Could these thoughts be original, or maybe I just read that somewhere

It has been a while since I read King's book "A Memoir of the Craft - On Writing". I like the note in the inside flap of the cover,

"If you don't have the time to read,

you don't have the time or the tools to write."

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When I read this I figure I ought to be a better writer if for no other reason that that I have found a lot of time to read. I would agree that the more that I read the more I want to and when I give some thought to "reading" it leaves me with some questions about why it helps one to "write". The easy example would be to pause here and mention why reading is important and to draw on a book by Harold Bloom titled "How to read and Why?" and mention the quote from the book that sort of ties in here. Bloom answered he question by saying:

Why Read, "Because it Matters".

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So now that I have practiced what King suggests, drawing on my reading to write this, I still wonder where one finds an "original thought".

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Do "original thoughts" exist? That is an interesting question and might be worth some focused writing. I don't see any original thoughts in the politics of the day or our times in general. The news doesn't bring original thoughts to focus but the news can and does seem to make people think that it is all new. Original and unique problems they have brought to our attention. Guess that is good writing. Guess we should be saying thank you. Drawing from the old and making it sound different pretending it is original. Guess Fox News and CNN, and any thing titled news, is a good example of why both the statement from King above and from Bloom are both true. No on second thought it probably has more to do with King comment than Bloom's. The fact that I found something to write about from Bloom illustrates the point. Using the statement is of more value than the statement itself. Finding a comment on "What Matters" is after all just a way to be creative, or pretend to be, rather than finding what does matter.

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Another conclusion from all of this might be that the news probably doesn't matter as much as what you have spent your life filling your mind with. King seems to be implying just that. Of course I am putting some words in his mouth here. He suggests you can not write, or I would suggest be creative in your writing or thoughts, or hope to find something original, without reading or looking at what already was presented as original. His point suggests that compared to having read about something the flip side would be turning on the news and being sold on the originality of the completely un original.