Home American Literature Analysis of Stephen Kings Novels, By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on December 31, 2018 ( 3 ), Stephen King (born. As a blue-collar type writer, then, it should come as no surprise that he constructs his writing advice around the bluest of blue-collar metaphors: I want to suggest that to write to your best abilities, it behooves you to construct your own toolbox and then build up enough muscle so you can carry it with you. Misery, which was conceived as Bachmans book, was Kings first novel to explore the subject of fictions dangerous powers. It is mostly told in the third-person all-seeing mode. He pounded a nail into the wall and began stacking the rejection slips on it., By age sixteen, the notes had begun to turn positive, but it was still an even longer road until his major break. If you're looking for tips on writing, best-selling author Stephen King seems like a good person to listen to. With an active verb, the subject of the sentence is doing something. After Its extensive exploration of childhood, however, he took up conspicuously more mature characters, themes, and roles. The pseudonym has materialized, risen from its fictional grave literally to take Thads wife and children (twins, of course) hostage. His books have sold more than 350 million copies, and many have been adapted into films, television series, miniseries, and comic books. Although he is still thought of as having no style, actually King maintained his compelling storytellers voice (and ability to manipulate his reader emotionally) while maturing in the depth and range of his themes and characters. In the neoprimitivism of the late twentieth century, this ancient role and the old monsters have taken on a new mystique. Although some might pick up this rare exercise in non-fiction from King hoping its true subject is the author of their favorite novels expounding on writing them, the book is actually very light on such behind-the-scenes stuff. The author that asserts his respect for the English word is Stephen King. He even takes time to specifically offer an example of one his favorite badly constructed metaphors composed by an unnamed writer. If youre interested in learning more about writing, check out our podcast interview with Oscar nominated screenwriter of Pixar's Inside Out and Captain Marvel here. In a scary passage in Pet Sematary, Louis dreams of Walt Disney World, where by the 1890s train station, Mickey Mouse was shaking hands with the children clustered around him, his big white cartoon gloves swallowing their small, trusting hands. To all of Its protagonists, the monster appears in a similar archetypal or communal form, one that suggests a composite of devouring parent and mass-culture demigod, of television commercial and fairy tale, of 1958 and 1985: as Pennywise, the Clown, a cross between Bozo and Ronald McDonald. Go Where the Story Leads You 10. Carries possession is the complex effect of her mothers fanaticism, her peers bigotry, and her newly realized, unchecked female power. Print length. And yet, it is not even King himself who engages it here, but his son in an interview about his father about his fathers writing: Ive always thought that my dads stories sold bravery, that they essentially were making an argument that, yeah, things might get really bad. What you are doing has worth. King encourages us to break that model and see where the wind takes us. Most of my anger came from the simple truth that I don't like to be told what to do. As hard as it always is to believe, your favourite screenwriters and authors all faced rejection. Louiss wizardry is reflected in the narrative perspective and structure, which flashes back in part 2 from the funeral to Louiss fantasy of a heroically long, flying tackle that snatches Gage from deaths wheels. The immortality she offers, howeverand by implication, the American Dreamis really arrested development in the form of a Happy Days rerun and by way of her radio, which sticks on the golden oldies station. Other examples of common metaphors are "night owl", "cold feet", "beat a dead horse", "early bird", "couch potato", "eyes were fireflies", "apple of my eye", "heart of stone", "heart of a lion", "roller coaster of emotions", and "heart of gold.". The sociopolitical subtext of Salems Lot was the ubiquitous disillusionment of the Watergate era, King has explained. 164). King says a writer's job is to say what you see, then get on with the story. Take note, as this is your chance to have a story published in the paperback. Soon, however, the familiar triangle emerges, of boy, girl, and car, and Christine is revealed as a femme fatale driven by the spirit of her former owner, a malcontent named Roland LeBay. Literally, closing your door helps you focus and block out the outside world. This of course stands true for any form of writing.. If you've always wondered what led Steve to become a writer and how he came to be the success he is today, this will answer those questions. The process of recapitulation and summing up was complicated by the disclosure, in 1984, of Richard Bachman, the pseudonym under whose cover King had published five novels over a period of eight years. The most commonand again, landing in this trap can be traced back to not enough readingis the use of clichd similes, metaphors, and images. Sarahs ghost may have destroyed his wife and child, but Jos ghost gives him the means to save Kyra. "When a simile or metaphor doesn't work, the results are sometimes funny and sometimes embarrassing," he writes. If you cant pitch your wares confidently, how could anyone else?, If writing a script or book is like building a house, then youll need the tools to do it., A tool box can fit many tools inside it but you do not want it to become too large to be portable and lose its chief virtue. Like rumor and disease, vampirism spreads secretly at night, from neighbor to neighbor, infecting men and women, the mad and the senile, the responsible citizen and the infant alike, absorbing into its zombielike horde the human population. Kindle. What the writer must do is try to take the idea from the ground as fully formed as possible. Stephen King makes a great analogy about finding the generated subject or the true storyline of a novel or short story in his book On Writing. "Get busy living, or get busy dying.". The child and the man share a navet, a gothic iconography, and a belief in evil. His answer is pessimistic, turning on the abdication of Father Callahan, whose strength is undermined by secret alcoholism and a superficial adherence to form. Beaumont is forced to disclose and destroy his now self-destructive pseudonym, complete with gravesite service and papier mch headstone. Part of the advice on good writing that King doles out is arrived at through negation. Starting Out in the Industry 3. . Refresh and try again. King gives Christine all the attributes of a fairy tale for postliterate adolescents. The young writer-protagonist Thaddeus Beaumont has a series of headaches and seizures, and a surgeon removes from his eleven-year-old brain the incompletely absorbed fragments of a twinincluding an eye, two teeth, and some fingernails. Jackhammering your idea out of the soil perfectly is probably impossible as you will suffer a few inevitable breaks and losses. Why do we do this? By the end of the novel the evils of the community have become so entrenched in the soil (another similarity to Faulkners fiction) that they begin to affect Mike himself, and he has to fight the urge to kill Kyra. Eliminate every distraction (King likes to work to heavy rock music!). King writes that each is like a 'fossil in the ground', when you dig it up, you don't know if it's going to be a 'seashell' or a huge 'Tyrannosaurus Rex'. The Dark Half is an allegory of the writers relation to his genius. Illogical, but we understand the meaning. Dont be that writer. (To Beverly Rogan It appears, in a sequence reminiscent of Red Riding Hood, as her abusive father in the guise of the child-eating witch from Hansel and Gretel.). Guilt is a predominant theme of many southern works, especially those of William Faulkner, Edgar Allan Poe, and Tennessee Williams. Ideally though, King believes you must, as always, know the rules before you break them. He doesnt worry about the end, or how they will get there, simply that the idea is interesting. Stephen King's It is known mostly by those who have passing familiarity with the iconic devilish clown, portrayed in the television mini-series by Tim Curry. Arnie and his parents are buried, Christine is scrap metal, and the true Americans, Leigh and Dennis, are survivors, but Dennis, the knight of Darnells GaRage, does not woo the lady fair; he is a limping, lackluster junior high teacher, and they have drifted apart, grown old in their prime. Stephen King uses literary elements and devices to help bring narrative and meaning to his book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. Once again, the man buries the terrible child in order to possess himself and his art. Both cursed and empowered with righteous fury, she becomes at once victim and monster, witch and White Angel of Destruction. most dictionaries and textbooks. As Mike slowly adjusts to life without Jo, he is forced to make another adjustment. This reality, already mediated, is translated easily into preternatural terms, taking on a nightmarish quality. Or indeed, criticise it., Therefore, with this knowledge in hand, he advises beginners to write at least two drafts. During the 1970s, Kings fiction was devoted to building a mythos out of shabby celluloid monsters to fill a cultural void; in the postmodern awareness of the late 1980s, he began a demystification process. In 1999, Stephen King began to write about his craft -- and his life. Alone and helpless, Jessie confronts memories (including the secret reason she struck out at Gerald), her own fears and limitations, and a ghastly visitor to the cabin who may or may not be real. The novel touched the right nerves, including feminism. This pellucid and elegant fairy tale, says Barbara Tritel in The New York Times Book Review (February 22, 1987), has the intimate goofiness of an extemporaneous story narrated by a parent to a child. In The Tommyknockers, King again seemed to leave familiar territory for science fiction, but the novel more accurately applies technohorror themes to the 1980s infatuation with technology and televangelism. Initially delighted by the excellent story her young son had written, her pride was quickly quashed when she found out that in fact he had copied most of it out of a funny book. My rule of thumb is that a short story of 3,000 words should be rewritten down. Secrets to Stephen King's writing process were revealed in his book, 'On Writing,' released in 2000. Metaphor literally means to "carry over," to substitute one thing for another. Covering expansive topics from idea creation to the minutiae of how to use grammar and adverbs, there is something useful in On Writing for everyone., 1. They arrange to have Tommy and Carrie voted king and queen of the ball, only to crown them with a bucket of pigs blood. King tells a story about getting his fantasy desk, a massive oak slab that he placed in the middle of his spacious study. Moreover, King challenges our ideas of the genre horror novel, since there is little violence, none of it supernatural and all expected, so that suspense is a function of character, not plot (done previously by King only in short fiction such as The Body and The Last Rung of the Ladder). King wrote Misery about cocaine addiction specifically: " Misery is a book about cocaine. You can learn only by doing., Let's get one thing clear right now, shall we? As automotive monster, Christine comes from a variety of sources, including the folk tradition of the death car and a venerable techno-horror premise, as seen in Kings Trucks and Maximum Overdrive. There is a reason why Stephen King is one of the bestselling writers in the world, ever. Racism, not a theme usually associated with northern writers, has been successfully transplanted by King via the traveling Sarah Tidwell. But if you have some faith and a sense of humor, and if youre loyal to your loved ones, sometimes you can kick the darkness until it bleeds daylight.. I don't read in order to study the craft; I read because I like to read, Writing is a lonely job. Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton. As for King the writer, It was one important rite in what would be a lengthy passage. Lets get to specifics.. His major innovation, however, was envisioning the mythic small town in American gothic terms and then making it the monster; the vampires traditional victim, the populace, becomes the menace as mindless mass, plague, or primal horde. Critic George Stade, in his review of the novel for The New York Times Book Review (October 29, 1989), praised King for his tact in teasing out the implications of his parable. The Dark Half contains epigraphs instead to the novels of George Stark, Thad Beaumont, and the late Richard Bachman, without whom this novel could not have been written. Thus reworking the gothic clich of the double, King allows the mythology of his own life story to speak wittily for itself, lending a subtle level of selfparody to this roman clef. John Coffey is obviously Jesus: they are both innocent men who were hated and condemned for helping people; they died along with two other prisoners: one who repented for his wrong doings (Delacroix) and one w. King: It's what you hear in your head, but it's never right the first time. The #1 [horror] author in the world shows you how to write productively. Well, initially King states that your script/book is just for you but once it enters the hands of the reader, it belongs to anyone who wants to read it. A comparison between two things, based on resemblance or similarity, without using "like" or "as". The novel is also about the terrors of passage to womanhood. Stephen King 's "Survivor Type" contains a couple different literary devices and narrative elements. Frankencat comes back with his purr-box broken. A succession of accidents, heart attacks, strokes, and deathsof neighbor Norma Crandall, Creeds son Gage, Normas husband Jud, and Creeds wife Racheland resurrections follows. With a passive verb, something is being done to the subject of the sentence. 304. Stephen King, in his book On Writing uses no less that half a dozen major writing metaphors from fixing a screen door to driving in the fog at night to unearthing the fossilized remains of a dinosaurthat will no doubt come to life and eat children. Paragraphs form on their own., Each paragraph is a beat and when composing its best not to think too much about where paragraphs begin and end; the trick is to let nature take its course., Its all about flow. . In an attempt to regain his muse and put Jos death behind him, Mike returns to Sarah Laughs (also referred to as TR-90 or the TR), the vacation cabin he and Jo purchased soon after he became successful. The power that words carry and the commitment that goes into getting them onto the page. White. Analysis of Stephen King's Novels By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on December 31, 2018 ( 3 ) Stephen King (born. For example, it was only after the first draft of Carrie that King recognised blood appears three times in the book. The yearned-for bond of parent and child, a relationship signifying a unity of being, appears throughout his fiction. (At one point, Mears holds off a vampire with a crucifix made with two tongue depressors.) Hardcover. Having someone who believes in you makes a lot if difference. This is a metaphor, which is the comparison of two things by just stating that one thing is the other. It's about getting up, getting well, and getting over. Formerly a successful writer of gothic romance fiction, he now finds that he is unable to write even a simple sentence. On Writing is both a textbook for writers and a memoir of Stephen's life and will, thus, appeal even to those who are not aspiring writers. Now you understand why that Exec wanted more white space on the page!, Paragraphs therefore do not (and should not) be dense. Fiction is more free-form. King applies naturalistic methods to an environment created by popular culture. It can all go in., As always, King believes simplicity rules out so dont bother trying to learn complicated words in place of ones you already know., He writes that the basic rule of vocabulary is to use the first word that comes to your mind., Grammar is a difficult discussion topic. By virtue of its omnipresence alone it must be considered the definitive metaphor of the modern age. Stephen King added these metaphors as part of Paul's character. It follows Roland as he goes through three doors into other worlds and recruits new characters who to help him on his quest to the Dark Tower. The road to hell is paved with adverbs., The scariest moment is always just before you start., you can, you should, and if youre brave enough to start, you will., Description begins in the writers imagination, but should finish in the readers., Writing isn't about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friends. Mike, related to one of the people who murdered Sarahs child, has been drawn into this circle of retribution from the beginning, and the death of his unborn daughter, Kia, was not the accident it seemed to be. Once youve applied this to your first draft, leave it for six weeks, as when you go back youll see all the huge plot holes and issues with character that you missed.. King writes, " I take a book with me everywhere . An automotive godmother, she brings Arnie, in fairy-tale succession, freedom, success, power, and love: a home away from overprotective parents, a cure for acne, hit-andrun revenge on bullies, and a beautiful girl, Leigh Cabot. These metaphors are made of real things that have been taken . Your promise to express the truth of how people act and talk through the medium of a made up story. His first rejections came young when he sent off his short stories to Alfred Hitchcocks Mystery Magazine. Geralds Game is the story of Jessie Burlingame, a young wife who submits to her husbands desire for bondage in a deserted cabin, only to have him die when she unexpectedly struggles. In his own words, here is Stephen King's greatest writing advice: On Getting Started 1. King utilizes diction to persuade aspiring writers to read regularly. The paraphernalia, they find, will work only if the handler has faith. Christine is another fractured Cinderella story, Carrie for boys. I hope this summary of Stephen King's On Writing was helpful to you! From the beginning, his dark parables spoke to the anxieties of the late twentieth century. , So okay there you are in your room with the shade down and the door shut and the plug pulled out of the base of the telephone. Christines odometer runs backward and she regenerates parts. After all, sometimes the only way to discover what we want to say is to begin saying it. 5.1K Followers. "Optimism is a. Source: Notable American Novelists Revised Edition Volume 1 James Agee Ernest J. Gaines Edited by Carl Rollyson Salem Press, Inc 2008. Joyce Carol Oates: Shirley Jackson is one of those highly idiosyncratic, inimitable writers whose achievement is not so broad, ambitious or so influential as the "major" writersMelville, James, Hemingway, Faulknerbut whose work exerts an enduring spell. This volume "really contains two books: a fondly sardonic autobiography and a tough-love lesson for aspiring novelists", written by American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy, Stephen King (b. Her mother, a religious fanatic, associates Carrie with her own sin; Carries peers hate her in a mindless way and make her the butt of every joke. In a bloody sceneeven by Kings standardsJessie frees herself and escapes, a victory psychological as well as physical. Answer: Probably The Green Mile. By the 1980s, King had become a mass-media guru who could open an American Express commercial with the rhetorical question Do you know me? At first prompted to examine the wide perceptions that light [childrens] interior lives (Four Past Midnight) and then the cultural roots of the empire he had created, he proceeded to explore the phenomenon of fiction, the situations of reader and writer. Both are relatively young, and Jo, Mike learns, was pregnant. and that's why I picked up this book. 1. For twelve years, however, he has been living a secret life through George Stark, the pseudonym under which he emerged from writers block as the author of best-selling crime novels. Amazon best-selling author. The Best Advice He Ever Got 5. Editing is a process of addition by . To help Mattie fight off Maxs army of high-priced lawyers, Mike uses his own considerable resources to retain a lawyer for Mattie named John Storrow, a young New Yorker unafraid to take on someone of Max Devores social stature. This Constant Reader becomes Sheldons terrible Muse, forcing him to write (in an edition especially for her) Miserys return to life. He made his king vampire, Barlow, an obvious reincarnation of Stokers Dracula that functions somewhere between clich and archetype. The last chapter begins with an epigraph from Dickenss David Copperfield (1849-1850) and ends with an allusion to William Wordsworths Intimations of Immortality, from which King takes his primary theme and narrative device, the look back that enables one to go forward. Stephen King vehemently dislikes the passive tense because it is weak and thus, feeble writers will use it. When I tried Stephen King's method, I drafted a novel in 4 months, instead of my previous 1-3 years. In 1958, the seven protagonists, a cross-section of losers, experience the monster differently, for as in George Orwells Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), It derives its power through its victims isolation and guilt and thus assumes the shape of his or her worst fear. Many less accomplished writers fall victim to this, creating a heavily symbolic work that actually doesnt mean anything! In the opening scene, in the school shower room, Carrie experiences her first menstrual period; her peers react with abhorrence and ridicule, stoning her with sanitary napkins, shouting Plug it up! Carrie becomes the scapegoat for a fear of female sexuality as epitomized in the smell and sight of blood.