Writing Desire and Sex and All the Thoughts of Teenagers and Middle Agers and Elders and Everyone of Everyage Without Your Family and Friends and Coworkers Thinking You’re a Pervert
A quick question inspired by Stephen King’s Revival
During a recent and well-timed vacation, I began reading Revival by Stephen King. All I knew going in was that it was one of his more Lovecraft-inspired stories and would end without hope. (I have not read as much Stephen King as my fellows - a few short stories, The Shining, Salem’s Lot - uh… none of which I would describe as ending with hope). Horror, to me, has two flavors: 1) there is evil out there and we cannot stop it and 2) there is evil in me and I cannot stop it. Neither includes hope as a prominent ingredient. So, to read a Stephen King novel that has been singled out as especially “hopeless?” I went in eager! I went in excited! I wondered what would I find within?!?!
What I found was one of the most memorable descriptions of teenage desire that I’ve ever read.
“It gave me a hard-on I could have broken concrete with.”
Reading it took me out of the scene, but in a good way. I didn’t think, wow, how clever is Stephen King’s description. I thought, wow, how clever the description of Revival’s narrator, Jamie Morton.
Then I did come out of the scene to wonder - could I write that? But what would my friends and family and coworkers think? Would they think I was some kind of pervert, reliving my high school crushes?
The trick, I think, is the name at the top of the page, Stephen King. But if that’s not your name? How do you get away with it?
My current plan is to just go for it... wish me luck 😂 (also I love the name of this post)
Go hard or go home, I say. 😉
Also, the reason that line works, from Stephen King or ANYONE, is because EVERYONE knows exactly what level of hard on he's talking about. It's less of an "ew gross, pervert" reaction and more of an "oh, yeah, been there" reaction. And I've never read anything by Stephen King, so I have no particular loyalty there. He's just a dude who's had his share of boners, right?
On the subject - I have an excellent YA novel to recommend: "I'll Give you the Sun" by Jandy Nelson. It's in dual POV of fraternal twins. The boy in it uses some powerful bonerisms throughout.