Stephen King's On Writing, Parts 19-38

I was taken aback by Stephen King’s ability to transfer emotions from his past into the reader’s mind. By creating in perfect detail the circumstances surrounding sad events, he doesn’t have to describe his feelings –you feel of your own accord what he must have felt in that situation. Such empathy is rarely found in modern literature, where authors force the emotions of central characters down the reader’s throat with no remorse. To be sure, King describes his mental state with gusto, but he earns it with his writing chops and constant sense of humility.

I cannot attribute all of the entertainment value of this book to King’s own talent – there are, perhaps, some aspects of his life that afford him some unfair advantage. How many of us have written for nudie-mags after coming home from a job where the janitor has hooks for hands. He seems to have had uncanny luck in being around bizarre and fascinating characters all his life, Perhaps all good writers do.