I’m positive you can come up with better.

So help me out. What should I do?

D.A.

Pies and Choosing the Right Gift

I’ve been very busy full of self-examination this week. That may play a role in why I haven’t posted in some time. More on that later.

So what’s up? Yeah, that’s cool.

You look nice.

Have a nice Thanksgiving holiday? That sounds great/terrible.

Mine? It was good. We had six pies. Seven really. That’s both too much pie and just enough. I ate a lot of this pie. For many years we will speak of the Thanksgiving of 2011 as the Bancroft Family Apiecolypse. There was also turkey, but very little compared to pie.

This shirt? Oh, thanks for asking, I bought it from JCPenny’s for super-cheap. I live life on the rack.

(As a long side note I would like to mention how much I love shopping at a nice store’s clearance rack. I buy most of my clothes from these gems of economy. I can spend 20 bucks and walk away with three nice dress shirts and two ties. I’m not sure if I’m just a pro in the rack sales, but I love it.)

This year is my first Christmas where I’m a complete adult. This is translated as “I have to spend all of my own hard earned cash to make other people happy.”

This year I’ve pulled out all the stops.

I have signed up for reddit’s secret santa gift exchange. This is when I have decided to release my personal shipping information to a complete stranger whom I will never meet. They will then send me something. I will love that gift. (Unless it’s a severed hand)

In turn, I have also been given the private information from another human being in the world that has signed up to this program. I have been stalking their social and internet behaviors and have discovered something that will be the bane of my existance during this Christmas season. Something that affects all my gift-giving intentions this year.

I suck at coming up with gift ideas.

While I’m sure everybody will be happy with anything I give them, I still have to do a lot of thinking.

This year I have to shop for my father, step-mother, friend 1, friend 2, friend 3, friend 4, married couple 1, married couple 2, married couple 3, married couple 4, stranger from the internet, friend overseas.

BLLHSAHDJGHNNNEEE…..

NO. I’m not that creative. This is why I usually make my own gifts. When you make your own gift people will accept it as thoughtful and unique. Really it’s a way to save money and try to have fun while doing it. Also, you can hopefully make many copies of this gift and they will still think it is wholly unique to them.

I gave hollowed out books for safekeeping secretive spy notes one year. I gave people (impossibly difficult to open duct tape wrapped) Nerf guns/grab bags. (5 bucks each). I even made necklaces one year for some female family members.

This year I have no time to make these lovely little trinkets. So I’ve opted out for buying “real gifts”. This is more impossible than safely opening any duct taped wrapping paper.

I don’t know what to do.

On top of all this I’ve been asked what I want this year! Me? I don’t care what I get, just tell me what YOU freaking want.

Hold up. Now that I think about it, if you’re reading this, then you’re my friend…in a weird sort of way.

Now I’ve got to come up with a gift for you…. somehow…

SEE WHAT YOU DID?!?!?

And now it’s going to be stuck on the internet for forever and people will look back on this and say things like “That guy really sucked at giving strangers gifts…”

::Deep breath::

Oh wait…. I’ve got it.

I’m going to do something wonderful. Just for you.

I want to write…because, well…. I want to… and I want it to be fun and memorable… and I am using the internet…

::calculating in head::

I’m going to write you a story. Yes, very original. But this will be an ultra special story.

I’m going to write you… a… Christmas themed story. No… that won’t do.

A story with lasers and aliens battling in space…. No, that’s just silly.

I’ll write you a story of revenge and malice. Closer… but no cigar.

Actually, now that I’m looking at it, this all sounds pretty good.

But a simple story just won’t do.

::calculations completed::

EUREKA!

I’m going to write you a story, involving aliens and revenge and Christmas (this is sounding very Dr. Whoish). AND IT’ GOING TO BE A CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE STORY!!!!

Holy crap! That’s freaking awesome.

(As another very extended side note, I will point out to you, lovely reader, that I AM still working on writing an essay for my personal beliefs on science and religion. It’s just very hard and whatnot, especially after a lot of self assessing this past week or so. So, still expect that, but I’m still eating away at it. It’s just a very slow process.)

So, there’s at least one gift idea out of the way. And look at that, it only took me one post to come up with it.

The countdown to Christmas begins,

D.A.

So I actually read a book

Yeah, it’s been some time…but I finished reading a book today. I did it in homeroom during our mandatory “Must read throughout homeroom” policy. Am I complaining? No chance. I look forward to homeroom every day. I can read…and get paid for it. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me. Even if it is only for 30 minuets.

The book I read? On Writing of course. Took me about two weeks I think. And that’s only me reading it during our 30 minute blocks at school. It’s also hard to read when you’re constantly trying to play the role of reading nazi in a class of a room full of 11th graders.

Lousy kids… not wanting to read… What’s wrong with them anyway?

How was it you ask?

Flipping fantastic. I will be sure to read it again. Which is saying a lot coming from a guy like me. There are only a few books that I have read multiple times. They are:

• Go Eat Worms by R.L. Stein
• Monster Blood; Monster Blood II; Monster Blood III; and (of course) Monster Blood IV by R.L. Stein
• Matilda by Ronal Dahl
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• The Fall of Reach by Eric Nylund
• Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• Shadows of the Empire by Timothy Zahn
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

Yeah, that’s every book I’ve ever read more than once. Yeah there are some strange ones in there. For some reason I love cheesy Halo books. Also, for some reason, I have read and reread the first of the Little House of the Prairie series… Don’t you worry, my masculinity is still in place. I think…

So what do I plan on reading next?

The Windup Girl again… because I still haven’t finished it. I’m going to give it one more real go before I give up. I hope I’m not too far removed from the story to remember important details. And hey, if I am, I will soon find out and will just give up on reading it. That’s alright. I can always try again some time down the road.

Anyway.

There you go. My short and nearly pointless post for the night.

 

Some Days Just Require Action

Maybe it’s just Fridays in general, but today was a real tough one.

At the end of today I felt like I had been wading through marshes filled with molasses while having a root canal. There was nothing very pleasant about the day at all.

I had 3 different labs to do today. I even made sure these lined up and happened on the same Friday. Why? Because it seemed like a really good idea at the time. Then I actually had to do the labs with my kids…

It wasn’t the lab setting up that was the hard part, but the constant requests to use the bathroom and constant “Mr. Bank-croft” or “Mr. Uhmmmm…” as they raise call out for me to explain a question to them for the 4th time. Come on guys, I have done a pretty good job on learning your first and last names, the least you can do is remember my one last name. It’s not like you have 74 teachers’ names to worry about.

But like I said…maybe it’s just Fridays.

The point is I really needed to get away from it all. Even if it was just for a little while. A little “me” time would do me well. I also stayed behind at school really late yesterday, so I didn’t want to be there any longer than I had to.

So, I packed up after school and left. I decided to drive 30 minutes to my favorite comic shop and just geek it up for a little while.

Did that. Now what?

I’m not sure if what I did next was a sad thing or a good thing. I went to a restaurant and had a meal. By myself.

Why could that be seen as sad? Well, I’m just a guy eating alone trying to not spill anything on his tie. A guy that doesn’t have somebody to talk to. Nothing to laugh about. Nobody to share a smile with. Just me, my food, and a few restaurant employees. Not to menntion it’s a Friday night and I look like I’m an office worker trying to get a lunch in on a Tuesday afternoon.

Why could it be a good thing? I had been surrounded by dozens of people all day and I was through with that business. I felt great. I liked the idea of sitting (I was actually on my feet all day). I just leaned back and relaxed. I didnt’ care if somebody was with me. I might do it more often now that I think about it.

(Side note: My tie survived the meal.)

After that I went to a very large book store and just… did nothing. I perused and searched. I looked and read. I picked up and put back.

Annnnd I bought a few books…

Don’t worry, I actually started reading one of them and have already put down the first 100 pages. So I don’t expect this to be any real burden on me or my reading list fiasco.

The book?

On Writing by Stephen King.

Why this book?

Well, a few reasons really.

1. I’ve read excerpts of this book before. Especially a small part where he writes about how one article he wrote early in his life was edited by somebody right in front of him. He claimed it changed his writing style/career forever. This little piece has always stuck with me and now I can say I posses it and have read it in a legal way.

2. I have a teacher friend who has taught high school English and Literature courses. She claimed that King’s On Writing has helped a few of her students. Hey, she even had a lot of classroom copies of the book. Which is kind of scary considering how much cursing there is in the book. But that’s besides the point.

3. A nice internet stranger I met on here on WordPress seems to mention it at least once every two weeks. Since I appreciate how she writes, I definitely took her subliminal recommendation into consideration.

4. I want to be a better writer. So I figured reading advice/thoughts by one of the most popular authors to put pen to paper in the past 50 years deserves at least a little attention.

What will I gain from the reading experience? I dunno. Maybe a lot. Maybe none at all. At least I’m really enjoying this read.

Alright, it’s beddy bye time,

D.A.