Stephen King treats writing as his job and put his 8 hours in the office every weekday.
Writing is Stephen King's job
Stephen King treats writing as his job and put his 8 hours in the office every weekday.
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He makes sure that every day he "works" for at least 8 hours. He usually spends 4 hours reading and 4 hours writing. Even if he doesn't like what he is writing or where the story goes, he puts it down on paper and sets it aside. Sometimes he just turns out a few pages that he doesn't like and never uses. Sometimes he turns out a full novel that may or may not be published. And sometimes, when he is feeling particularly inspired, he turns out what he considers his greatest works, like The Stand, Insomniac, and the 7 book Dark Tower series, featuring Roland, the Gunslinger.
ReplyDeleteNow I know we are not even in the same league as him, (or Bill Simmons, or other professional writers) but what do you think of forcing ourselves to continually add comments?
Where did you read that stuff about Stephen King? That is fascinating and brilliant. I'm a big fan of his... I thought the Dark Tower series was a masterpiece and is very underrated...
ReplyDeleteI like the thought of forcing ourselves to add comments. I think it is a good idea, but if you and I are in then it is on us, as individuals, to continue to write. What should our goal be? At least one comment per post? At least one new post a day?
I was thinking that if we wanted to be super ambitious, if you open a Post to read the comments, and your comment is not the last comment (meaning someone added a comment after you) then you have to add something else.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that we may not think of anything clever. On the other hand, if we keep waiting to think of something clever, then the conversation just seems to die, like the better at basketball, no angle, artest never punched anyone, and health care reform.
It's not just the conversation dying... it's that once it drops off the top post, it seems like a cold discussion. To revive a healthcare discussion would take a new post and maybe a new article or something to add some new dimensions, you know?
ReplyDeleteWhere did you read that Stephen King anecdote?
My dad, an even bigger King fan, passed it on to me. I believe he got it from King's "On Writing". I haven't read it yet.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/Writing-Stephen-King/dp/0743455967
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Writing
This is better. I may have found it in researching The Shawshank Redemption, my favorite movie, was based on a short story by Stephen King.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.shawshankredemption.net/people/stephen-king.html
From the same site...why I don't like PETA and the like...
ReplyDelete"All scenes containing Brook’s crow were monitored by the American Humane Association. The American Humane Association objected to the feeding of a live maggot to the crow during a scene, as they considered it cruel to the maggot. A maggot that had died from natural causes was found to complete the scene."
A MAGGOT THAT DIED OF NATURAL CAUSES?!?!?!
OH MY GOD!!! Hahahaha a maggot that died of natural casuses... Wow that is completely batshit effing loco... I almost want to make that its own post.
ReplyDeletePETA and the American Human Association are completely worthless if this is what they are wasting our time on... there are so many important issues all of us are facing (see healtchare post), and who gives a damn if a maggot or a crow or whatever dies. We cannot treat these groups as valid, it is to the detriment of us all.
Reminds me of a post I want to make, but I'll have to cull some quotes from some CS Lewis essays before I do so.
Also, this story made me order On Writing from Amazon immediately. I am excited to read it.
ReplyDeleteYou do realize that the story about the maggot that died of natural causes, was from a site talking about the movie Shawshank Redemption, NOT Stephen King's On Writing, right?
ReplyDeleteYeah sorry, I meant your original post is what made me want to order On Writing. That is really, really good writing advice.
ReplyDeleteI have heard it recommended before and figure it is time to read it.