To be a writer:
·
"If you want to be a writer, you must do two
things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There's no way
around these two things that I'm aware of, no shortcut . . . I'm a slow reader,
but I usually get through seventy or eighty books a year. . . You cannot hope
to sweep someone else away by the force of your writing until it has been done
to you."
·
Reading a lot helps you absorb a variety of writings
styles, which you will blend together as you develop your own voice. It tells
you what's been done and what hasn't, what's fresh and new, and what's a stale
cliché (uschnuté klišé).
·
"Every book you pick up has its own lesson or
lessons, and quite often the bad books have more to teach than the good
ones." They show you what not to do.
·
How much to write varies from one writer to another,
but Stephen King recommends four to six hours every day. You might write just
seven words in that time (Stephen typically finishes ten pages), but at least
you sat there, thinking about your story. "If I don't write every day, the
characters begin to stale off in my mind––they begin to seem like
characters instead of real people . . . The work starts to feel like
work."
To tell a story:
·
"The object of fiction isn't grammatical
correctness but to make the reader welcome and then tell a story . . . to make
him/her forget, whenever possible, that he/she is reading a story at all."
·
"Book-buyers aren't attracted, by and large, by
the literary merits of a novel; book-buyers want a good story to take with them
on the airplane, something that will first fascinate them, then pull them in
and keep them turning the pages."
·
"I don't believe a story or novel should be
allowed outside the door . . . unless you feel confident that it's reasonably
reader-friendly. You can't please all of the readers all of the time; you can't
please even some of the readers all of the time, but you really ought to
try to please at least some of the readers some of the time."
·
A common piece of writing advice is to "write what
you know." Stephen King says, "interpret this as broadly and
inclusively as possible . . . The heart also knows things, and so does the
imagination."
·
Fiction might not be true, but it must be honest. Part
of truth telling is choosing to write about what you love, not what you think
will sell. If you love sci-fi, write sci-fi. If you love mysteries, write
mysteries. If you hate love stories but have an idea you think could be
popular, tell it to someone who loves writing love stories.
·
To write honestly, first write what you love, then
"blend in your own personal knowledge of life, friendship, relationships,
sex, and work. Especially work. People love to read about work. God knows why,
but they do." This is what brings your story to life. A great example is The
Firm, by John Grisham. It's about a young lawyer who takes a job for the
mafia, and finds himself trapped. Before writing it, John worked as a lawyer
and saw these kinds of things in real life.
·
Avoid repeating yourself. Fear is at the root of most
bad writing. The reader is like a man trying to walk through quicksand. The
writer's job is to throw him a rope––so he doesn't get stuck in all those
words. He just needs a rope, but the timid writer will throw 90 kilos of steel
cable––so much explanation that it kills the story.
· Don't get caught up on names & titles. Just put
down what feels natural, knowing you can change it later.
On Inspiration:
"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 . . . 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. Do you think this is fair? I think
it's fair . . . It's right that you should do all the work and burn all the
midnight oil, because the guy with the cigar and the little wings has got a bag
of magic. There's stuff in there that can change your life. Believe me, I
know."
On Talent:
"When you find something at which you are talented, you
do it (whatever it is) until your fingers bleed or your eyes are ready
to fall out of your head. Even when no one is listening (or reading, or
watching), every outing is a bravura performance, because you as the creator
are happy . . . four to six hours a day, every day––will not seem strenuous if
you really enjoy doing these things."
On Writer's Block:
Sometimes you'll get to a point in a story where you don't
know what will happen next. The common reaction is to panic, "I'm
losing my book! Ah shit, five hundred pages and I'm losing my book! Condition
red! CONDITION RED!!" The only solution is to keep thinking about it
day after day until a solution comes. "If there is any one thing I love
about writing more than the rest, it's that sudden flash of insight when you
see how everything connects. I have heard it called "thinking above the
curve" and it's that; I've heard it called "the over-logic," and
it's that too."
On Where to Write:
The space can be humble . . . and it really needs only one
thing: "a door which you are willing to shut." There should be no
phone, no TV, no distractions. If there's a window, draw the curtains. Stephen
King plays music while writing, but only to tune out the sounds of the world
around him.
On Writer's Retreats & Workshops:
·
The point of a writing retreat is to work, free from
interruptions. But Stephen King says those interruptions can actually help.
"It is, after all, the dab of grit that seeps into an oyster's shell that
makes the pearl, not pearl-making seminars with other oysters."
·
These workshops can put too much pressure on a writer.
"When, on the other hand, making sure the kid gets to his baseball camp on
time is every bit as important as your work in progress, there's a lot less
pressure to produce."
· The critiques usually aren't helpful because they're
vague, "I love the feeling of your story," and because you haven't
finished your first draft yet, so you're not ready to consider the themes,
symbols, etc. of your work.
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