Happy Monday everyone. This is still Stein from the Daily Whistlestein and welcome to the show happy Monday We're doing Stephen King on writing a memoir of the craft the book And I want to start off by clearing up that last paragraph before we start page 135 on the paperback I read it last time on the the couple of Fridays ago I was doing the wrap-up of that segment and I wanted to reiterate it because I think I read some of the wording wrong I was dealing with some type of allergy that day, so I do apologize. I wanted to start with that He's he's here discussing first. It said He's arguing about he's talking about that last last segment I would argue that the paragraph not the sentence is the basic unit of writing the place where coherence begins in words stand out Stand a chance of becoming a becoming a more than mere words if the moment of quickening is to come It comes at the level of the paragraph It is a marvelous and flexible instrument that can be a single word long or run on four pages one paragraph in Don Robertson historical novel Paradise Falls is 16 pages long.
There are paragraphs in Ross Loggeridge rain tree country, which are nearly that you must learn to use it Well, if you are to write well what what that means it's lots of practice You have to learn the beat that's what he says on that and now we're gonna start with the next segment He says and this is on writing page 135 of his paperbacks Stephen King on writing a memoir of the craft and welcome to the daily Whistlestein grab that book you were looking at the shelf again Would you the weight of it in your hands tells you other stuff that you can take in without reading a single word the book's length naturally But more the commitment the writer shouldered in order to create the work the commitment constant reader must make to digest it Not that length weight alone indicate excellence. Many epic tales are pretty much epic He says crap just ask my critics who will moan about entire Canadian forests massacred in order to print my drip dribble Conversely short doesn't always mean sweet in some cases the bridges of Madison County That's what he says for instance short means far too sweet But there is the matter of commitment whether a book is good or bad a failure of success words have weight Ask anyone who works in the shipping department of a book company warehouse or in the storage room of a large bookstore Interesting concept, right? So and I just added the interesting interesting concept on that. So so we'll be right back with the daily Whistlestein and part two.
Thank you and welcome back to the daily now We're doing part two of the daily with sylstein here on anchor. Welcome to the show and happy Monday Thank you for joining us. We're discussing the book Stephen King on writing a memoir of the craft And now I'm on page 135 of his paperback words create sentences sentence create paragraphs sometimes paragraphs Quicken and begin to breathe imagine if you like Frankenstein's monster on its slab Here comes lightning not from the sky, but from a humble paragraph of English words Maybe it's the first really good paragraph you ever wrote something so fragile and yet full of possibility that you are frightened You feel as Victor Frankenstein must have when the dead conglomeration of sewn together spare Part suddenly open its watery yellow eyes. Oh my god.
It's breathing. You realize maybe it's even thinking What in hell's name do I do next as the example? He says you go on to the third level of course and begin to write real fiction This is part of the toolbox, which we've been talking about in Stephen King on writing a memoir of the craft Why shouldn't you why should you fear carpenters don't build monsters after all they build houses stores and banks They build some of wood some of wood a plank at a time and some of brick a brick at a time You will build a paragraph at a time constructing these of your vocabulary and your knowledge of grammar and basic style As long as you stay level on the level and shave even every door You can build whatever you like whole mansions if you have the energy Is there any rationale for building entire mansions of words? I think there is and that and that the readers and that the readers of Margaret Mitchell's gone with the wind and trucks Dickens Bleak House understand it sometimes even a monster is no monster Sometimes it's beautiful and we've and we fall in love with all this all that story more than any film or TV Program could ever hope to provide Even after a thousand pages.
We don't want to leave the world the writer has made for us or the make believe people who live there And we'll be right back Okay, and now we're back to the daily with still Stein here on anchor. I am still Stein and welcome to the show now We're doing part three we are covering Stephen King on writing a memoir of the craft and we're covering the toolbox and here We go he says the world the writer has made for us or the make believe people who live there You wouldn't leave after two thousand pages if there were two thousand the ring's trilogy of J. R. R Tolkien is a perfect example of this a thousand pages of hobbits hasn't been enough for three generation of post-world war two fantasy fans Even when you add in the clumsy gallop pooing Dira jibble of an epilogue the silk silma reel in hasn't been enough hence Terry books peers Anthony Robert Jordan the questing rabbits of watershed down and half a hundred others the writers of these books are creating the hobbits They still love and pine and pine for they're trying to bring Frodo and Sam back from the Grey Haven's because token is no longer around to do it for them As it's the most basic.
We're only discussing a learned skill But do we not agree that sometimes the most basic skills can create things far beyond our experience? I'm sorry far beyond our expectations. He says we are talking about tools and carpentry about words and style But as we move along Excuse me, you'll do you do you do well to remember that we are also talking about magic So that's what he says about that on the segment on writing now We're moving on continuing on writing and I'm beginning page 141 He says there are no bad dogs according to the title of a popular training manual But don't tell that to the parent of a child mauled by a pit bull or a rottweiler He says here. She is apt to bust your beak for you and no matter how much I want to encourage the man or woman trying for the first Time to write seriously.
I can't lie and say there are no bad writers. Sorry, but there are lots of bad writers He says some are on staff at your local newspaper usually reviewing little ditter productions or pontifications Pontificating about the local sports team some have scribbled their way to homes in the Caribbean Leaving a trail of posting adverbs wooden characters and vial passive voice constructions behind them others hold fourth at Open mic poetry slams wearing black turtlenecks and wrinkled khaki pants they spout they spout dog girl about my angry Um Basically, he's he's just giving examples here and he also says and the tilted alley where I cried my mother's name So it gives various examples of that and we'll be right back And now we're back to the wrap up for steaming king on writing a memoir of the craft We're finishing up the toolbox and starting on writing another segment and we will resume that hopefully Want to say tomorrow or Wednesday, but I will be doing several shows this week of the daily with sylstein here on anchor And happy monday. I hope everyone's doing great And uh, this is the wrap up the last part writers form themselves into the pyramid We see in all areas of human talent and human creativity at the bottom are the bad ones Above them is a group which is slightly smaller, but still large and welcoming. These are are the content writers They may also be found on the staff of your local newspaper on the racks at your local bookstore and at Poetry readings on open mic night.
These are folks who somehow understand that although um Basically, these are folks who somehow understand that although uh, someone may be angry Uh, everything will remain the same. So basically he just kind of given an example of what he thinks and he says the next level is much smaller These are the really good writers above them above almost all of us are the Shakespeare's the Faulkner's the year The shaws and adora wettles Herogenius divine accidents gifted in a way which is beyond our ability to understand let alone attain he says Well, he says another word, but i'm going to say Most geniuses aren't able to understand themselves and many of them lead miserable lives realizing at least on some level that they are nothing But fortunate freaks the intellectual version of runaway models who just happen to be born with the right cheekbones and with uh, the right proportions Uh, which fit the image of an age I'm approaching the heart of this book with two pieces is both simple first is that good writing consists of mastering the fundamentals vocabulary grammar The elements of style then filling the third level of your toolbox with the right instruments Second is that while it is impossible to make a commit a competent writer out of a bad writer While it is equally impossible to make a great writer out of a good one It's possible with lots of work with lots of hard work dedication and time We hope to make a good writer out of a merely competent one So I think that's a good place to end uh today's show It was a shorter one because I want to do more segments on steaming king on writing a memoir of the craft I hope you have enjoyed the show today and I will have more author news as they come and hopefully other authors coming to the podcast To share uh more information with you guys about their books and also writing tips So I hope to have them here and thank you so much for joining us today I am so Stein and thank you for joining us here on the daily with so Stein here on anchor covering the book Stephen king on writing a memoir of the craft have a great great day