People will actually look at a writer and wonder about their sanity if they ever admit to not remembering what they’ve written. Of course, in Stephen King’s case, this was due to a lot of cocaine and alcohol, which is easier to explain as he used to get blackout drunk before he sobered up. Thankfully he’s been on the wagon for quite some time now and has been enjoying his life, though some folks do believe that he completed his best work when he was under the influence. The downside of this of course is that had he continued down such a road it’s likely that he wouldn’t be around today, and we would be lamenting the loss of an author that was taken before his time. It’s very true that being under the influence can allow a writer to create a truly inspired piece of work, but unfortunately, it’s also possible that they won’t remember what they’ve done once they sober up. The fact that Cujo still managed to become one of the greatest stories that King has ever written is amazing in a way, but it’s a story that he still doesn’t recollect when it comes to the writing process. At the time he was battling his own demons, and it’s very likely that he was running on autopilot, which is to say that King’s writing when he’s not even at the helm is inspired, as many writers simply could not duplicate this process if they tried.
But it is possible to write in a type of fugue state that somehow steals away the memory of writing. In some ways, it feels as though entire chunks of time have been lost, though upon waking one realizes that their mind and body were still active and still creating something that they have no memory of. This type of fugue state is quite common among writes to be realistic, as many people will enter this state without even realizing it and will only ‘wake up’ when their body finally recognizes that its biological needs have not been met and are the point where something must be done. Believe it or not, some people welcome these states, as it allows them to continue working while not worrying so much about matters that might get in the way of their writing, while others find it disconcerting to think that their mind can slip in such a way and simply take over while the rest of their body simply follows along. Having slipped into a fugue state many times while writing I can state with some authority that it can be an interesting or disturbing experience depending on how it occurs, when, and how long it lasts. To think that an entire book could be written in such a state however does indicate that the writer was likely keeping themselves in such a state on purpose or by some type of design.
At one time King did have a serious problem with substance abuse, though his reasons might not be fully accepted by everyone. Addiction is a monster worse than anything that King has ever created, largely because once it has its talons into a person it is nearly impossible for some to rid themselves of fully. And yet, for all that, addiction is a means to an outlet as well, since it was stated at one time in his drunken state that he would express a desire to harm his family. His characters were an outlet for this unnamed rage, and his stories were the vehicle used to convey the frustration and pain he was in, though this made them no less terrifying. There are times when a writer will actually question their own reality and what separates the world they know from the world they create, and it’s likely that King did just this at one point and time, though when it came to writing, his outlet, he managed to at least put the worst of it on the page instead of allowing it to flow in another direction that would have been far more disastrous. But if that’s the case then one has to wonder just what was going on during the writing of Cujo that would inspire his mind to flesh out the story of a demonic canine that, in truth, was little more than an unwitting victim of fate and circumstance that was transformed into an engine of destruction that would become known as one of the most terrifying stories to ever grace the bookshelves.
Mr. King has been clean and sober for years now, but the memories of creating Cujo have continued to elude him. Maybe it’s for the best, as this sounds as though it was an extremely dark time in his life. Sometimes the shadows are best left as they are, undisturbed and comfortably settled.
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