Stephen King takes 45 years to write ONE story
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Hi Reader, If youāve ever felt bad about procrastination or missing a deadline, take note from Mr. King. Heās in the middle of plugging his new collection of short stories, You Like It Darker, this summer. He started writing one short story in the collection when he was a sprightly 30-year-old horror writer. Now King, aged 76, is publishing Answer Man as part of his new collection. King told NPR about the 45-year gap: āI will write stories and they donāt always get done. And the ones that donāt get done go in a drawer, and I forget all about them.ā Every writer has a drawer (digital or otherwise) full of abandoned projects and manuscripts, but how many writers spend a whopping 16,425+ days on a creative project? Ok, clearly, King wasnāt working on this story the entire timeā¦ He only finished writing the story after his nephew John found an early draft and told King it was good. (Itās amusing to think King still reacts to encouragement considering all of his big hits and accolades.) But King had similar doubts about two other big hits. His wife fished an early draft of his first novel, Carrie, out from the waste paper bin in his office and told him he was onto something. That book launched his author career. Later, King stuffed a draft Pet Sematary in a drawer, thinking the story about an ancient burial ground and creepy dead cats who come back to life was awful. He only published that book as part of a contractual obligation with an old publishing company. Pet Sematary went on to become a 1983 best-seller. Alas, the 2019 movie was trash. Delaying publication for 45 years isnāt the best way to get paid to write short stories. Most writers need to spend more time publishing and less time revising. But King can still claim to be one of the most prolific modern-day authors. Heās published over 70 books. I donāt write genre fiction, but I still keep a copy of Kingās bible for authors On Writing near my desk. I pull it out every time Iām procrastinating or unsure what to write about. Itās also a great insight into what it takes to work in a quiet room by yourself for months, 45 years on end. That book contains lots of gems, including this one, if you ever find yourself writing and rewriting a piece for months. āWrite with the door closed, rewrite with the door open.ā He also offers up this piece of writing advice which is perhaps a mantra for his entire career: āIf you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. Thereās no way around these two things that Iām aware of, no shortcut.ā In other words, keep writing and youāll build up a body of work that youāre happy to publish. Just donāt forget to press publish. I donāt want you to wait 45 years to hit publish! If youāre having trouble with writerās block, youāll enjoy this course. Write on, Bryan Collins |