My Hero

[the_wanlorn]

You know, I always had trouble on assignments that required me to talk about my ~hero~ because I didn't have one. I mean, how do you quantify something like that? A lot of people would write about their parents or relatives. Me? I didn't look up to my parents, much less my relatives. I didn't want to be like them; I wanted to be my own person.

I didn't like spots figures growing up. I didn't idolize specific people in orchestras or choirs. There were no actors or actresses I particularly liked, and the characters I wanted to be like still aren't appropriate for talking about in polite company.

So I didn't have a hero. But I'm sure you can see where this is going.

I didn't have a hero, but I read every single book Stephen King wrote. Multiple times. I didn't have a hero, but The Stand is my comfort book. I didn't have a hero, but I searched out articles about and interviews with Stephen King back before I had the internet. I didn't have a hero, but I wanted to be Stephen King when I grew up.

Yeah, I know. I don't know what I thought a hero was either.

So, reading On Writing, I'm realizing that I could have saved myself a lot of grief in life if I stepped back and looked at who I paid tons of attention to. If I just stepped back and said "Gee, whose use of language do I idolize? Whose do I wish I could emulate in every thing I write?" then I wouldn't've had to make up a ton of horseshit for those assignments.

Stephen King is my hero.

Comments

[the-wanlorn.livejournal.com]

I'm waiting for shadowkitty to come attack me in this entry. I ALMOST TURNED OFF COMMENTS but then decided that was too attention whorey and just because I get butthurt over Stephen King easily is no reason to be an attention whore.

BUT YOU WILL HELP ME FIGHT HEr OFF Y/Y?

[the-wanlorn.livejournal.com]

...I WAS JUST PLANNING ON SLINGING iNSULTS AT HER UNTIL SHE GAVE UP D:

[kisahawklin]

I fucking LOVE On Writing. SO MUCH. It is my favorite book EVAR.

[moirarogers.livejournal.com]

Stu Redman is the best hero ever. Just sayin'.

(Have some Jeffrey Dean Morgan!)

Donna

[kayay.livejournal.com]

Though Stephen King was not my hero, I read several of his books in high school. He'll probably never be considered a literary great; in fact, he himself said, "I am the literary equivalent of a Big Mac and Fries," and there's nothing wrong with that. Heck, his Value Meal books could be considered are healthier than some other stuff out there. Some of his later horror stories I'm not as fond of though. There was an episode of Animaniacs -- does anyone remember it? --where King was trying to come up with a new story. He grabbed the lamp off the agent's desk and said something along the lines of, "oOOohh it's about a haunted lamp!" The agent replied, "You're not even trying anymore are you?" I laughed, but I don't hate him. It doesn't hurt that he seems to be a down to earth kind of person I'd like to have lunch with.

Two quotes of his I like:

If you don't have the time to read, you don't have the time or the tools to write. ~ Stephen King

If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot...reading is the creative center of a writer's life...you cannot hope to sweep someone else away by the force of your writing until it has been done to you. ~ Stephen King