randomdrake

On Writing by Stephen King and The Elements of Style by Strunk and White

Reclaiming my creative voice after 15 years of silence.

For the last fifteen years, my “artistic muscle” has gathered dust. I’ve been too busy honing skills in leadership, management, and technology, filling my shelves with titles like No Rules Rules, Radical Candor, and Dare to Lead.

But I recently published a book, feverishly banging it together simply because I wanted it to exist in the world. Now, I want to do better. I want to treat writing with the same reverence I once held for acting, when I obsessed over texts like An Actor Prepares and Towards a Poor Theatre.

And I read plays — so many plays. Many of them introduced by my fantastic playwriting professor Heather McDonald who opened me up to so many wonderful examples of prose. I’m very grateful to her for that and have many of my textbooks from that class on my shelf still today.

So, I am diving back into the craft. I just finished Stephen King’s On Writing and followed it up with The Elements of Style on the same day. Along with Bird by Bird, I have three more books on the way to continue this education: On Writing Well, Writing Tools, and Several short sentences about writing (recommended by fellow author Macey).

I’ve been a lifelong learner — never pausing or letting my lack of knowledge stop me from pursuing something my heart told me to go after.

Writing has been no different.

I’ve been writing and sharing that writing for as long as I can remember. One of my first successful bouts of writing came in the form of a short poem when I was in elementary school, 34 years ago.

Bless my mother for saving it all these years and allowing me to get a digital copy before throwing it away. Similar to so many “group projects” in school, this one was all my work with the name of another student alongside me.

Bear in There

There’s a Polar Bear
In our Frigidaire.
He likes it ’cause it’s cold in there.
With his seat in the mean,
And his face in the fish,
And his big hairy paws
In the butter dish.
He’s nibbling the noodles,
He’s munching the rice,
He’s slurping the soda,
He’s licking the ice.
And he lets out a roar
If you open the door,
And it gives a scare
To know he’s in there
That Polary Bear
In our Fridgitydaire.

The End

— David Drake, December 3rd, 1991

I believe we were reading Shel Silverstein at the time.

Since getting sober, I’ve rediscovered my absolute adoration for reading and spending time reading. I’ve devoured dozens of books — many in a day or two.

While I was still drinking, being able to read a book and focus on it often became a reason to take a break. I would ask myself to stay sober so I could take the time to get into a book — I wasn’t able to absorb much when the world was fuzzy.

I had forgotten how quickly I’m able to read and write until I was uninhibited by anything to do so. With my mind clear, I dove back in.

My sister re-introduced me to Goodreads when she wrote a review there for my book. After spending some time ensuring my listing was correct, I started to use the site myself and have been enjoying tracking books I’ve been cruising through, and the books that I want to read as well.

These days, I’ve got a stack of books by my bedside, and you can often find one or two in random places throughout the house — much to my wife’s chagrin. She strongly dislikes clutter, but it ensures our house is always in good order and I’m very grateful to her for that.

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While writing the previous 600-plus words, I’ve been applying the editing skills I’ve recently acquired along the way. I’ve very carefully chosen my words and tried to write in a way that respects the reader:

• Cut out unnecessary words
• Leave out parts not related to the story
• Use more nouns and verbs than adverbs and adjectives

I can feel my brain straining against itself as I learn to use these muscles in new and interesting ways.

The words still rush from my mind to the screen, but they no longer land unchecked; a critical eye now stands guard, demanding that every syllable earn its keep.

This is so similar to the feelings I used to have as an actor when I would read new methods for performance. My body and mind wanting to go one way, and my prefrontal cortex applying executive control to mold my actions into something else.

I look forward to the keyboard every day now. I’ve successfully written every single day for over 60 days — enough to consider it a habit according to research. I wrote about wanting to achieve this goal back in 2021:

https://randomdrake.com/2021/06/23/how-to-make-writing-a-habit/

Today I’m glad to say I achieved the 60-day mark and I’m well on my way to the 90-day mark to achieve both the research-backed 60 days, and the oft-mentioned 21/90 rule.

I’m starting to become more confident in calling myself a writer and an author as I continue to hone my craft. I’ve evolved my profiles on various platforms to reflect this, sprinkling in “author” here and “writer” there accordingly.

I’m growing in unexpected and exciting ways and, thanks to the literature of those who have come before me, I feel like I’m learning and that’s an incredible sensation. Sure, it took me 43 years on this planet to get to this point, but 40 is the new 20, right?

Stephen King would be proud as I’ve put in the practice of getting over my 1,000 words for the day so it’s time to look for something to wrap this up. I’ll end this post with a wonderful quote that I found from The Elements of Style that really spoke to me about this journey:

“All writing is communication; creative writing is communication through revelation — it is the Self escaping into the open. No writer long remains incognito.”

I am venturing into the open and loving the journey.