On Writing - 32 - 38

This particular section of King's book "On Writing" deals with his severe addiction to drugs and alcohol. The problems started after his mother died, and King gave the eulogy intoxicated. The myth that mind altering substances can have an effect on ones creative endeavor seems to be completely true in this section; King is one of the most creative writers of all time, and has been able to produce some of the most brilliant horror stories ever written. In fact, King claims that his novels Misery and Tommyknockers were both written while he was incredibly intoxicated, and that The Shining was written about himself at the time. However, King also claims that drug addiction and creative endeavor being directly related is nonsense, although creative people probably do run a higher risk of falling into an alcohol or drug related downward spiral.