Stephen King is an American writer who has become a true symbol of his time. Millions are read in his books, his stories form the basis of films, series and comics, creativity inspires thousands of other authors.
A distinctive feature of King's worlds is the creatures that inhabit them. The main characters and the main antagonists are not monsters, but people who demonstrate the darkest depths of their souls.
The path of the writer to the pinnacle of fame was long and not easy. In his autobiography, he said that he drove a nail in the house, which hung all the refusals to publish his works. And a decent pile of them accumulated.
But King achieved his goal: he not only began to earn his bread 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've put together 10 tips for a budding 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 experts will notice the mistake, the rest will be read out by your story.
One cannot deceive the reader — in pleasure. The best thing a writer can do is write about what is close and interesting to him.
The tortured work may claim the title of high literature, but reading it will be the same torture.
«If you can do it for fun- says Stephen King, - you can do it for ages».
It is not surprising that the writer is so prolific and continues to delight fans with new books.
9. Do not get stuck on grammar
King does not claim that the text should be illiterate. Pity the editor in the end! And for young or novice authors, a text full of grammatical errors will be a sentence for their writing career.
But if you focus solely on grammar, think each time, put a comma or not, you can miss something much more important - the very spirit of history.
King knows a lot about atmospheric. Therefore, it is worth writing, forgetting everything, and in order to bring grammar and style in order, there are corrections.
8. You will not be full of seminars alone
Seminars and master classes are not always bad. Some of them are conducted by recognized professionals who really have something to learn.
But if we look at the history of literature, we will find that the brightest authors did without them. John Tolkien wrote the first work in the hospital, Charles Dickens worked on the production of wax, Jack London caught oysters and was a sailor, and Stephen King worked in the laundry room, and wrote the first works at night.
Therefore, King has every right to argue that this is not the theory, although some knowledge will facilitate the path to fame. The main thing is to read a lot.
7. Read constantly
So, if you study at seminars - the idea is not always successful, then who to study from? Those who have achieved success in the writing field, of course! Famous and not very authors.
Stephen King advises you to constantly write, and to read in your free time from writing. Such a strategy has no minuses: books tell interesting stories, transfer to the past, future, and even other worlds, show a clear example of how to build a narrative, how to reveal heroes and plot.
In addition, while reading, knowledge of grammar is pumped, 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 flaws in 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 any writer is faced with a situation where the book stops and does not want to go any further. For this case, one more advice from Stephen King.
Once the writer gave an interview on the radio, and the presenter asked a question how he writes. To which King replied: "One word at a time". It seemed that the presenter was discouraged, he clearly did not expect such an answer and tried to understand if the writer was joking. But King was not joking.
He claims that it works, sits down, and writes one word at a time. It is not so important what you write: a miniature, a story, a saga in three volumes, in fact you work that way, by the word every time.
Ancient wisdom just to put one foot in front of the other never loses relevance.
5. Take a break
Psychologists advise anyone who works at a computer to take a break every twenty minutes, to let their eyes and thoughts rest.
But Stephen King, in his advice, has in mind another thing: when the story is ready, you should not immediately take up the changes. Put the manuscript on the table, let it “lay 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 can catch numerous "fleas" and fix errors, which greatly facilitate the work of the editor.
4. Be prepared for failure
Art is a vague and subjective concept, inherent only to man. That is why everyone perceives creativity differently.
Stephen King once compared creativity with trying to cross the Atlantic Ocean in his own bathroom. The idea to create something gives rise to the same doubts in one's own strengths as the navigation in the bathroom.
But self-doubt is one thing, and when others doubt your strength, it’s completely different. And the writer speaks of criticism frankly and without embellishment: someone will definitely not like your work. This is a given, and if it scares you, it is better not to meddle in the world of literature, but to write on the table or for friends.
King himself has put together a collection of refusals to print his works, and there are 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 how to describe the environment and atmosphere while playing a game with the reader. "Description is born in the imagination of the writer- King believes, - but should end in the imagination of the reader».
In other words, the author needs to present a picture, to describe it as colorful and even as possible, but not enough for the reader to have room for 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 to develop the plot and enrich it, and not become an empty demonstration of knowledge.
2. Heroes come first
The plot, description, atmosphere - this is all wonderful, very important and for this we love so many books. But this is not the main thing. The basis is heroes. They, or rather, their path and changes should be in the spotlight.
Stephen King is sure that the main thing in a good story is the characters. It is the heroes who push the plot, their fates catch and make you worry. Whatever a major event a book may be, without people it will seem empty.
1. Turn to your experience
The key to a good story is literally under your nose: in your own memory. No dreamer can make up a story better than tosses life.
One has only to be a little more careful, take the idea in imaginary hands, mash it, twist it, and you get a great idea.
King claims that you can write about anything, and then add to your writing your personal experience and knowledge, and this will breathe life into history. 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 considering before devoting a 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 is between the writers who published their books and many of those who did not succeed: some brought the matter to an end, while others did not.