Broom in the corner; /
cobwebs cling to the handle. /
Spring cleaning begins.
Clinging to the handle.
Stephen King on writing
Stephen King Used These 8 Writing Strategies to Sell 350 Million Books
The best-selling novelist shares his secrets to selling so many books.
by Glenn Leibowitz
Stephen King is one of the most prolific and commercially successful authors of the past half century, with more than 70 books of horror, science fiction, and fantasy to his name. Estimates put the total sales of his books at between 300 and 350 million copies.
Author offers advice.
16 years ago, King shared everything he knows about writing in a book that instantly became a bestseller: On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. Part memoir, part codification of his best writing strategies, the book has become a classic among writers.
I discovered – and devoured – it a dozen years ago, when I was trying to take my writing to the next level. I recommend it to all of my writer friends.
You don’t have to be a fan of King’s writing to appreciate the wisdom within the pages of this book. Nor do you have to be a novelist: The book has highly practical strategies that writers of nonfiction can immediately apply to their writing.
Here are eight writing strategies King shares that have helped him sell 350 million books:
1. Tell the truth.
“Now comes the big question: What are you going to write about? And the equally big answer: Anything you damn well want. Anything at all… as long as you tell the truth… Write what you like, then imbue it with life and make it unique by blending in your own personal knowledge of life, friendship, relationships, sex, and work… What you know makes you unique in some other way. Be brave.”
2. Don’t use big words when small ones work.
“One of the really bad things you can do to your writing is to dress up the vocabulary, looking for long words because you’re maybe a little bit ashamed of your short ones. This is like dressing up your household pet in evening clothes.”
3. Use single-sentence paragraphs.
“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.
The single-sentence paragraph more closely resembles talk than writing, and that’s good. Writing is seduction. Good talk is part of seduction. If not so, why do so many couples who start the evening at dinner wind up in bed?”
4. Write for your Ideal Reader.
“Someone – I can’t remember who, for the life of me – once wrote that all novels are really letters aimed at one person. As it happens, I believe this.
I think that every novelist has a single ideal reader; that at various points during the composition of a story, the writer is thinking, ‘I wonder what he/she will think when he/she reads this part?’ For me that first reader is my wife, Tabitha… Call that one person you write for Ideal Reader.”
5. Read a lot.
“Reading is the creative center of a writer’s life. I take a book with me everywhere I go, and find there are all sorts of opportunities to dip in. The trick is to teach yourself to read in small sips as well as in long swallows. Waiting rooms were made for books – of course! But so are theater lobbies before the show, long and boring checkout lines, and everyone’s favorite, the john.”
6. Write one word at a time.
“In an early interview (this was to promote Carrie, I think), a radio talk-show host asked me how I wrote. My reply – ’One word at a time’– seemingly left him without a reply. I think he was trying to decide whether or not I was joking. I wasn’t. In the end, it’s always that simple.”
7. Write every day.
“The truth is that when I’m writing, I write every day, workaholic dweeb or not. That includes Christmas, the Fourth, and my birthday (at my age you try to ignore your goddam birthday anyway)… When I’m writing, it’s all the playground, and the worst three hours I ever spent there were still pretty damned good.”
8. Write for the joy of it.
“Yes, I’ve made a great deal of dough from my fiction, but I never set a single word down on paper with the thought of being paid for it… Maybe it paid off the mortgage on the house and got the kids through college, but those things were on the side – I did it for the buzz. I did it for the pure joy of the thing. And if you can do it for joy, you can do it forever.”
Filed under 2016, Uncategorized, writing tip, Writing Tip Wednesday
cARtOONSdAY: “cASE lOGIC 7: “bY tHE bOOK”
The answer is in the book, except where to find it.
Filed under 2016, cartoon by author, CarToonsday
Monday morning writing joke: “Oasis”
Three writers were crawling through the desert about to breathe their last when one of them points and gasps: “Look, an oasis.”
“Yes,” said the second writer. “I see five naked women suggesting things and urging me on.”
“I see my wife and two kids with a picnic lunch and a gallon of lemonade,” the first writer said.
They both glanced over at the third writer who was scrambling to write down every word.
“What do you see?” The first writer asks.
“I see my agent telling me to write it all down so he can get his 15 percent when he sells my unfinished memoirs and makes me rich.”
Filed under 2016, joke by author, Monday morning writing joke
How to write for the American Theater
In keeping with the theater them of the Shakespeare’s words and phrases (posted earlier), follow the flow chart. (Click on it a couple of times to enlarge to readable size.)
Words and phrases from the Bard
Words and phrases we owe to Shakespeare. Born around this time in April in 1564.
Filed under 2016, word play, words, Words to live by
“Holly’s Corner,” part 11
[Writer’s note: What began as a writing prompt — photo and first paragraph — has become at least the start of a story. I will endeavor to add short sections to it, at lest as long as there is some interest. It might be a little rough in parts, but that’s because it is coming “hot off the press,” which could be part of the fun of it. In the meantime, you are free to jump off from any part of this story thus far and write your own version. Click Holly’s Corner below to get Parts 1 – 10.]
by David E. Booker
“And you carry around a rolling pin because it is the latest in fashion accessories?”
She lowered the pin. “I don’t believe in guns.”
“The same can’t be said for threats.”
“Do you always speak your mind?”
It was a cool, rainy day down at Holly’s Corner.
“I try to. Saves me having to remember things.”
She smirked again. She was a plump-but-not-fat redhead who stood probably five-seven or so. I did my best to guess with her sitting in my one overstuffed client’s chair. She wasn’t wearing any heels, little or no makeup, and the end of her nose and her nostrils flared like the loops of a three-leaf clover. She was a strawberry blond with freckles that almost worked to make her look younger than she was.
She caught me staring. “Get an eye full.”
“Enough to describe you to the police should you point your pin at me again.”
She smiled, then laughed. The small crows’ feet at the corners of her eyes. They made her face more pleasant.
“Ooohh, my head….” Rachel leaned forward and brought her hands up to the sides of her head. The rolling pin clattered to the scuffed and marred hardwood floor. Another mark wasn’t going to be noticed.
Father Brown stepped in carrying a glass of water and what looked like a couple of aspirin. When Rachel looked up, he urged her to take them. She hesitated, and then accepted. He turned and left the room.
She looked at me. “Do you always provide your clients such service?”
“Father Brown has a knack and since you are not my client, he does it for non-clients, too.”
“’Father’?”
“Retired priest.”
She had started swallowing the aspirin, then stopped.
“He … naht … chilf … masqaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaauhhh.”
I nodded. “Yeah, that one.”
She started choking.
“I suggest-—”
Too late. She jerked forward and threw up on my rug. It was a yard sale special, so it wasn’t my favorite color or pattern, but I couldn’t afford a new one.
Father Brown rushed back into the room, bucket in hand, but Rachel had wretched her last bit of food out and onto the rug. She had a few bits of spit for the blue plastic container.
She looked up, saw him, and recoiled back in the chair, her feet swiping through the vomit.
(To be continued.)
Filed under 2016, photo by David E. Booker, Story by author
Photo finish Friday: “The kick”
Sometimes you get a kick out of life.
What do you see in this photo? Describe it.
Filed under 2016, photo by David E. Booker, Photo Finish Friday
Haiku to you Thursday: “Message scent”
Blooms in Spring’s desires. /
Companion to construction. /
Scent not of flowers.
A pot to “plant” in.
Filed under 2016, Haiku to You Thursday, poetry by author
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