Inspiration Meets Limitation

One of my greatest pleasures in life is reading the books of prolific authors who break the mold and write so masterfully, their work is pure inspiration. Many such artists allude to the guidance of a mysterious force. It’s as if stories are revealed to their minds, and they write down what they see. This is how Stephen King put it in On Writing:

“When I’m asked why I decided to write the sort of thing I do write, I always think the question is more revealing than any answer I could possibly give. Wrapped within it, like the chewy stuff in the center of a Tootsie Pop, is the assumption that the writer controls the material instead of the other way around.”

I’ve lately been frustrated because, in spite of dedicated preparation for its arrival, that mysterious enabling power behind the force of the material hasn’t come to me.

Jane Austen successfully drew from her well of material, and she wasn’t lazy about it. I’ve listened to these superb books on tape by Ms. Austen: Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Emma, Persuasion, and Northanger Abby. She wrote about the society that she knew. The events in Ms. Austen’s books are commonplace for her time, but she wrote them with both a wit and an insight into human nature that make the books relevant and compelling in any age.

To me, reading a Stephen King book is to experience it in an extraordinary way. Reading The Shining in 1978 is a most vivid memory, as if I myself lived the terror in its pages. Mr. King has a gift, and he doesn’t waste it.

Much like the combined attributes of Ms. Austin’s and Mr. King’s works that I’ve mentioned, there is a unique society of life that I’m compelled to write about, but I’m determined to do it in such a way that it vacuums readers into the experience. My hindrance may be that I’m depending on a force beyond myself to make it happen, but I’m perhaps supposed to diligently make the effort in spite of my inadequacy.

Mr. King gives me practical advice to answer my dilemma in On Writing: “Write what you like, then imbue it with life and make it unique by blending in your own personal knowledge of life, friendship, relationships…” Note to self: Work harder at writing!

(published May 2006)