Forget About Plot?

      I sat down today in my comfy chair and read forty-six pages of On Writing.  King started talking about paragraphs, which he believes is the basic unit of writing(not the sentence). Paragraphs in informal essays should  be well structured and should have a topic-sentence-followed-by-support-and-description format, while the paragraphs in fiction stories shouldn't really be too well thought. I mean, you shouldn't have to think too hard about when to start your next one and plus, you can always go back and fix it. It should be natural. He said something that really stuck in my mind: "The object if fiction isn't grammatical correctness but to make the reader welcome and then tell a story....to make him/her forget, whenever possible, that he/she is reading a story at all." I think that is sooo true. When I read, I want to be caught up in a great story, so interesting that you have a hard time putting it down.
      I find that King is kind of negative. He thinks that a writer is pretty much born with it and unfortunately, if you're not...you're just not. "If you're a bad writer, no one can help you become a good one, or even a competent one. If you're good and you want to be great....fugeddaboudit." Kinda brings your confidence down. I would expect a writer to really encourage future hopefuls. You have to keep reading, as he says repeatedly. How else can you improve and learn new skills?
      Some great advice he gives is to not take too long on a work you've started. Don't go for months, a couple sentences a day. Set a goal of pages per day. When it drags on, the characters seem like characters. You're excitement is lost and you lose your hold on the plot. I feel that way when I start reading a book, take a week's break, and return. I feel lost and the need to restart. Don't procrastinate and finish already!!!!! Tips:

• read a lot, I mean a lot
• write in a serene, environment free of distractions
• don't take longer than 3 months, a season, on a work
• close the door, you mean business! 

I thought it was kinda weird when King said that there isn't always plot. He said that stories should begin with a situation and then go on based on it. There isn't an exact plot, just ongoing related situations. Interesting way to look at it.