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Stephen King is an American writer who has become a true symbol of his time. His books are read by millions, his stories form the basis of films, serials and comics, his work inspires thousands of other authors.
A distinctive feature of King’s worlds are the creatures that inhabit them. The main characters and main antagonists are not monsters, but people who demonstrate the darkest depths of their souls.
The writer’s path to the top of fame was long and not easy. In his autobiography, he said that he drove a nail in the house, on which he hung all the refusals to publish his works. And they accumulated a decent pile.
But King got his way: he not only began to earn a living by writing, but also became an example to follow. Many are interested in what is the secret of his success, and the master is happy to share some tips.
We have collected 10 tips for an aspiring writer from Stephen King.
10 Write for yourself
Readers are different. They are not all versed in politics, sports, history, fencing and other disciplines. Sometimes you can make omissions in one area or another, and rare connoisseurs will notice the mistake, while the rest will be read out by your story.
The reader cannot be deceived in one thing – in pleasure. The best thing a writer can do is to write about what is close and interesting to him.
A tortured work, perhaps, will claim the title of high literature, but reading it will be the same torture.
«If you can do it for funStephen King says you can do this forever».
It is not surprising that the writer is so prolific and continues to delight fans with new books.
9. Don’t focus on grammar
King does not claim that the text must be illiterate. Have pity on the editor, after all! And for young or novice authors, a text full of grammatical errors will be a death sentence for their writing career.
But if you focus solely on grammar, thinking each time whether to put a comma or not, you can miss something much more important – the very spirit of the story.
Already King knows a lot about atmospherics. Therefore, it is worth writing, forgetting about everything, and in order to put the grammar and style in order, there are edits.
8. You won’t be fed up with seminars alone
Seminars and master classes are not always bad. Some of them are conducted by recognized professionals who really have a lot to learn.
But if we look at the history of literature, we find that the most brilliant authors have done without them. John Tolkien wrote the first work in a hospital, Charles Dickens worked in the production of wax, Jack London caught oysters and was a sailor, and Stephen King worked in a laundry, and wrote the first works at night.
Therefore, King has every right to say that it is not a matter of theory, although some knowledge will ease the path to writing glory. The main thing is to read a lot.
7. Read constantly
So, if learning from seminars is not always a good idea, then who can you learn from? For those who have achieved success in the writing field, of course! From well-known and not so famous authors.
Stephen King advises to constantly write, and read in his free time from writing. Such a strategy has no disadvantages: books tell interesting stories, take you to the past, future, and even other worlds, show a good example of how to build a story, how to reveal characters and lead a plot.
In addition, while reading, knowledge of grammar is pumped over, the very case when I know how to do it right, but I don’t know why.
And there will always be something to discuss with friends or on a date. There are no downsides to this King’s advice.
6. Write one word at a time
Any creative person (and not creative, to be honest) sooner or later faces hopeless laziness and lack of inspiration.
Almost every writer is faced with a situation where the book stalls and does not want to go any further. Here is another piece of advice from Stephen King.
Once the writer was giving an interview on the radio, and the presenter asked how he writes. To which King replied:One word at a time“. It seemed that the host was discouraged, he clearly did not expect such an answer and was trying to understand if the writer was joking. But King wasn’t kidding.
He claims that this is how he works, sits down, and writes one word at a time. It doesn’t matter what you write: a miniature, a story, a saga in three volumes, in fact you work exactly like this, one word each time.
The old adage of simply putting one foot in front of the other never goes out of style.
5. Take a break
Psychologists advise anyone who works at a computer to take a break every twenty minutes, to allow their eyes and thoughts to rest.
But Stephen King has something else in mind in his advice: when the story is ready, you should not immediately take on the edits. Put the manuscript on the table, let it “lie down” for a week, two or a month.
Take a break from her. And when you return to the text, you will look at it with different eyes. You will have a chance to notice inconsistencies, plot holes, annoying nonsense, you will be able to catch numerous “fleas” and correct errors, which will greatly facilitate the work of the editor.
4. Get ready for failure
Art is a vague and subjective concept, inherent only to man. That is why creativity is perceived differently by everyone.
Stephen King once compared creativity to trying to cross the Atlantic Ocean in your own bathroom. The idea of creating something generates as much self-doubt as sailing in the bathroom.
But self-doubt is one thing, and when others doubt your abilities, it’s quite another. And the writer speaks frankly and without embellishment about criticism: someone will definitely not like your work. This is a given, and if it scares you, it’s better not to meddle in the world of literature at all, but write at the table or for friends.
King himself has collected a whole collection of refusals to publish his works, and even more critics, and he knows what he is talking about.
His books are hated as much as they are loved, and he just does what he loves and advises you to do the same, accepting the fact that not everyone will like your work.
3. Learn to create descriptions
A sheet of paper is the writer’s easel, the keyboard is his brush. Even lines of letters are the most beautiful and most terrible landscapes.
Stephen King advises learning to describe the environment and atmosphere while playing a game with the reader. “The description is born in the imagination of the writerKing says, but must end in the imagination of the reader».
In other words, the author needs to present a picture, describe it as colorfully and evenly as possible, but not enough to leave room for the reader’s imagination.
But King adds that you need to remember that you are not in a lecture. There is no need to load the reader with unnecessary details and details, everything should serve the development of the plot and enrich it, and not become an empty demonstration of knowledge.
2. Heroes first
The plot, description, atmosphere – it’s all great, very important, and for this we love so many books. But this is not the main thing. The foundation is heroes. It is they, or rather, their path and changes, that should be the focus of attention.
Stephen King is sure that the main thing in a good story is the characters. It is the characters who push the plot, their fates catch and make you worry. No matter how big an event the book is about, without people it will seem empty.
1. Refer to your experience
The key to a good story is right under your nose: in your own memory. No dreamer is able to come up with a better story than life throws up.
You just have to be a little more careful, take the idea into imaginary hands, crumple it, tweak it, and you will get a great idea.
King argues that you can write about anything, and then add your own personal experience and knowledge to what is written, and this will breathe life into the story. It is worth applying your own experience in friendship, relationships, love, family, work (especially work, the writer notes), and this will only benefit the work.
But it is worth thinking before devoting the novel to the boring everyday life of a proctologist. But if this proctologist has a strange patient … Well, you understand.
The main secret of any writer is hard work. The only difference between writers who have published their books and many of those who haven’t is that some get it right and some don’t.