On Writing

Our friend, Hiralal just got engaged to a beautiful Korean woman, and we were able to attend his engagement party. He's going to move up north at the beginning of next year. Hiralal is a like a brother to us so we're going to miss him, but it's exciting to see him headed towards this new stage of life.

This has been a jam packed emotional week. So much has happened, and yet, I can't really find the words to tell any of the stories. Maybe they will come later. But, I have been reading this great book by Stephen King titled 'On Writing.' It's kind of a memoir of how he became a writer, and I'm finding it to be very compelling. Writing is something I've loved my whole life, but it's been a struggle for me in recent years. I think I used to be good at it. In 3rd grade I wrote a poem that won first prize in the Tri-County language arts competition. After that I wrote my first book about elves. It had five chapters. I wrote plays, poetic anthologies, book reviews, short stories, and summaries for the books I would one day write. My freshman English teacher told me she couldn't wait to have me in junior English. My English composition professor at OBU used to write 'Please consider changing your major to English' on all of my papers.

But something happened. Somehow in college I became fiercely private about my writing. I began to doubt my ability and was fearful of the vulnerability that came with it. I still wrote--yearbook articles, history papers, financial reports, an occasional journal entry...but I didn't feel passionate about it. Now that I'm reading this book it makes me wonder if I can ever feel that passion again. Along with that...can I get beyond caring about criticism? Can I find the patience to put my thoughts into words and form them in an artistic way? Can I share those words with those around me? Or let the person I really care about deeper into the way I think? I want to. Maybe I will try. I'll let you know how it goes. Until then I thought I'd end this post with a list of some of the books that have impacted my life.

1. One book that changed your life: The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

2. One book that you’ve read more than once: The Diary of Anne Frank. My grandfather gave this book to me when I was young and I read it over and over again. I thought Anne Frank looked like me only with bigger eyebrows.

3. One book you’d want on a deserted island: Ulysses by James Joyce. Apparently it's one of the greatest literary works of all time, but I can never seem to get past the first page. A desert island might be the only way I'll actually read it.

4. One book that made you laugh: A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. What a wonderful book! I could almost hear Owen's voice in my ear. I laughed and cried a lot reading this one.

5. One book that made you cry: Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Wow, this book is powerful.

6. One book you wish you had written: The Great Divorce by CS Lewis. What I wouldn't give to have the persepctive illustrated in this book.

7. One book you wish had never been written: Um, I hate to say that any book shouldn't be written. One book I did not enjoy reading was Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The details and descriptions were amazing, but this book thoroughly depressed me for days. I guess I'm glad it was written but wish I'd never read it myself.

8. One book you’re currently reading: On Writing by Stephen King and trying to finish The Castle by Franz Kafka. The Castle is strange, interesting, and requires a certain kind of mood to enjoy. You were one weird man, Mr. Kafka!

9. One book you’ve been meaning to read: There's a long list but I'll probably start reading A Farewell to Arms by Hemingway next.