I was in middle school when I was first introduced to Stephen King at the school library. To be honest, I was first reluctant to read his earliest works because I was sensitive to horror movies and stories that time; I couldn’t even read R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books in elementary school.
But then, when I reached high school, I decided to gather all my courage and read one of his books from the school library. The first Stephen King book I read was The Shining. It was convoluted at first as my heart was rapidly beating hummingbird wings. As I read further to that book, I realized that it changed my life.
After reading The Shining for the first time, I didn’t want to stop there. I then watched the movie adaptation, and, honestly, I praise Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall for their phenomenal acting performance. I also realized that the horror film didn’t affect me. It must’ve been from growing older throughout those years, whereas childhood fears from ghosts and imaginary monsters outgrew on me. I simply informed myself that it was just a movie and everything in there is all fiction.
The Shining movie adaptation was great. Despite the chills within me and despite my disappointment from their differences from the novel (I understand that they didn’t have the advanced technology to create animal topiary hedges come to life, so that was anticipated), I came into realization that my new interest appeared before my eyes that time.
I then became obsessed with watching horror movies, from Final Destination to The Grudge, from The Ring to Saw, and I realized how much I love the adrenaline and thrills within me. Even though I love horror movies, I still have to be aware of the trigger warnings within them for the sake of my mental health. Anything involving deaths by suicide and throat-slitting, I have to look away from those kinds of scenes.
Suffice to say, King helped me overcome my fear for horror movies and horror stories, although I refuse to read R.L. Stine’s books since they’re too juvenile for me. I then wanted to read more of his best works.
Ever since I read The Shining, I moved on to reading Misery. It became another one of my favorite works from him. Then, I moved on to reading a myriad of his latest works. That’s when Stephen King became my favorite author since then.
Not only I became a Stephen King fan, he also became my writing influence… and my hero.
While I was writing my own fictional works during college, I was amateur in my earliest works, as well as my research papers and essays for my college courses. During my trip to Barnes and Noble, I came by King’s memoir, On Writing. I purchased it and read it from cover to cover.
I felt sympathetic for King when I found out he suffered from chronic ear infections during his childhood, and that he had needles piercing through his eardrums to relieve them. I couldn’t imagine how painful that experience is; albeit my lack of fear for needles, I’d be screaming my ass off if a needle is injected into my eardrum as well.
I also read more to his personal experience where he was once run over in a car accident, in which he became physically damaged as the aftermath. After the car accident, he became an alcoholic and that his alcoholism affected his writing. I could relate to him pertaining to my own personal experience with alcohol abuse from depression and other mental health issues I suffer from throughout those years, whereas my own alcoholism affected my writing as well. He eventually overcame his alcohol addiction and became sober since then. I did the same as well. Suffice to say, it’s as if King is connected to me pertaining to our correlation with mental health issues.
After reading his personal experiences, he then wrote advices and lectures in his book on how to become a better and phenomenal writer.
His lectures in On Writing influenced me. King’s memoir saved my life after reading it. I became a better writer because of him. My eidetic memory from his book remained within me at all times and I still mentally follow his writing advices from his book. Because of King, I went from an aspiring writer to a professional author. I couldn’t thank him enough for inspiring me to become the writer and author I am today.
Aside from his lectures and advices, King also influenced me to write one of my favorite book genres, which is horror. Although my intention with my books and writing projects is to bring awareness to societal issues and mental health issues, I also have a passion for writing my own horror stories. My first horror novella is Kimmerie, which is about a little girl named Lucy Sei who developed an imaginary friend named Kimmerie after perceiving her mysterious portrait from a thrift store… and the rest is all supernatural-related. Even though I’m not proud of writing and publishing Kimmerie, that didn’t stop me from writing more horror stories of my own. I’ve written short stories that involved supernatural beings (White Dress), demonic possessions (Desire for Blood), and characters suffering from vivid hallucinations from their mental illnesses (I See You and Flower Petals, the latter being my latest unpublished short story). After writing these short stories, I became proud of my hard work and dedication to writing horror that I wanted to publish them into one anthology (Dreams and Nightmares).
Patience is a virtue, so I don’t really care if it’s not a bestseller right away; I moved on to writing my other projects and novels, and then simply wait for my fate. I considered myself as a modest writer and author, whereas praise is my least expectation. I don’t need all that right now.
To sum everything up, Stephen King is not only my writing influence, but he’s also my hero.
Without him, I wouldn’t have turned into the writer I am today. I wouldn’t be able to confidently share my novels and other projects. If it weren’t for his writing lectures and advices in his memoir, then I wouldn’t be here today. I wouldn’t have enough confidence and professionalism that would put me into the precipice of ending my life early. Because of King, I remained assertive and puissant with my writing. I never gave up my true passion–and my life–for writing. I persevered without having to worry about not getting enough readers to read my work. As aforementioned, patience is a virtue and I moved on. I remained the modest writer I am today.
Therefore, Stephen King remains my hero to this day, hence the reason why he will always be my biggest influence–and my favorite author.
Bibliography:
King, Stephen. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. Scribner, 2000.