On Writing - Pgs 1-50

There are a great many parts of "On Writing" worth remembering, and worth quoting. But by far the part of it that sticks out the most in my memory would have to be the time Stephen King and his brother performed a science experiment involving an electromagnet, a stripped power cord, and an outlet in their house. Sometimes you see, hear, or in this case read something that makes you go, "Wait, what?" And then you go back over it more slowly just to make sure you aren't missing anything. I had to read that whole section of the book out loud to myself just to make sure I was following what was going on. I knew full well where it was going, but I just had to gape in amazement that they didn't.

In terms of anecdotes that actually provided insight, I think the one that stood out most prominently to me was the early one about his baby sitter and all of the mean and anywhere from borderline to flat-out abusive things she did. Mainly in how dealing with all that made the criticisms he would later receive about his writing seem much less bad by comparison. I feel that one would help me keep things in perspective once I start getting feedback from people.

I feel that Stephen King is a person that takes a fairly laid-back approach when it comes to talking about writing, yet still treats it highly seriously. I feel that there are a lot of parts to his story that reflect my own insecurities about my own writing. Hell, going back what I just said about keeping things in perspective: Stephen King used to be a poor writer. I'm comfortable saying that because I think even he'd admit he was one when he first started. My point is, he struggled to get good at writing, and now he's so well-regarded of a writer that we're learning about him in college classes. I suppose then the main lesson I've taken away from this first part is that I don't need to worry about how good my writing ability is, but rather I should focus on being persistent with it. There's the rub though, how long did it take me to write this?