Writing Tips III: Vocabulary

In previous installments of examining King’s writing tips, I discussed King’s concepts of what it takes to be a writer and creating a toolbox.  In this article, we are going to discuss the vocabulary used by writers and hear a few things that King has to say about the tool that he identifies as the “bread of writing” (On Writing, 114).

Vocabulary is simply the words that a writer chooses to use in his/her story.  Some writers will use a complex vocabulary that will send you thumbing through a dictionary every other sentence.  To each their own, but this can make the story difficult to read and, sometimes, cause the reader to throw the book to the side before even finishing it.  However, some readers like those writers with an extensive vocabulary.  Again, to each their own, this applies to writers and readers alike.

King encourages writers to use the vocabulary that they have.  He suggests that a writer just pack that vocabulary into the toolbox without giving it a second thought.  King suggests, “You can happily pack what you have without the slightest bit of guilt and inferiority” (114).  Most writers, including myself, have struggled with this concept in their own work.  Some worry that if it is too complicated, people will be turned off by it.  Others may worry if it is too simple that people won’t take it serious.  King helps put those fears to rest in On Writing. 

I believe that Blood Meridan is another (fine novel), although there are great whacks of it that I don’t fully understand. What of that? I can’t decipher the words to many of the popular songs I love, either (116).

“Street vocabulary” is another category discussed by King.  King defines street vocabulary as “phonetically rendered” words, such as “yeggghhh” as used by Tom Wolfe.  Tom Wolfe and Elmore Leonard are two writers who use this tool in their work. 

King discourages writers from trying to make any “conscious effort to improve” their vocabulary (117).  The improvement of vocabulary should be primarily done through reading, which King has identified as a key element for successful writers.  It is as important for writers as the actually writing itself.

Writing should be a natural thing to some degree, although it takes work to become so.  In order to maintain this naturalness, a writer should use the words that are natural to them.  King gives a warning about writers altering their vocabulary for the wrong reasons.

     One of the really bad things you can do to your writing is to dress up the vocabulary, looking for long words because you’re maybe a little bit ashamed of your short ones.  This is like dressing up a household pet in evening clothes. The pet is embarrassed and the person who committed this act of premeditated cuteness should be even more embarrassed (117).

You have to love his examples. There are people who do dress up their pets. Doesn’t it make you feel just a little bit sorry for those poor creatures being forced to wear a cutesy outfit? Remember that poor pet the next time you think about changing your words just for the sake of “dressing it up.”

Finally, King suggest that you stick with your original thought when writing.  He identifies the basic rule of vocabulary as “using the first word that comes to your mind, if it is appropriate and colorful” (118).  Of course, a thesaurus can help find a word that might make you, as a writer, sound more intelligent or sophisticated. However, it might also change the meaning of what you really want to say and how you want to say it.

Some of the greatest stories ever told are written by authors who use a combination of their regional tone with a vocabulary that connects with the reader.  As a writer, a person should tell their story in the way that they would normally do it without changing the words to fit somebody else’s idea of right. Imagine Mark Twain writing in Stephen King’s vocabulary or vice versa. It wouldn’t work for either one of them. In the South, we would say, “It all comes down to using the words that your momma gave you.”

Write on!

Jerusalem's Lot: The Dark History

Stephen King has masterfully composed stories that highlight the people and culture of Maine.  Most readers, if asked, would identify the most memorable town in King’s work as Castle Rock or Derry.  The number of King's stories based in these locales could easily explain this.  Take the name of this blog site as an example of that impact.  These two towns have been discussed in earlier articles. However, King has written such a body of work that it is hard to identify every place that he has used. The Stand (1978) alone has scenes in excess of fifty locations throughout the United States.  Regardless, we will still take a look at some of these special places in this and future articles.

Jerusalem’s Lot is a small Maine town with a long history that includes a time when it was a ghost town.  Jerusalem’s Lot is commonly referred to as “’Salem’s Lot” by the locals.  That name has become synonymous with evil or cursed for many people in the nearby communities.  From the founders to some of the residents in recent years, the town has a unique, yet very dark, history surrounding its population.

The following is the historical timeline of the town of Jerusalem’s Lot based on the works of Stephen King and documented in The Complete Stephen King Universe by Stanley Wiater, Christopher Golden and Hank Wagner:


1710   James Boon led a splinter group of the original Puritan settlers from
            southern Maine to the location that the town would later be established. 
            Boon is the group’s spiritual leader who worships a demonic creature 
            known as “the worm.”  His group also worships this dark entity. 
            Boon, like some other cult leader’s in history, breeds with many of the 
            women in their sect.

1741   Preacher’s Rest, an adjoining hamlet, is founded. The name would 
            later be changed to Preacher’s Corners.

1765   Jerusalem’s Lot becomes an incorporated township.

  

1782   Robert and Philip Boone build a house called Chapelwaite in the Lot 

            near Preacher’s Corners. The brothers were descendants of James 

            Boon, but were unaware of their connection to the fanatical leader.

1789   (October 27) Robert Boone follows his brother, Philip, to the original 

            church where James Boon and his cult worshipped the demon 

            creature. Robert had become involved with the founder’s cult, which 

            still existed in the area. The events of that night have been lost in history. 

            The next day, the town was completely deserted. The fate of its 

            residents is unknown.

1850   Charles, the grandson of Robert Boone, moves into Chapelwaite, the 

            family estate.  He discovers documents that reveal some of his family’s 

            history.  The residents of Preacher’s Corners do not treat Charles 

            kindly. He relates their attitude toward his family to the horrific events 

            associated with his ancestors.

            (October 27) Charles Boone discovers the worm and the “rotted 

            zombielike form” of James Boon in the abandoned church in 

            ‘Salem’s Lot.

1896  The ghost town becomes resettled as new people move into it. The 

           events of the past are unknown or believed to be nothing but legends. 
           The main street is named Jointner Avenue in honor of a local 
           politician. The road had previously been known as the Portland Post 
           Road.

1928  Hubert Marsten and his wife, Birdie, move to ‘Salem’s Lot.  Marsten 
           was the president of a large New England trucking company.  However, 
           It was not known to the residents of the town that Marsten was an 
           assassin for the Mafia.

1939  During the summer of this year, Marsten shoots  

           and kills his wife before hanging himself.  It was           

           later discovered that Marsten had been 
           in contact with a mysterious man who 
           lived in Germany, which was ruled by 
           Hitler’s Third Reich at that time. The 
           man in Germany was later revealed to 
           be a vampire named Kurt Barlow.

1951  Ben Mears, a young boy from ‘Salem’s 
           Lot, enters the abandoned 
           Marsten House, which is said to 
           be haunted. The young Ben enters 
           the attic and sees what he 
           believes to be the ghost of Hubie Marsten. Ben 
           Mears would never forget the events of that fateful day. 

1971  (October) James Robert Boone, the final descendent of founder James 
           Boon, moves into Chapelwaite. Though it is believed by many that the 
           ancestral home was haunted, there are no more references to the evil 
           associated with cult, the worm or the living corpse of James Boon.  
           Some believe that the evil could be brought back to life under the proper 
           conditions.


1975  (September 5) Ben Mears returns to the town after his wife, Miranda, is 
           killed in a motorcycle accident.  Mears, a writer, hoped to write a new 
           novel while visiting his boyhood town.  Mears discovers that two 
           “mysterious European gentlemen” had purchased the Marsten House, 
           which haunted his dreams.

              By mid-fall of that year, the majority of the Salem’s Lot residents had been killed,  transformed or left due to the evil activity of the vampire Barlow.  Ben Mears and Mark Petrie kill Kurt Barlow, destroy as many vampires as possible and then flee the empty township. 

              

1976   In the winter of 1976 or early months of 1977, Mears and Petrie return to ‘Salem’s Lot and burn the town.  Newspaper had been reporting stories about suspicious disappearances near the abandoned town.  Mears believed these disappearances to be associated with the vampires created by Barlow.

1978  (January 10) The Lumley family from New Jersey are taken by vampires near the burned-out town of ‘Salem’s Lot.  Herb Tooklander and his friend Booth, both of whom live in a neighboring town, also report nearly being abducted in a similar fashion.

As you might be able to conclude from this historical timeline, Jerusalem’s Lot shares a similar event in its history as another early settlement in America. Roanoke, Virginia was the site of two early colonies where its residents disappeared without a trace, once in 1587 and again in 1590.  Beyond the similarities, there is no known connection between Jerusalem’s Lot and Roanoke.

To read more about the history and events that occurred in Jerusalem’s Lot, read the following King stories:  ‘Salem’s Lot (1975), “One for the Road” – a short story in the collection Night Shift (1978), and “Jerusalem’s Lot” – a short story also in Night Shift (1978).

              

Ka-tet: The Heart of King's World

Avid King readers have encountered the terms “Ka” and “Tet” in many of his works.  Even occasional readers may have seen these terms in some of his works.  However, this concept of “Ka” and “Tet” has deep roots in many King stories.  In order to help all King fans, even just the movie watchers, understand this concept, this article will explain its meaning and how to find it in King works.

What is a Ka-tet?

These terms are defined in The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands as Roland tries to explain the purpose of the quest to Eddie and Susannah Dean, better known as “The Prisoner” and “The Lady of the Shadows” (61). 

•          Ka is defined as “destiny.” However, Roland states that it is “much more complex in High Speech.”
•          Tet is defined as “a group of people with the same interests and goals.”
•          Roland identifies Ka-tet as “the place where many lives are joined by fate.”.

The Complete Stephen King Universe states, “ka-tet means a great many things, one of which is family” (16).  It continues to explain the group of people are “usually without blood relationships” and are bound together by “duty, obligation, love, and common objectives” (17).  It is important to note that enemies can also be a part of a ka-tet as their destiny is to “destroy each other” (17).

Examples of Ka-tets in King’s work

The most memorable Ka-tet in a King work is the one in the Dark Tower series.  Roland, the last gunslinger, leads his Ka-tet in pursuit of the “man in black” and in their journey to the Dark Tower itself.  Some members of Roland’s Ka-tet are Eddie Dean aka The Prisoner, Susannah Dean aka The Lady in the Shadows and Jake Chambers aka the boy at the Way Station or ‘Bama.  (These references are from the first three books in the Dark Tower series.)

However, the Dark Tower series is not the only King works that contain this unique dynamic of a group with the same destiny.  Stephen King’s IT (1986) contains a very strong Ka-tet.  The Loser’s Club, which is composed of the seven friends that battle the evil entity living in the sewers of Derry, is a Ka-tet that lasted for over thirty years. Another Ka-tet in this story is the two opposing forces, the Loser’s Club versus the evil entity.

The final story that I will discuss in relation to the concept of a Ka-tet is The Stand (1978).  This novel contains a complex structure of the Ka-tet concept.  The first Ka-tet is the group that is drawn to Mother Abigail Freemantle.  This group consisted of Stu Redman, Glen Bateman, Frannie Goldsmith, Nick Andros and the rest of the gang that created the “Free Boulder” zone.  The second Ka-tet is the group that was drawn by the Walking Dude, also known as Randall Flagg, to Las Vegas.  This group consisted of Lloyd Henreid, Trashcan Man, Barry Dorgan and the others who considered their leader to be Flagg.  The third Ka-tet is the enemy dynamic that forces the people of the “Free Boulder” zone against Randall Flagg and, by association, the people of the new Las Vegas.

I would argue that other Ka-tets exist within this story as well.  The Campion family could be a considered a Ka-tet.  Their family group left the base with a goal of escaping the virus that had been released.  Ultimately, they were the reason that the Captain Trip’s virus spread across America. Another Ka-tet could be identified as the military itself.  The various divisions of this particular group include “Project Blue” personnel, the group working to create the virus, and the military personnel, the ones who tried to contain it after the virus escaped and anarchy started to break out across America.

It is impossible to write about every example of a Ka-tet without composing an entire book on the subject.  However, being able to identify King’s use of Ka-tet in his work will help the reader, including you, see how he interweaves these characters as people and as those pursuing a similar destiny.  I can just about guarantee that you will look beyond the story to identify the Ka-tet in the next King work that you read. Happy reading, King’s “Constant Readers!”

The Castle Rock Players: Episode 4 - Morgan Freeman

Morgan Freeman is probably one of the greatest actors in modern cinema with memorable roles that never fails to deliver a diverse audience.  His “authoritative” voice, which is recognizable whether he appears on-screen or not, places him in a special select group of actors.  His range of roles is diverse and his performances are always powerful.  The actor came to the arts later in life, not getting his start in performance arts until after age forty.  Despite his late start in acting, Freeman’s work has earned him extraordinary praise and numerous awards.  The Mississippi native has been featured in two Stephen King adaptations.

In 1994, Morgan Freeman was cast to star opposite Tim Robbins in the critically acclaimed King adaptation of The Shawshank Redemption, based on the novella “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption” in Different Seasons (1982).  Freeman portrayed the role of Ellis Boyd ‘Red’ Redding, a prisoner in the legendary Maine correctional facility for the murder of his wife.  The character portrayed by Freeman was altered to match the actor’s physical traits.  In the original story, Redding was a pale-skinned Irish man with bright red hair.  The writers refer to this change in the dialogue when Freeman’s character answers the question of why he is called “Red” by stating: “Maybe because I am Irish.”

Freeman’s work in Shawshank was brilliant and a true homage to King’s ability to create powerful characters that capture the audience.  His portrayal of Redding was recognized by the industry and audience as being the phenomenal work that it was.  For his role in Shawshank, Freeman was nominated for an Academy Award as “Best Actor in a Leading Role;” He lost to Tom Hanks for his role in Forrest Gump. He was also nominated for a Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award, a Golden Globe, a Screen Actor Guild Award, and a Chicago Film Critics Association Award. He won a Chlotrudis Award in the best “Best Actor” category for his work in this film.    

In 2003, Freeman returned to the big screen as a King-adapted character in the feature film Dreamcatcher, based on the novel of the same name released in 2001.  He portrayed the role of Colonel Abraham Curtis, the authoritative commander of the Blue Boy squad that is destined on stopping an alien invasion of earth.  Freeman’s role in this film is described as being “over-the-top” in The Complete Stephen King Universe.  Although critics less accept his performance as his work in Shawshank, his on-screen presence adds to the popularity of this adaptation.  His voice and demeanor makes him a good fit for the character.

The screenplay writers altered the character portrayed by Freeman in Dreamcatcher.  The character in the novel had changed his name to Kurtz in honor of a character in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, the basis for the film Apocalypse Now (1979).  The producers decided not to use the “Kurtz” name to cut the connection to the Conrad story and Coppola’s adaptation of it. There were numerous changes from the original story to screen including making Duddits into something that he wasn’t.

Morgan Freeman has a long filmography containing some of the best movies in the past four decades.  Without a doubt, The Shawshank Redemption is one of those films.  Of course, there is no way of knowing whether he will star in another King adaptation in the future. It would be nice if he did.  However, we can thank him for his legendary performance in Shawshank and for bringing great depth to the role of Ellis Boyd “Red” Redding, and his maybe somewhat less memorable performance in Dreamcatcher.  These roles secure Freeman a place in “The Castle Rock Players” roster.