Pages

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Christmas and the King

Stephen King once told an interviewer that he writes every single day, "Except Christmas and my birthday."

Years later, in his memior, On Writing, he admitted that he actually did write every day of the year---including his birthday and Christmas. He said he told the interviewer that he took those days off so he wouldn't appear to be a workaholic weirdo.

Well, Stephen, I think that ship sailed a long, long time ago.

A Digression: On Writing is an excellent text for anybody who writes or teaches writing. I learned from Mr. King that adverbs ARE THE ENEMY. Instead of using a lazy adverb as characterization, the writer needs to show the characterization through actions.

An example:

Bad, evil use of adverb: "Hello there," he said nervously.

Better use of Showing, Not Teling: "Hello there," he said, swifting from one foot to the other, his right hand trembling.

See?

Anyway, I may possibly follow the advice of Stepen King (or his pretend advice, anyway), and not blog for a day or two. In light of this, here's my Christmas gift to you:




Silent Night. Holy Night. Jesus, Mary, Joseph, a shepherd, a donkey, a sheep, a dinosaur, a giraffe, a mountain lion, and a jaguar. That would be Owen's nativity.
Merry Christmas, everyone!


No comments: