Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
"What you need to remember is that there’s a difference between lecturing about what you know and using it to enrich the story. The latter is good. The former is not."
79 Quotes
"What you need to remember is that there’s a difference between lecturing about what you know and using it to enrich the story. The latter is good. The former is not."
Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
"It was bad, but what in high school is not? At the time we're stuck in it, like hostages locked in a Turkish bath, high school seems like the most serious business in the world to just about all of us. It's not until the second or third class reunion that we start realizing how absurd the whole thing was."
Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
"We see her go through dangerous mood-swings, but I tried never to come right out and say "Annie was depressed and possibly suicidal that day" or "Annie seemed particularly happy that day."If I have to tell you, I lose. If, on the other hand, I can show you a silent, dirty-haired woman who compulsively gobbles cake and candy, then have you draw the conclusion that Annie is in the depressive part of a manic-depressive cycle, I win."
Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
"I'm convinced that fear is at the root of most bad writing. If one is writing for one's own pleasure, that fear may be mild — timidity is the word I've used here. If, however, one is working under deadline — a school paper, a newspaper article, the SAT writing sample — that fear may be intense."
Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times, shame on both of us."
Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
"There were times . . . when it occurred to me that I was repeating my mother's life. Usually this thought struck me as funny. But if I happened to be tired, or if there were extra bills to pay and no money to pay them with, it seemed awful. I'd think 'This isn't the way our lives are supposed to be going.' Then I'd think 'Half the world has the same idea."
Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
"There is a muse, but he’s not going to come fluttering down into your writing room and scatter creative fairy-dust all over your typewriter or computer station. He lives in the ground. He’s a basement guy. You have to descend to his level, and once you get down there you have to furnish an apartment for him to live in. You have to do all the grunt labor, in other words, while the muse sits and smokes cigars and admires his bowling trophies and pretends to ignore you."
Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
"At its most basic we are only discussing a learned skill, but do we not agree that sometimes the most basic skills can create things far beyond our expectations? We are talking about tools and carpentry, about words and style...but as we move along, you'd do well to remember that we are also talking about magic."
Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
"Only God gets it right the first time and only a slob says, "Oh well, let it go, that's what copyeditors are for."
Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
"And, instead of pelting these babbling idiots with their own freshly toasted marshmallows, everyone else sitting around the fire is often nodding and smiling and looking solemny thoughtful."
Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
"Writing isn't about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friends. In the end it's about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life as well. It's about getting up, getting well, and getting over. Getting happy, okay? Getting happy. ...this book...is a permission slip: you can, you should, and if you're brave enough to start, you will. Writing is magic, as much the water of life as any other creative art. The water is free. So drink. Drink and be filled up."
Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
"The object of fiction isn't grammatical correctness but to make the reader welcome and then tell a story... Writing is seduction. Good talk is part of seduction."
Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
"Your stuff starts out being just for you, in other words, but then it goes out. Once you know what the story is and get it right - as right as you can, anyway - it belongs to anyone who wants to read it. Or criticize it. If you're very lucky...more will want to do the former than the latter."
Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
"For years I dreamed of having the sort of massive oak slab that would dominate a room..."
Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
"It's hard for me to believe that people who read very little (or not at all in some cases) should presume to write and expect people to like what they have written."
Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
"Can I be blunt on this subject? If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that."
Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
"If you intend to write as truthfully as you can, your days as a member of polite society are numbered."
Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
"The most important things to remember about back story are that (a) everyone has a history and (b) most of it isn’t very interesting."
Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
"You try to tell yourself that you've been lucky, most incredibly lucky, and usually that works because it's true. Sometimes it doesn't work, that's all. Then you cry."
Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
"For me writing has always been best when it's intimate, as sexy as skin on skin."
Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
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