{"id":28185,"date":"2022-02-09T21:31:03","date_gmt":"2022-02-10T05:31:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=28185"},"modified":"2022-02-09T21:31:03","modified_gmt":"2022-02-10T05:31:03","slug":"on-writing-and-the-creative-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/on-writing-and-the-creative-process\/","title":{"rendered":"On Writing and the Creative Process"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stephen King\u2019s, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft<\/em> is a two-in-one book that combines personnel memoir plus a practical guide for writers to improve their craft. The first section of the book, \u201cOn Writing\u201d is more personal history than writing tips\u2014although even here he manages to dispense writing advice as he recounts his youth and early adulthood. There are personal revelations, such as his struggles with alcohol: \u201cI was drinking a case of sixteen-ounce tallboys a night, and there\u2019s one novel, Cujo<\/em>, that I barely remember writing at all\u201d (p. 99). Interspersed with this type of honesty are nuggets of wisdom such as, \u201cLife isn\u2019t a support system for art. It\u2019s the other way around\u201d (p. 101).<\/p>\n

I have read and reread many excellent books on writing: William Zinsser\u2019s, On Writing Well<\/em>, Natalie Goldberg\u2019s, Writing Down the Bones<\/em>, and William Watt\u2019s, An American Rhetoric<\/em>. King\u2019s contribution is unlike any of these. Although there are sections on practical tips for writing, grammar, and sentence construction, these occupy very little of King\u2019s book. King is more concerned with the motivations of a writer and the life of a writer. This book\u2019s contribution is important because his musings are the revelations of one of the most popular writers of fiction of all time. It is an accessible book for the novice who wants to improve their craft. But at the same time, a seasoned writer will appreciate King\u2019s offering because in it they can better understand a celebrated colleague and a kinsman who has lived the life of a creative.<\/p>\n

Steven Pressfield\u2019s book, The War of Art <\/em>can help anyone with a dream of accomplishing something creative in this lifetime. The book is immensely profound in its description of the creative process and at the same time practical for its solutions. The book is organized into three sections and there is an abundance of wisdom and insight contained in all three. No matter if someone is a writer, painter, entrepreneur, or musician, there will be times that an individual faces procrastination. This enemy is labelled Resistance and anyone who undertakes the creative endeavors must face it and overcome it. The solution? Sit down and do the required work. It is not a romantic answer but it is an eminently true one. The second section (\u201cTurning Pro\u201d) describes this process in greater detail. His solution is not the in-your-face drill sergeant who tells you to suck-it-up and accomplish the task at hand. There is more compassion and insight than that. There is a deep ring of truth to this section and therefore it is applicable for any living, breathing, individual who has even the smallest wish to accomplish something in this lifetime. Anyone in any industry, living in every facet of the human experience can benefit from this book. The third section is the weakest. It ponders such questions as \u201cWhere does creativity come from?\u201d and he speaks at length (a little bit too long) on the ideas of higher powers, mythologies, muses, and gods. It was a weak ending to an otherwise excellent book. I write thirty minutes a day, every day, and this book was beneficial to me to stay focused and not to get down on myself when my brain feels empty. It is all part of the creative process, all part of being human. Accept the pace of grace\u2014and brilliance will flow forth; fight God\u2019s timing and Resistance will be at your doorstep, kitchen table, and bedroom. The creative process does not originate in us; it originates with God and flows through us. We have the honor of giving its birth and it bears our likeness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stephen King\u2019s, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft is a two-in-one book that combines personnel memoir plus a practical guide for writers to improve their craft. The first section of the book, \u201cOn Writing\u201d is more personal history than writing tips\u2014although even here he manages to dispense writing advice as he recounts his youth […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":150,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2198,2197],"class_list":["post-28185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-king","tag-pressfield","cohort-lgp11"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/150"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28185"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28185\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28186,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28185\/revisions\/28186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}