How Stephen King Wrote Some of His BEST BOOKS! | Top 10 Rules
Summary
TLDRIn this insightful video, renowned author Stephen King shares his top 10 rules for success in writing. He emphasizes the joy of the writing process over the finished product, the importance of a writer's notebook for capturing ideas, and his unique approach to developing stories. King also discusses the inevitable rejections writers face and how to persevere, drawing from his own experiences and offering a candid look into his creative world.
Takeaways
- 😀 Embrace the joy of writing, even if you do it for free, but there's no harm in loving it for the money too.
- 📚 Writers often face rejection, but persistence is key to breaking through.
- ✍️ A writer's notebook can be useful, but Stephen King believes that only good ideas stick around naturally.
- 🔄 Creativity in writing is like finding new ways to cook eggs—there are always fresh approaches to familiar ideas.
- 🔥 Writing a novel is like building a campfire; characters contribute and the story grows until it becomes a bonfire.
- 📝 King doesn't plan his novels from the last line; he prefers discovering the story as he writes, unlike some other authors.
- 💡 The process of writing, not the finished product, is what King finds most enjoyable.
- 🎥 King shares his experience with his screenplay for 'The Shining' being rejected in favor of another version, showing the unpredictable nature of adaptations.
- 🗣️ Overthinking the audience's reaction can stifle creativity; King focuses on ideas he enjoys and wants to explore.
- 👻 The success of the film 'Carrie' taught King that even unexpected audiences can connect with his work in surprising ways.
Q & A
What does Stephen King believe is the best way to immortalize bad ideas?
-Stephen King believes that a writer's notebook is the best way in the world to immortalize bad ideas.
How does Stephen King describe the process of writing a novel?
-Stephen King describes writing a novel as building a little campfire on an empty dark plane, where characters come out of the dark with their own wood to add to the fire.
What is Stephen King's perspective on the idea of being a 'tortured artist'?
-Stephen King thinks that some writers draw a cloak of the 'tortured artist' around them because it can get them free drinks and sympathy, but he personally has always felt fortunate to do what he loves.
How does Stephen King feel about the process of writing novels?
-Stephen King loves the process of writing novels, stating that the fun for him isn't in the finished product but in the journey of creating it.
What is Stephen King's approach to generating new ideas for his stories?
-Stephen King believes that there are as many ideas as there are probing, talented minds to explore them, and that even common themes can be refreshed with new approaches.
How does Stephen King handle rejection in his writing career?
-Stephen King has learned to get used to rejection, stating that writers get thousands of rejection slips before they break through, and he sees it as part of the game.
What advice does Stephen King give about worrying too much about audience reception?
-Stephen King advises not to spend too much time worrying about what the audience will like, as it may prevent you from creating anything they would enjoy.
How does Stephen King describe the initial moments when he starts writing?
-Stephen King describes the first ten minutes of writing as being like smelling a dead fish or walking into a monkey house, indicating a challenging start that leads to a flow once something clicks.
What is Stephen King's view on the adaptation of his work into films and other media?
-Stephen King views adaptations as a separate process from his writing, and he doesn't get upset when his vision differs from that of filmmakers, as he sees it as part of the creative process.
What is one of Stephen King's memorable experiences with an audience reaction to one of his book adaptations?
-Stephen King recalls a screening of 'Carrie' where the audience, despite being expecting a comedy, became fully engaged and supportive of the film, showing him that his work could resonate with different audiences.
What lesson did Stephen King learn from a near-death experience that he shares in the script?
-Stephen King learned that everything is on loan and that one should pass some of it on, implying the importance of generosity and sharing success with others.
Outlines
📚 The Joy of Writing and Creative Process
Stephen King discusses his passion for writing, emphasizing that he would write even without financial gain but loves earning money from it. He highlights the importance of a writer's notebook for capturing ideas, both good and bad, and the process of refining those ideas over time. King also touches on the concept of the 'tortured artist' and rejects it, preferring to view writing as a fortunate job. He shares his approach to generating ideas, comparing it to cooking eggs in new ways and his experience with the idea for 'Under the Dome', which he initially shelved due to its complexity.
🔥 The Bonfire of Characters and Writing Experience
King uses the metaphor of a bonfire to describe the collective effort of characters in a novel, each contributing to the story's warmth and light. He contrasts his writing process with that of John Irving, who starts with the novel's last line, a method King finds unappealing. King values the journey of writing more than the finished product, seeing his books as 'dead skin' once completed. He recounts his experience with the film adaptation of 'The Shining', expressing his indifference to the changes made to his screenplay, and reflects on the evolution of book releases and the importance of not worrying about audience reception.
🎬 The Unexpected Success of 'Carrie'
In this paragraph, King recounts an anecdote about attending a screening of 'Carrie' in a predominantly African American neighborhood, expecting the audience to dislike the film due to its subject matter. Surprisingly, the audience was engaged and supportive of the film, reacting enthusiastically to its climax. King humorously describes the audience's reaction and the impact it had on him, solidifying his belief in the potential of his work to resonate with diverse audiences. He concludes with a call to action for viewers to engage with the video's content and share their thoughts on his top ten rules for success.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Tortured Artist
💡Writer's Notebook
💡Idea Generation
💡Rejection
💡Immortalize
💡Under the Dome
💡Process Over Product
💡Ideas and Obsessions
💡Escapism
💡Stewardship
Highlights
Stephen King discusses the joy of writing for both personal fulfillment and financial reward.
He humorously addresses the public's curiosity about his intelligence and the cliché questions he often receives.
King emphasizes that there are only a few good ideas in the horror genre, but they can be reinvented.
He advocates for a writer's notebook as a tool to capture and refine ideas over time.
King shares his process of developing ideas, comparing it to shaking a strainer to filter out the best ones.
He recalls the origin of 'Under the Dome', an idea he had in 1973 that took decades to write.
King describes writing a novel as building a campfire in the dark, with characters contributing to the fire.
He contrasts his writing approach with that of John Irving, who starts with the last line of a novel.
King reveals his love for the writing process over the finished product, likening old books to 'dead skin'.
He recounts his experience writing the screenplay for 'The Shining' and the subsequent rejection by Stanley Kubrick.
King advises not to worry about audience reception, as it can stifle creativity.
He shares his method of finding ideas, starting with a small spark that leads to a larger story.
King warns of the addictive nature of writing and the importance of maintaining a balance with real life.
He reflects on the financial aspect of writing, viewing all possessions as loans and advocating for generosity.
King recounts his experience attending a screening of 'Carrie' and the unexpected positive reaction from the audience.
He concludes with gratitude for his career and the opportunity to share his work with readers.
Transcripts
because I do it for free if I couldn't
do it for money but I love doing it for
money a lot of times when people come to
see me they want to see if I'm really
that how many times in your life have
you eaten eggs but there's always a new
way to fix eggs so writers notebook is
the best way in the world to immortalize
bad ideas for me the fun of writing
novels isn't in the finished product you
get thousands of rejection slips before
you break through you kind of get used
to that I usually finish a book and say
geez I don't want to say goodbye to
these people his people will say where
do you get your ideas I don't know where
I get them you know and if I did man
would I tell you you go broke
everything's on loan anyway I hear one
of them saying that's it that's it that
girl ain't never gonna be right he's an
American author of contemporary horror
science fiction and fantasy his books
have sold over 350 million copies many
of his books have been adapted into
films miniseries TV shows and comics
he's Stephen King and here his top 10
rules for success well the whole thing
about the writer who sees the job is a
burden and so they struggle along it
makes me think it was an album by a rock
artist named Todd Rundgren it was called
the ever-popular tortured artist effect
and I sometimes think that writers draw
this this cloak of the tortured artist
around them because a you can get free
drinks and the chicks love it you know
they love that tortured thing going on
but I've always thought that it was a
terrific job and I've always felt very
very fortunate blessed really to be able
to do it because I do it for free if I
couldn't do it for money but I love
doing it
money it sounds that sounds kind of
nasty doesn't I love doing it for money
a lot of times when people come to see
me they want to see if I'm really dumb
here's the thing okay a lot of times as
if you're recording all this you're
going to have to bleep it because I have
to be Who I am a lot of times you know
when I do these interviews they'll ask
you questions and they'll say what was
your childhood like and I no longer
Brooke that question I just tell the
interviewer what you want to know is
what traumatized me so badly that I
write this creepy the answer is nothing
nothing that I remember anyway but of
course I wouldn't tell you anyway
particularly in the horror genre there
are only three or four really good ideas
and we've all done them before and it's
really okay I mean like how many times
in your life have you eaten eggs but
there's always a new way to fix aches
and you know I look at it that way you
can always find a new way to do it but I
think that there are as many ideas as
there are sort of probing talented minds
to explore those ideas people will say
do you keep a notebook and the answer is
I think a writer's notebook is the best
way in the world to immortalize bad
ideas my idea about a good idea is one
that sticks around and sticks around and
sticks around it's like to me it's like
if you were to put bread crumbs in a
strainer and shake it which is what the
passage of time is for me it's like
shaking a strainer all this stuff that's
not very big and not very important just
kind of dissolves and falls out but the
good stuff stays you know the big pieces
stay I had the idea for under the dome
when I was teaching high school back in
1973 and it was just too big for me and
I was too young for it and I wrote about
25 26 pages and put it away does it see
at the beginning of this book where this
woodchuck gets cut in half when this
dome comes down over this town I had
written that part when I was in in my
early 20s and just sort of recreated it
from memory when I when I wrote the book
so the good stuff stays the best
description of writing a novel that I
ever heard it's actually in Thomas
Williams this book the hair of Harold
drew which is about a novelist trying to
write a novel and it just covers like
one or two days in this process and a
lot of things happen to him it's a
fabulous book but he says that writing a
novel is like building a little campfire
on an empty dark plane and one by one
these characters come out of the dark
and each one has a little pile of wood
and they put it on the fire and if
you're very lucky before the fire goes
out it's this big bonfire and all the
characters stand around it and warm
themselves and that's the way it's
always been for me I have a good friend
over in Vermont John Irving and John
says that she always begins a novel by
writing the last line and to me that's
like eating your dessert before you eat
the meal and I don't I everybody works a
different way and God blessed John and
he's done some wonderful work in his
lifetime and he'll probably do some more
but I could never write a book that way
the way that I think of it you know is
that fire I love that particular image
but I've also always thought of it in
terms of there's a little thread a
little red thread that goes into a hole
in the baseboard and you just start to
pull it out and you see what's on the
other end of it and sooner or later you
get there for me the fun of writing
novels isn't in the finished product
which I don't care about that much
there's a guy who is looking at my shelf
over there all the books are on the
shelf and to me those are like dead skin
the things that are that are done but I
love the process a little while later I
wrote a book called The Shining and it
was my third book
and I got contractual rights to write
the first draft screenplay for that and
I did do that and I found out later that
Stanley Kubrick who had got the rights
through Warner Brothers had already
determined that he and a lady named
Diane Johnson were going to do the
screenplay for The Shining so they
basically my screenplay went in and they
said no this won't do and then they went
on to what they really wanted to do
which was fine I wasn't angry or upset
you you're not after a while you get
thousands of rejection slips before you
break through you kind of get used to
that and it's just part of the game but
the thing is you learn you learn little
by little if you release books
differently now than you used to in that
like do you have a different definition
of what a successful book is or where on
the eve of a books release to you paint
a special kind of attention to how will
be received or how it's being reviewed I
think that if you spend too much time
worrying about what the audience is
going to like that they're not going to
like anything that you do I just look
for ideas that I really enjoy something
that I really want to live with for a
while like the story about the people
under the dome and I get into it most of
the time and then I just have a ball I
never finished a book and felt like I'm
glad that's done I usually finish a book
and say geez I don't want to say goodbye
to these people and if the people read
it feel the same way then then I'm
really happy look you know a lot of
these interviews the question that I
it's the worst is people will say where
do you get your ideas I don't know where
I get them you know and if I did man
would I tell you I mean Jesus they've
been good to me
all I know is that I sit down and I turn
on the machine and there's always that
first ten minutes it's like smelling a
dead fish or walking into a monkey house
and then something will click a little
tiny bit and that leads to something
else and it's like until it's going
faster and faster and then you hit this
kind of escape velocity you're gone the
world the normal mundane sort of stupid
world where you got to do the breakfast
dishes and you got to make the beds you
know and you got to worry about getting
the kid to the dentist all that's gone
but there's a place where you have to
walk away from it because it's so kind
of addictive they otherwise you might
just sit there and skip meals and just
being lost in that world you wouldn't
want to do that because that's sort of
the way crazy people are in institutions
you know what I'm saying
and here's a secret I learned six
summers ago buying a ditch in a ditch
beside the road covered in my own blood
and thinking that I was going to die you
go broke everything's on loan anyway
you're not an owner you're only a
steward so pass some of it on you may
not have much now but you're going to
have a lot and when you do remember the
ones who don't have anything a dime out
of every dollar Brian DePalma made a
film out of Carey and I was a very young
writer and you know I got no particular
consideration and certainly nobody sent
me a screener or set up a screening or
anything like that I don't think
screeners had been invented in 1975
that's how old I am
but anyway they had sneak previews on
Halloween night and I think 1975 and the
idea was that they would piggyback carry
on another film and you would get two
for the price of one and that way they
would get an idea of what the potential
was for the film so they were going to
they were going to do a
a screening one of these screenings in
Boston and I said to my wife let's go in
the car and go down and see what they
made on my book and she said okay so we
went down well the film was in Roxbury
which at that time it was a fairly black
suburb and it was playing with a black
at not exploitation but a black oriented
comedy called Norman is that you which
starred Redd Foxx and we were like two
little grains of salt in a pepper shaker
in that theatre and Norman is that you
was really funny and the audience was
rock and rolling and everything and I
leaned over to my wife and said what's
coming next is a film about a little
skinny white girl with menstrual
problems
and
and this audience is going to hate it
and she said god bless her I mean she
fished carry out of the trash I threw it
away and she picked it out and so she
said well why don't you wait and see
so they got they really got into it and
I was just amazed but they were like
totally on her side and you know it was
like the girls are pelting carry with
sanitary napkins and people in this
theater are yelling kill those [ __ ]
you know and stuff because in those days
they they screamed at the screen you
know they don't do it people are so
sophisticated now I'd be like don't go
up those stairs like Jamie Lee Curtis is
going to hear you'd say okay I won't go
up those stairs you know get a life so
this is the thing the end of the movie
comes and DiPalma did something that
nobody had done up to that time you
think the movie is over and Sue Snell
goes to Carrie's grave and this this
music playing it's kind of sweet and
everything see I mean this is such a
trauma that some of you are already
going over hood no because you know and
in the middle of this while she's
putting flowers on the grave all through
the movie behind my wife and me there
were these two guys that were the size
of NFL players you know they were these
great big broad shouldered strapping
guys and that arm comes out of the grave
and they scream like a couple of little
girl
and they're hugging each other and I
hear one of them saying that's it
that's it that girl ain't never gonna be
right and I thought I got to myself I
may have a future in this business thank
you so much for watching I made this
video because Shane Parks asked me to so
there's a famous entrepreneur that you
want me to profile next leave me in the
comments below and I'll see what I can
do
I'd also love to know which is Stephen
King's top ten rules resonated most with
you leave it in the comments I'll join
the discussion and my personal go on the
channel is to get to 1 million
subscribers so anything you can do to
share this video spread it I'd really
really appreciate it thank you so much
for watching
continue to believe and I'll see you
soon
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