Divine Dictation

I am rereading On Writing by Stephen King. This is my third complete read and probably my twentieth return to this particular font of inspiration. It is an important Work. I believe he knew that as he wrote it. My favorite quote from the book is,”Writers are blessed stenographers taking divine dictation.”

Master King also, in plain simple language, says that writing is telepathy. This isn’t a metaphor or an analogy. He means this as a literal truth, or perhaps it is a literary truth (BAM bad pun!). I know that he has not been locked up in a mental ward for stating this fact. Don’t any of you go doubting my sanity for agreeing with his observation? You won’t. I know you all. I know your minds from all the time you spend reading mine. I trust all of you. Because of that fact, I am going to go bravely out on a limb here and expose some of the deeper chambers of my mind and soul using this Magic.

Before we go there together, I do want to say that there has been something of a resurgence of my ability to write. While I also agree with Master King that as writers we don’t wholly create our works and act as a channel or medium for stories told On High. With that accepted as true, I have to say that I can lose motivation to write. I am not published. I do not get much feedback on the things I do put out into the public eye. At times that discourages me. I occasionally lose the desire to take dictation.

The best way I motivate myself to keep putting words to the page is by reading.  Ernest Cline has been my muse since 2015. Ready Player One is an absolute masterpiece. Armada is the book that got me excited about writing again. It is a little predictable, but at its, heart Armada is an Adventure story. Those simply do not get written anymore, or at least they are rarely done well. I appreciate that Ernest Cline leaves me feeling inspired and motivated to tell my own stories. This may be a generational connection. Who knows?

On to Deeper Things.

I have wanted my whole life to have Magic or Power. Luke Skywalker made me want to use the Force. I wanted to be an X-man. I could never agree which one I would like to be, but that was not the worthy part. I found with writing that I do have power. My words can reach through space and time and connect my mind to yours, dear Reader.

In order to make that connection, I simply open my mind and let the words flow. You read them, begin to connect my ideas with the thoughts in your mind, and finally, we form a connection where you begin to expect the words I will write next. Even people who have never and will never meet me understand me on a very personal level. I suspect that I give away more of myself in the exchange than I mean, but every Power comes with a cost.

There it is. David believes that what he writes is performing Magic or at least telepathy. He also is writing in the third person. Grab your torches and pitchforks!

Since I have freaked you all out any way I might as well go the Full Monty. There is a much deeper implication of writing having power. I want to make two simple points that have very deep implications. You have read this far into the deep water. Follow me a little farther and we can all happily drown together.

First, If this telepathy is real then we should all be very careful what minds we chose to touch. Humans have a known and obvious weakness. When we expose ourselves to something sad we get sad. When we experience something silly, we become playful and try to have fun. In other words, Mentally we are what we eat. This kids is why I do not watch most horror movies. Darkness in means Darkness out.

Second, this telepathy puts a new importance on reading true Holy works. I love God, but I do not participate in organized religion. For years I have defended this position through a series of bluffs and feints. The truth is I rarely enter into any type of organized religion without feeling judged and very judgmental myself. I have confined my worship to reading the Bible, reflecting on myself through prayer, and when I find someone in a situation that I feel my words will help lead them closer to God I witness.

I envy people who can live their Faith loudly. I am not that person. I do very much like the idea that I am able to touch the mind of the men who wrote the Bible. They themselves were taking direct Divine Dictation from Him. None of this is news to me. I am just putting it down here because I believe it is important to pass along. That is the reason I write most of these things. I feel a call to share my words. I have faith that my words find the minds that they are meant to.