Love him or hate him you can’t deny Stephen King has made a massive impact both on the world of writing and the world of reading. He has gone from strength to strength to become one of the world’s best paid authors, beginning his monumental run of bestsellers with the publication of Carrie in 1973. 
In 2010 he ranked third on the Forbes highest paid author list, earning some thirty-four million dollars for the year. (James Patterson’s factory production line had an impact on Stephen’s ranking as did Stephanie Meyer’s blood sucking quartet).
Over the years he has written a lot of words. Lets not try to do a calculation on how many. Let’s just agree that it’s a lot more than most of us would produce in ten lifetimes. Some of those words have related directly to the craft of writing. Others have simply inspired us to think a little more deeply about life.
Here’s a collection of ten of those quotes:
"Life isn't a support system for art. It's the other way around."
I knew a guy who was a butcher who would put down paintings because they didn’t look like a landscape or a portrait. I held my tongue, but there’s something I really should have told him. There have been and there will continue to be plenty of butchers, but there will only ever be one Picasso. I know what I'd rather be.
"If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot."
If you’re not reading, then you’re not going to be a writer. Read things you don’t normally read. Read things you don’t want to read. Be open minded enough to look at work others don’t respect. Have you ever read a romance novel? Read one. Never read a horror story? Pick one up and read it. A western? Give it a shot.
"Good books don't give up all their secrets at once."
What is the novel about? What is it really about? And what is it really, really about? These are the questions that we can ask ourselves when we’re reading and also when we’re writing.
"Write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open."
It’s head down, bum up during the creative process. Go with the flow. Let the inspiration work its magic. Later when it’s all down on paper it’s time to turn on the analytical parts of the brain and examine what’s good and what’s, well…that’s what the backspace key is for.
"Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader’s."
Writing is communication. The writer transmits. The reader receives. Keep the line free of interference.
"Get busy living or get busy dying."
This wonderful line is from the Shawshank Redemption. It doesn’t just apply to life behind bars. It applies to every minute of every day. Sometimes we have to remind ourselves that life isn’t a practice run. This is it. Do it or don’t. Either way we’re going to end up as dust like everyone else has before us.
"Remember, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies."
There’s a lot of hoping involved in becoming a writer. Hoping the story will turn out how we want it. Hoping someone will publish it. Hoping our friends, family and fans will like it. It’s all hope, but then, isn’t everything?
"Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work."
If all it took was talent then there would be a lot more books. Unfortunately it also takes hard work and that’s what separates the writer from the dreamer. Are you a writer? Or are you a dreamer?
“Now comes the big question: What are you going to write about? And the equally big answer: Anything you damn well want. "
What a beautiful dilemma with which to be faced. The blank page. Upon it lies a long road – and you’re paving it. One brick at a time.
"The most important things are the hardest to say. They are the things you get ashamed of, because words diminish them -- words shrink things that seemed limitless when they were in your head to no more than living size when they're brought out. But it's more than that, isn't it? The most important things lie too close to wherever your secret heart is buried, like landmarks to a treasure your enemies would love to steal away. And you may make revelations that cost you dearly only to have people look at you in a funny way, not understanding what you've said at all, or why you thought it was so important that you almost cried while you were saying it. That's the worst, I think. When the secret stays locked within not for want of a teller but for want of an understanding ear."
Which leaves me lost for words, which is why he’s Stephen King and I’m not.
That’s all from me for now.
Keep writing!
Darrell.
This article was first published on The Paul Dorset Daily. via The Publishing Talk Daily.
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