How Stephen King's On Writing Gave Me Permission to Write Dark Matter
A few years ago when I first picked up Stephen King’s On Writing, A Memoir of the Craft, I didn’t realise it would become more than a guidebook for crafting stories—it became a permission slip to embrace my creative instincts, to be unapologetically honest in my storytelling, and to lean into the unsettling. More importantly, King’s wisdom not only taught me to be a better writer but also gave me confidence—who I was and what made the story worth telling—to reach into the dark corners of my imagination and to do so without judgement. It was on that foundation, I think, that I built Dark Matter.
One of the most important things I learned from King was his ability to write unapologetically. He’s not out to be gratuitously shocking, but he isn’t afraid to explore the edges of what we’re comfortable thinking about. King talks about writing truthfully—about characters, about the world, about emotions—even if that truth makes us squirm. He doesn’t write to offend people, but he doesn’t shy away from offending their minds. That distinction hit me hard because it freed me from worrying about how people might react to my work.
When writing Dark Matter, I adopted this mindset wholeheartedly. My goal wasn’t to push boundaries for the sake of it or to court controversy. Instead, I wanted to explore themes, questions, and truths that might unsettle readers—truths that dig beneath the surface of what we find comfortable or easy to digest. Whether it’s the moral dilemmas my characters face, the cosmic questions raised by the multiverse, or the human flaws exposed in moments of crisis, my writing takes readers into uncharted emotional territory. Like King, I believe in giving readers the space to confront ideas that challenge them, even if it’s uncomfortable.
King famously emphasises the importance of writing the first draft with the “door closed”. That is, letting your ideas flow without worrying about judgement, structure, or how they’ll be received. This idea transformed the way I approached writing Dark Matter. I let the words spill out without restraint, without filtering myself for the hypothetical reader or critic sitting on my shoulder. The result was a story that felt raw, alive, and authentic.
For me, Dark Matter became an experiment in liberation—allowing my imagination to run wild without fearing it was “too much” or “not enough”. The story comfortably treads the shadowy corners of existence, asking unyielding questions about morality, identity, and what it means to exist in a universe full of chaos and contradictions. If I had written with my internal censor switched on, I would have softened the edges of the story, pulled back on its darker themes, and lost the core of what made it compelling. But Stephen King gave me the permission I needed: to write freely, boldly, and honestly.
Another key takeaway from On Writing is that storytelling is ultimately about communication. For King, the goal isn’t to be gratuitously shocking but to make readers feel. The best stories stay with us because they provoke an emotional or intellectual reaction—they make us question our assumptions or see the world through a different lens. That’s the kind of storytelling I aimed for in Dark Matter.
I wanted to offend—not in the sense of being crude or disrespectful—but to provoke, to unsettle, to make readers ask, “Why am I uncomfortable with this idea? What does that say about me?” My hope is that Dark Matter lingers in the minds of readers long after they’ve closed the book, much like King’s stories do. Whether they’re haunted by the choices my characters make, by the strange and unknowable forces at work, or by the deeper themes buried within the plot, I want readers to walk away feeling challenged.
Stephen King’s On Writing is more than a book of craft—it’s a manifesto for fearless creativity. It gave me the wherewithal and courage to write Dark Matter the way it was meant to be written: raw, unfiltered, and unapologetically provocative. King’s ethos of writing honestly—of daring to offend the mind while staying true to your story—continues to guide my approach to storytelling.
If you’ve read Dark Matter, know this: its dark corners, its unsettling themes, and its bold questions exist because I stopped filtering myself. Like King, I wrote with the door closed but with an open invitation for readers to step into the story and wrestle with its ideas. It’s not about providing easy answers—it’s about shining a light on the shadows we don’t always want to face. And for that, I have Stephen King to thank.
If you are a writer or just that person who is in awe of how stories work, I just can’t recommend On Writing enough: not as a guide per se, but as an urging toward fearlessness, truth-telling, and embracing that whole beautiful, messy, often uncomfortable process of creating something resonant.
I wonder, what story might you write if you gave yourself the same permission? Maybe it’s time to find out.
(Amazon Affiliate Link)