I'd like to start off this article by noting that I've only ever read one piece of Stephen King's work in totality.

Don't get me wrong: He's a fantastic writer. Presenting his works using conversational, simplistic diction along with mundane and therefore relatable characters, Kings is, well, the "king" at using his casual writing style to weave in complex story arcs that make his thriller and horror pieces all the more realistic (and all the more terrifying)...which, unfortunately, spurs an extreme sense of paranoia within me every time I open to a page.

I may not be his biggest novel fanatic, but I've found solace in one title, and lucky for me, there aren't any horror or thriller aspects involved.

And even luckier for me (and you), it seeks out aspiring and published writers alike.

So if you're ever given the opportunity to read one of his works—especially if you're like me, and can't devour Kings' novels like it's Taco Tuesday—you most totally, definitely, absolutely need to read On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.

Sure, it's, as per its title, a memoir of writing as a craft, but it's also an unfolding of King's writing process, and his story of how be became the author he is today.

King's memoir is blunt and crude; yet, in a strange sense, reassuring and practical.

Now, I read this book a few years ago, so it has been a while since I've read and analyzed his advice. However, one of the few parts I do recall goes like this: "Writing is a lonely job. Having someone who believes in you makes a lot of difference. They don't have to make speeches. Just believing is usually enough."

I remember that bit of advice because of how shocked I was by it. The then-17-year-old me—who was just starting to become more invested in her writing career, hence why she actually picked up a book for the first time in what was probably years and read it with such fervor—recoiled at this idea. After all, I've always found I was most comfortable using words to write rather than to say. I wanted to be in full control of my written actions—for anyone to alter its purity in its rawest, truest, most genuine extension of myself was a violation of my pride, and of my integrity as an aspiring writer.

However, I've grown up a bit. And in that time, I've realized that to be so fiercely defiant in your values and to be so independent in your own thinking don't always guarantee what's best for me, or even those around me.

Because while it's important to rely on yourself, it's also crucial that you learn how to let others in, especially those who you've formed a mutual love and trust with, in. Establishing this support system further strengthens your writing and interpersonal relationships, and gives you all the more confidence you have as a writer in forming that intimate bond between the primary reader and writer. It's like writing a letter, just long-winded and one-sided.

For me, my primary reader is my high school best friend. He's my ultimate and main audience; no matter the subject or draft number, I write for him, always. It's a surprising way to make writing easier, as presenting ideas comes with greater clarity and care, given that it's done in the mindset of "writing to" a certain loved one.

Without their confiance, you'll be as truly lonely as King puts it. Though, in my opinion, that feeling goes in respects to even beyond writing.

So as King once put it, "But it's writing, damn it, not washing the car or putting on eyeliner." Writing is a skill like makeup and car-washing. But writing's also an art and a craft, and to master it takes the aid of other people who are willing to support you not for the products that you create, but for the ideas, values and beliefs you stand— and write— for.

And I live by that.