On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

King says that writing, like all art, depends on telepathy. Over the years, King has created a “basement place” that is “far-seeing” (103). From there, he sends and receives messages through reading and writing. He does not have to be in the basement place to receive messages, but rather reads wherever he can.

He writes this memoir in 1997, and it will be published in 2000; therefore, there is a gap in sending and receiving. However, King says that writer and reader will be able to have a “meeting of the minds” (106). He asks the reader to picture a tablecloth, cage, and rabbit with a blue eight on its back. We may interpret those various objects differently, but we all are focusing on the blue eight. Through this act of sending and receiving, “We engaged in an act of telepathy” (106). King closes by saying that the act of writing must be taken seriously.

In this chapter, King begins to discuss what tools a writer should possess. To make a comparison, King narrates the time he helps his Uncle Oren fix a broken screen. Uncle Oren insists on bringing his father’s toolbox, which is handmade and weighs somewhere between 80-120 pounds.