While growing up, King develops as a writer and a person through his early traumatic experiences. When he is very young, King deals with medical issues that are so severe that for most of the first grade, he was “either in bed or housebound” (27). It’s during this time at home that he writes stories in order to fill up the hours. King also endures severe pain as a young child. He repeatedly visits the ear doctor to get his ears drained, and “the puncturing of [his] ear drum was pain beyond the world” (24). Dealing with this sort of repeated pain as a young child shapes his character and forms his imagination as a writer.

In addition to his physical issues, King reckons with other outside forces that test and shape his character. Nellie moves the family around frequently, and King must adapt to his changing circumstances. The family also struggles to pay their bills, which forces King to develop character and work ethic, and also directly influences his story “Happy Stamps.” Once King does begin to write with regularity, he deals with criticism. His teachers ask him why he insists on writing “junk” (50). King learns to cope with all of these hardships and continue writing.