Who Plays Those Jerry Bledsoe Changes, Daddy?

Stephen King has a way of drilling a phrase or detail into your head. The last time I wrote a blog post, it was “Travlin Jack.” I discussed how the use of this phrase and others could be analyzed through the lens of Book Architecture (a new literary technique by Stuart Horwitz). As The Talisman progresses and Jack Sawyer heads west with his werewolf buddy, each Series (as Horwitz calls certain repeating story details) varies in usage, meaning, and intensity. As Wolf might say, “It’s happening right here and now, wolf!”

The “Travlin Jack” and “My Mother is Dying” series/mini-themes continue to find their way into Jack’s internal dialogue, but less frequently. Somewhere around chapter fourteen, Jack begins to struggle with a recurring memory (..Jack was six, Jack was six, when everyone lived in California and no one lived anywhere else…who plays those changes…) of his father and Morgan Sloat discussing Jerry Bledsoe, a maintenance man they employ. In the memory of a six year old, part of the conversation about a jazz album mingles with a growing understanding of what happened to Jerry Bledsoe.

“Who plays those Jerry Bledsoe changes?”

The fate of the maintenance man becomes a metaphor for unintended consequences. Jack sees every catastrophe as something he caused by his actions in the Territories. This mini-theme, or Series, dominates the “plot” for several chapters. Mr. King likes taking the scenic route, which is probably why I enjoy his novels!

(Also, Jerry Bledsoe in the real world, the right here and now, God pound it, not in the Territories, is an American author and journalist according to Wikipedia. This could mean nothing, but I find it terribly interesting.)

Today I am deep into chapter twenty-one of The Talisman, enjoying every audiobook minute, and not for the first time. The “Travlin Jack, My Mother is Dying, and Jerry Bledsoe” Series remain powerful and vivid, but Wolf has taken center stage with the changing of the moon.

“You’re the herd now, Jack. A wolf who harms his herd is damned…”

The interesting thing about the link between Book Architecture and Stephen King’s work, is that Mr. King is the champion of organic writers (seat of the pants, story excavators, and so forth). If you Read Blueprint Your Best Seller and Book Architecture, both books provide useful tools to coming to grips with a long, winding first draft. What do writers say? First get it written, then get it right?

For several years I have struggled to understand and wield story structure more intentionally. I love the concepts in Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell and Story Engineering by Larry Brooks. What I am coming to discover, is that the entire process is faster and smoother for me if I write like King advocates and then revise and structure later. Thirty-three years of serious writing brings me to the method I currently use. In essence, it is all about story–some entertain, others do not.

Thanks for stopping by. I’d love to read your comments. 

Presently, I have five books available here, if you are interested and enjoy a good read.