Revival - Stephen King

This was a book that I had been eyeing for a many many months, possibly a year. Then one day while walking up and down the isles of our local library I noticed it on the shelves. There were four copies actually all in hard cover and all with the same jacket. I decided it was time that I picked up the book. Revival is a novel that centers around main character Jamie Morton and the relationship he has with his childhood pastor Charles Jacobs. The novel spans 50 years of Jamie's life where he is many times reunited with Charles.

I have previously mention that I often find reading certain books to be more of an experience  and reading Revival was no exception. It's like watching someone grow up before your eyes and being present for the most important, pivotal moments. I grew to know Jamie, as if he was a person sitting right next to me during those hours I spent curled up some place comfy exploring his exploring his life. The draw back of Revival was throughout the book, it felt like it could have been four completely separate novels; his childhood, his teenage years, adults hood and older adulthood. However, as King says in the text, "life is a wheel, and it always comes back around to where it started."

Once you reach the last few chapters of you will come to understand why you taken on such a long journey. Each of those separate stories as I call them start to weave its away together and it all makes sense.

How did I find the book? Well this was not my favorite book, however I did find it enjoyable. While reading it I wasn't hanging on the edge of my seat but now that it's over, I am kinda sad if that makes sense. I miss Jamie, I will miss walking along side of him while he lives his life and I will miss being in his head.

Writing Tips from Stephen King

Whether you are a Stephen King fan or not is irrelevant. What is relevant is the fact that he is one of the most recognized and accomplished authors of our time, with a longest lists of bestselling novels. Therefore, it only makes sense that an aspiring author would at least consider his advice.

In this quick video I found on YouTube, King gives the viewers a lot of take away statements which can be applied to our only writing styles. One statement in particular that caught my attention was his thoughts on keeping a writer’s notebook. 

“I think a writer’s notebook is the best way to immortalize bad ideas,” King says.

 Admittedly I do keep notebooks because my desire to write will strike at any time. I would write down lines that pop into my head, story ideas or blog post ideas. I had to do some serious reflection after hearing this. Was keeping notebook really working for me? Well the answer was no! The one book that I wrote and was able to finish, was never “immortalized” in a notebook. It was actually a based on a dream I had a few years ago and I thought it would make a wonderful story. Over the years I thought about it, tried to piece together the storyline in my head, and then I would forget about it and let time go on. As time went on there were certain aspects of the story that stuck with me until finally I decided to write my children’s book.  I wrote this story well before I watched this video. After watching I decided it was time to put away the notebook and simply focus on the good stuff!