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Monday, June 20, 2016

Reading and Writing Should Be Dangerous, and other things Stephen King said

Few things compare to the feeling of meeting a person we admire, and last Friday I had the chance to attend an event in Stephen King’s END OF WATCH national tour. I purchased tickets months in advance, and when I arrived to the venue hours before the event, the line already snaked around the building. That day temperatures hit the 90s for the first time of the summer, but I was undeterred. Melting under the scorching sun, I spoke with friends and strangers about when we’d discovered King’s books. His books hardly qualify as middle grade or young adult (with the exception of CARRIE, which in my opinion is fully YA), but the vast majority of us, his fans, confessed to finding his words in our tween and early teen years, 
Although I arrived early, I was still kind of far from the stage.  

 Growing up, I never chose books according to grade-reading level. I read whatever was available. The newspaper. Nutritional information behind the saltbox. I read even graffiti-ed poems on the front of the building where I lived.
 A novel was a special kind of treasure, but I knew even at a young age what I was ready to read then, and what could wait.
 Sometime in tenth grade, I read my first Stephen King: DIFFERENT SEASONS, a collection of novellas among which is Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption. I read it in Spanish, and although I know so many things are lost in translation, King’s trademark voice and mood stayed with me forever. When I read it again in college (this time in English), once again I fell into the reading trance I crave and that I look for in every book I read.
      Friday night in Salt Lake, King said that the Stephen in front of the audience wasn’t the one readers probably expected to find. Scary Stephen/Writer Stephen stays at home, waiting for Popular Stephen/Book-touring Stephen to return to the page for a new work-in-progress. He claims he hardly knows what goes on in Scary/Writer Stephen’s mind when creating a story, but that he knows that Writer Stephen has two things in mind when creating his worlds: verisimilitude and a character the reader will care about and follow to the end of the story.
 An author achieves verisimilitude when the story contains vivid, specific details that bring the world to life. A successful character needs to want something and yearn to achieve it, and the reader should identify with the wanting so much, she will not put the book down until she knows how the story ends. The reader should see a part of herself in the story.
 Maybe that’s why when I was younger I intuitively knew what things I was ready to read then, and what I should leave for later in life. That’s why even now sometimes I don’t connect with the character of a highly acclaimed book, but a few months from now, or even years, that book becomes one of my favorite ones ever (hello, Melina Marchetta’s JELLICOE ROAD). For every book, there's a time and a season, don't you think?
I’m currently in my final year of a MFA program at the Vermont College of FineArts, and I’ve been writing for a long time, so the advice to both write believable worlds and creating characters with a strong desire line was familiar to me. But the statement that struck me the most was when King said that reading should always be dangerous.
    I’ve been pondering on those words this weekend.
    Reading, everything and anything, changes me in some way, even if small, and that’s what makes it magical. It doesn’t mean that I, or any of us for that matter, should only read literary horror or edgy books. It means that we should be aware that everything we read leaves a mark upon us. Stephen King doesn’t throw those words—“reading should be dangerous”—in vain. Besides being a super-prolific writer, he’s a voracious reader, and has reviewed HARRY POTTER, TWILIGHT, and even FIFTY SHADES OF GRAY. As with writing, he knows what he’s talking about when he talks about reading.
     We read dangerously when we read outside of our comfort zone, about experiences vastly different from ours, in formats that we haven’t tried before.
For children, who are experiencing the world for the first time, reading is always a dangerous endeavor, so dangerous that sometimes well-meaning adults prevent them from reading books that are sorely needed, like Kate Messner’s THE SEVENTH WISH, Walter Dean Myer’s MONSTER, Sherman Alexie’s THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN, or Judy Blume’s ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET.
     King’s words inspire me to write dangerously too, to try formats and genres that I haven’t tried before, experiences and situations that make me curious, excited, or even afraid.
     This summer, I pledge to read and write dangerously:
I’m stretching myself to read more non-fiction and graphic novels. I’ll even dive into some “adult” books (gasp!).
With my son, 15, who's eager for his first Stephen King
 and a summer of reading dangerously
I’m double-dog daring myself to write the draft of that picture book I’ve been fantasizing with for months.
I’m challenging myself to write more poetry, even if it’s amateurish and still such a mystery to me.
I’m bribing myself with chocolate and a binge-watch-worthy show on Netflix if I finish revising the middle grade that’s been very hard emotionally for me and send it to my agent once and for all.

Tell me friend, how will you read and write more dangerously this summer?

            

17 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing your takeaways from Stephen King! How awesome. I love the idea of reading and writing dangerously. It's how we stretch ourselves that allows us to grow. When I started writing books I quickly lost my love for reading and it took awhile to figure out why - because I didn't want to keep reading the same kind of books I'd always read - I wanted MORE. I was challenging myself in my reading, and my writing. I knew nothing about children's books so dove on into a class on writing for kids and fell in love. I also discovered the power of non-fiction, which I never thought I'd read!

    I too, grew up with whatever books were around, mostly gorging on Sidney Sheldon and Stephen King!

    Thanks for the inspirational post!

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    1. Nonfiction books are so inspirational because in the greatest stories I've read, the events seem more fantastical than in fiction! That's what makes them amazing!

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  2. I encountered Stephen King later in life. DUMA KEY kept me up all night! He is a master storyteller, and I'm envious that you got to see him in the flesh.

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    1. I've never read DUMA KEY! I'll add it to my list!

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  3. Yamile, welcome to Project Mayhem! I'm so glad you're part of the team. I love the concept of reading and writing dangerously. As writers, it's so easy to slide into our comfortable genres and topics and stay there. Thank you!

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    1. Thank you, Mary! I'm honored to be part of this group! Yes! I tend to stay in my comfort zone in both reading and writing. I wan to change that!

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  4. Yamille, I think we're hindered spirits. No wonder we landed at VCFA. I read a lot of King in my teens as well, and loved Different Seasons (as well as all of his short story collections I could find.)

    "Reading, everything and anything, changes me in some way, even if small, and that’s what makes it magical. It doesn’t mean that I, or any of us for that matter, should only read literary horror or edgy books. It means that we should be aware that everything we read leaves a mark upon us."

    Spot. On.

    I have to figure out my Plan for Writing Dangerously. Maybe I'll start that MG-of-my-heart that I think I'm not ready to write. That sounds dangerous.

    Welcome to the Mayhem!

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    1. Hey Jim, I love the idea of "hindered spirits." Way better than kindred spirits in explaining what it's like to be a writer.

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    2. I love the idea of hindered spirits! Let's break off the hinderings though and write freely!

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  5. Trying my second hand on writing an MG during Junowrimo. The story scares me so I'm already writing dangerously. Damn girl it's like we're writing twins. Writing an MG, needing to write that picture book we been avoiding, loving Stephen King.....do I have a secret son as handsome as yours hidden somewhere because in my life I have no kids.

    So welcome Yamile and may we both write dangerously as much as we can.

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    1. Thank you, Sheena-kay! I don't know, DO YOU have a secret son??? ;-)

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  6. Thanks, Yamile!! And, welcome to Project Mayhem!! This post is just what I need as I start a first draft!

    Especially these words:

    "A successful character needs to want something and yearn to achieve it, and the reader should identify with the wanting so much, she will not put the book down until she knows how the story ends."

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    1. I'm so happy to be part of the Mayhem and this post was of help!

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  7. Great post, Yamile! I love the idea of reading (and writing) dangerously to effect emotional change. And, btw, it's exciting to see you as part of the Mayhem team!

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    1. Thank you, Donna! I'm so excited to be part of it too!

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  8. Oh, I love this to pieces. I just turned in a round of edits that was the hardest thing I've ever written. This book has been a challenge the entire way through. Thank you for your inspiring words. And WELCOME!

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  9. I've always admired Stephen King, even more so when I became a writer. Thank you for sharing this.

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Thanks for adding to the mayhem!