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Love him or hate him, what Stephen King has to say is worth reading

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JRTomlin:
One interesting quote:

"I feel that a first draft should take about four months, but that’s me. And I go over my work obsessively."

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/sep/07/stephen-king-interview-the-institute?fbclid=IwAR3HYzgs6tm3erPJHOkrcd5tjLJl9JmtKx4JMsjF1FAmBz4I2ShmxWkjuMQ

She-la-te-da:
I think he should do what works for him, and others should do the same. Don't get me wrong, I love reading his work (except for that present tense stuff), but not everyone can be creative in the same way. It can take years to find out how we can best get the story down, with lots of false starts.

JRTomlin:
If you read the article, you would discover that is what he says.

The Bass Bagwhan:
Maybe it's the way the article has been written and edited, but from the brevity of SK's answers and the slightly dismissive tone, you get a sense that he isn't enjoying the interview. Perhaps, after all these years, SK doesn't like his credibility still being questioned.

I think it's interesting, but largely irrelevant, how successful authors write. With the luxury of a large bank account, your craft being truly a full-time job, and never a question over whether or not the next book will sell a squillion — let alone be published — the mindset and work ethic is on another level.

But I'd like to give it a try...

JRTomlin:
He sure didn't start out that way. Early on, he struggled as much as the rest of us and his success is deserved. His description in On Writing of his pretty desperate struggles early on when a royalty check meant being able to buy baby medicine (the pink stuff as he called it) really resonated with me when I was starting out.

I don't think short answers are necessarily dismissive, but that article wasn't intended as a 'how to' article. I just thought he had some interesting things to say. Even On Writing isn't particularly a 'how to write' book so much as a book on how to survive being a writer. He is grimly honest about his struggle with addiction in that as well.

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