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So I'm about halfway through On Writing and it's pretty good but I'm amazed at how little he actually talks about the process of writing. It's more of a biography so far than anything. Should I check out Danse Macabre? I think I tried to read it once a long time ago but seem to remember being "out of the loop" since I hadn't seen or read most of what he was referencing.
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Sep 26, 2017 19:25
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BiggerBoat posted:So I'm about halfway through On Writing and it's pretty good but I'm amazed at how little he actually talks about the process of writing. It's more of a biography so far than anything. Should I check out Danse Macabre? I think I tried to read it once a long time ago but seem to remember being "out of the loop" since I hadn't seen or read most of what he was referencing. I imagine On Writing would not be nearly as popular if it was actually telling people how to write like King #savage
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Sep 26, 2017 19:27
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Yeah, I'd hate to know how to be one of the most prolific and successful writers in history. It would be dreadful.
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Sep 26, 2017 20:07
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504 posted:Yeah, I'd hate to know how to be one of the most prolific and successful writers in history. You don't need a book to be as prolific as Stephen King. Its pretty simple. A. Look around your house B. Find something C. Pretend its evil and haunted there ya go Like Stephen King subscribes to the same style as Woody Allen, if you make the same movie 20 times one of em will turn out good. Mel Mudkiper fucked around with this message at 20:19 on Sep 26, 2017 |
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Sep 26, 2017 20:14
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His actual practice of writing isn't hard to find -8 pages a day -write in the morning -don't outline -don't write down ideas; if they're good ideas they'll stick around and you"ll forget the bad ideas -complete the story in 3 months -finish it, move on, edit it after a few months away from it
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Sep 26, 2017 20:23
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It should also be pointed out that King literally doesn't remember writing his best books so any writing advice from him becomes more suspect
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Sep 26, 2017 20:24
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Mel Mudkiper posted:It should also be pointed out that King literally doesn't remember writing his best books so any writing advice from him becomes more suspect He does make a big emphasis to read everyday, and he reads legit good books, or at least used to. The irony is the whole section on editing in On Writing is pretty good advice that he hasn't used himself in two decades. The book mentioned is called On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, so it's not selling itself as a how-to book on writing. There's advice, but the majority of the book is how he became a writer and some really good stories from his life and his addiction. I think maybe the last few sections are actually on writing, and it's less "this is what I do" and more "here's some habits you need to develop if you want to enjoy writing".
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Sep 26, 2017 20:34
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Yeah totally, I was being facetious from the beginning but King is fascinating in how he has managed to dedicate himself so much to writing
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Sep 26, 2017 20:47
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Franchescanado posted:His actual practice of writing isn't hard to find It's funny to see his advice and then Joe Hills, whose method is both similar and departs in pretty big ways. Hill usually writes 5 drafts, the first one by hand, and then the third draft he starts from a blank page and rewrites it completely. It's a method I've used from time to time (I find if I'm getting muddled up with too much bullshit, going from scratch again gives a much more streamlined story without old draft remnants hanging around) but it's also one that's probably a bit of overkill.
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Sep 26, 2017 20:57
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Mel Mudkiper posted:Yeah totally, I was being facetious from the beginning but King is fascinating in how he has managed to dedicate himself so much to writing The second part of that post was pointing out to BiggerBoat (surprise surprise) that he's reading a book about a guy who spent his life writing as if it's a how-to guide to writing, which it really isn't, except for a few chapters near the end. DrVenkman posted:It's funny to see his advice and then Joe Hills, whose method is both similar and departs in pretty big ways. Hill usually writes 5 drafts, the first one by hand, and then the third draft he starts from a blank page and rewrites it completely. It's a method I've used from time to time (I find if I'm getting muddled up with too much bullshit, going from scratch again gives a much more streamlined story without old draft remnants hanging around) but it's also one that's probably a bit of overkill. I think there's value to that. I prefer writing first drafts in longhand on pretty much every writing project I've done, and then typing it up. I enjoy that King still writes with a typewriter and Joe writes with pencils, that both of them eschew word processors until the later drafts. Then again, it didn't help Joe with The Fireman, so whatever. He's really going down in quality with each book. Or maybe he also suffers the Palahniuk rule of 3
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Sep 26, 2017 21:13
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Joe Hill seems to fall into the same mistake of his father that more plot means better plot
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Sep 26, 2017 21:23
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Mel Mudkiper posted:You don't need a book to be as prolific as Stephen King. Its pretty simple. Except I would not enjoy that No one else would enjoy that It would not entertain hundreds of millions It would not sell
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Sep 26, 2017 21:27
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504 posted:Except I would not enjoy that Fleshlight of Doom
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Sep 26, 2017 21:29
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Mel Mudkiper posted:Joe Hill seems to fall into the same mistake of his father that more plot means better plot This is very true, and is why I'm looking forward to his upcoming novella collection.
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Sep 26, 2017 21:29
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504 posted:Except I would not enjoy that Well there's that story about the cymbal monkey And that story about the haunted kindle The story of the evil word processor The story of the evil car The story of a store that only has spooky haunted things I can keep going. I understand that contextually these stories can be enjoyed or be scary, but that doesn't change the basis of the joke, which is true for some of his stories.
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Sep 26, 2017 21:31
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Franchescanado posted:The story of the evil car Which one? Ornamented Death posted:This is very true, and is why I'm looking forward to his upcoming novella collection. I have never seen a premise less in need of an antagonist and explanation than Locke and Key and I will be forever annoyed he added both
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Sep 26, 2017 21:36
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Mel Mudkiper posted:Which one? I thought it worked. If they didn't have the villain, there wouldn't really be a plot after the third arc. The explanation wasn't necessary, but it wasn't bad, and it played into the theme of "Your parents are also flawed people capable of hosed up mistakes, just like everyone else". Mel, have you ever read any Charles Burns graphic novels? I just started Black Hole and really enjoy it, but I don't know how you feel about David Lynch & Cronenberg type storytelling. Everything you recommend me is more slice-of-life-but-life-sucks stuff.
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Sep 26, 2017 21:40
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Cronenberg is my favorite director. My problem is with Locke and Key is that "keys in an old house that unlock different forms of reality" is such a rich premise that it could have gone so many other places than "evil demon villain"
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Sep 26, 2017 21:43
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Mel Mudkiper posted:Cronenberg is my favorite director. No, I totally agree, but I still enjoyed the hell out of it. I mean, realistically, that's how I feel about every King book premise, and I guess Joe's too. You should definitely read Black Hole if you haven't. It's like David Lynch and Cronenberg decided to make a graphic novel version of Dazed & Confused. Slightly  
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Sep 26, 2017 21:49
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BiggerBoat posted:So I'm about halfway through On Writing and it's pretty good but I'm amazed at how little he actually talks about the process of writing. It's more of a biography so far than anything. Should I check out Danse Macabre? I think I tried to read it once a long time ago but seem to remember being "out of the loop" since I hadn't seen or read most of what he was referencing. Keep going. The first half is more or less autobiography, the second half gets down to brass tacks.
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Sep 27, 2017 00:11
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Mel Mudkiper posted:I imagine On Writing would not be nearly as popular if it was actually telling people how to write like King That's not what I was looking for. More an explanation of "how he writes". I just wanted to learn more about his process, which seems to essentially boil down to "work hard, put your desk in a corner and eventually get lucky". Marry a woman that can put up with your poo poo. Which is fine and I'm enjoying the book, I just expected more exposition on the actual craft and deeper insight into his approach. It's called "On Writing" but so far it's just a Stephen King autobiography.
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Sep 27, 2017 01:03
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Mel Mudkiper posted:It should also be pointed out that King literally doesn't remember writing his best books so any writing advice from him becomes more suspect so the lesson here is to do lots of cocaine
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Sep 27, 2017 01:07
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Mel Mudkiper posted:Cronenberg is my favorite director. You also got him talking about his dads drinking through the Mom character
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Sep 27, 2017 01:45
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BiggerBoat posted:So I'm about halfway through On Writing and it's pretty good but I'm amazed at how little he actually talks about the process of writing. It's more of a biography so far than anything. Should I check out Danse Macabre? I think I tried to read it once a long time ago but seem to remember being "out of the loop" since I hadn't seen or read most of what he was referencing. Danse Macabre is good but as you mention, the references are tied to its era as it's really an explanation of horror. Some of his book suggestions are pretty good as, since it's been so long since Danse Macabre was published, some of the picks are pretty obscure. There are bits of autobiography in there, too.
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Sep 27, 2017 02:49
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BiggerBoat posted:So I'm about halfway through On Writing and it's pretty good but I'm amazed at how little he actually talks about the process of writing. It's more of a biography so far than anything. Should I check out Danse Macabre? I think I tried to read it once a long time ago but seem to remember being "out of the loop" since I hadn't seen or read most of what he was referencing. Danse Macabre is real good, if dated*, look at horror as a genre, from the ground up. Nothing earthshaking, but a really solid and readable look at a genre from the inside by one of its core surviving figures. The only thing I'll say against it is that Stephen King actually has really weird and often unappealing taste in (then) contemporary horror literature. He's much more of a film buff, ironically. *he published an appendix of horror recommendations post-Danse Macabre, if you can find it online, and really want to know what he thought of The Ring EDIT: also, apropos of nothing, I'm rereading It in honor of the new movie, and holeeeee shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit, Richie's voices are a lot more racist than I remembered. Old Kentucky Shark fucked around with this message at 03:32 on Sep 27, 2017 |
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Sep 27, 2017 03:28
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Danse Macabre is one of my favorite toilet-readin' books of all time. It's so goddamn user-friendly in exploring how horror works and when it doesn't.
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Sep 27, 2017 03:37
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Does anyone remember a short story about a guy who is stuck on a desert island and slowly eats himself? I think it's called survivor type. I forget what anthology it's a part of.
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Sep 27, 2017 08:44
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Lurks Morington posted:Does anyone remember a short story about a guy who is stuck on a desert island and slowly eats himself? I think it's called survivor type. I forget what anthology it's a part of. It is called Survivor Type and it is in Skeleton Crew. ladyfingers they taste just like ladyfingers
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Sep 27, 2017 08:57
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Khizan posted:It is called Survivor Type and it is in Skeleton Crew. Listen, no man is an island. But some men do bunches of coke and eat themselves
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Sep 27, 2017 09:06
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Khizan posted:It is called Survivor Type and it is in Skeleton Crew. I believe that collection also has the scariest story he ever wrote in it, to me anyways, The Jaunt. Man, that still comes back to me and gives me nightmares, I don't think its fully left my brain since I read that in highschool.
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Sep 27, 2017 10:46
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Lurks Morington posted:Does anyone remember a short story about a guy who is stuck on a desert island and slowly eats himself? I think it's called survivor type. I forget what anthology it's a part of. I believe the character in Survivor Type is stuck on a boat or life raft, but yeah, it's in Skeleton Crew. Been a while though so it could be an island.
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Sep 27, 2017 12:05
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There's a different story in Skeleton Crew called, suitably enough, "The Raft." That's the one where people are consumed by an oil-slick-looking entity that pulls them into the water and then dissolves them. I'm pretty sure "Survivor Type" is on a beach.
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Sep 27, 2017 12:44
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tetrapyloctomy posted:There's a different story in Skeleton Crew called, suitably enough, "The Raft." That's the one where people are consumed by an oil-slick-looking entity that pulls them into the water and then dissolves them. I'm pretty sure "Survivor Type" is on a beach. The Raft is also the best segment in Creepshow 2.
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Sep 27, 2017 13:04
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Tom Guycot posted:I believe that collection also has the scariest story he ever wrote in it, to me anyways, The Jaunt. Man, that still comes back to me and gives me nightmares, I don't think its fully left my brain since I read that in highschool. LONGER THAN YOU THINK, DAD! LONGER THAN YOU THINK!
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Sep 27, 2017 14:41
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mdemone posted:LONGER THAN YOU THINK, DAD! LONGER THAN YOU THINK! Sometimes late at night when I can't sleep I'll think of that, and wonder what if there is an afterlife and thats it, before a wave of anxiety rushes over me.
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Sep 27, 2017 15:06
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skeleton crew is the one king paperback i will keep forever
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Sep 27, 2017 16:22
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I finished Revival and thought it was pretty great. I definitely didn't see the twist coming until he started mentioning grimoires and Lovecraft, at which point I had some idea what was coming but I thought the execution was really well done. I'm glad that I am going back through King books I somehow missed, I think there are a lot of good ones that I've never read (or maybe read 20 years ago and have forgotten). I thought Revival also avoided King's problem with unsatisfying endings. It reminded me of Salem's Lot and a few others, really, where the ending is less definitive - I think King excels when he can 'end' with that sort of Tales from the Crypt "but what's next!" kind of thing.
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Sep 27, 2017 18:04
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scary ghost dog posted:skeleton crew is the one king paperback i will keep forever I have a bunch I've read multiple times. Different Seasons comes to mind.
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Sep 27, 2017 22:55
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In IT the trek to Its lair is through a bunch of cramped tunnels that even as children sometimes get really tight. Later, Tom kidnaps Audra and takes her to the lair and all I can imagine is Tom struggling through poo poo water and cramped tunnels in the dark while trying to carry a grown woman who is fighting him every single step of the way while trying to make sure she doesn't drown or get seriously injured himself. Also, I really want to know what happened when Bowers got to Its lair. Did he go in? What did he see? What happened, Stephen?
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Sep 29, 2017 06:06
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oldpainless posted:In IT the trek to Its lair is through a bunch of cramped tunnels that even as children sometimes get really tight. Later, Tom kidnaps Audra and takes her to the lair and all I can imagine is Tom struggling through poo poo water and cramped tunnels in the dark while trying to carry a grown woman who is fighting him every single step of the way while trying to make sure she doesn't drown or get seriously injured himself. Also, I really want to know what happened when Bowers got to Its lair. Did he go in? What did he see? What happened, Stephen? It doesn't seem as if Henry Bowers ever made it into IT's inner lair; Belch and Criss seem to have died relatively soon after entering the sewers and Bowers tried to flee the sewers after that, eventually making his way to the surface.
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Sep 29, 2017 09:45
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