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Stephen King: Can a Novelist Be Too Productive? (2015)

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Re: Stephen King: Can a Novelist Be Too Productive? (2015)

#71

Post by BurningCycles »

yawz wrote: post #44
sudosteph wrote: post #8

King was my favorite writer growing up. I read "Firestarter" in 6th grade, and then continued working through about 20 or so more of his works until graduation from HS. I was "that kid", always had my nose buried in a paperback from the library, usually one of his. His works were like familiar friends to me. I could step into nearly any library or bookstore and find myself absorbed into some small town in Maine, or p…

I read them when I was around the same age, but a decade earlier than you. They pretty much had the same effect on me. Did you read anybody else at the same period? Koontz, maybe?

I read King and Koontz during my teens, my two favourite books of each author are 'It' by King and 'Phantoms' by Koontz, I actually read 'It' first and thought Koontz had been inspired by King given how they were quite similar, however I learned later that Koontz Phantoms was published in 1983, while It was published in 1986, so I guess that if anyone was inspired by the other it was King.

Re: Stephen King: Can a Novelist Be Too Productive? (2015)

#72

Post by SyneRyder »

sundvor wrote: post #56
pmoriarty wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's probably been easier for King to ignore his inner critic ever since his wife fished his manuscript of Carrie out of the trash and it went on to become a bestseller. On the other hand, this also reminds me of what William Staford answered when asked how he was able to write a poem every day: "I lower my standards."

Ah, didn't know that - that's a great story. Others here might enjoy this: http://mentalfloss.com/article/53235/how-stephen-kings-wife-...

That was fantastic and just what I needed to read today. Thanks for sharing the link.

Re: Stephen King: Can a Novelist Be Too Productive? (2015)

#73

Post by coldtea »

>I’m a recovering alcoholic, haven’t had a drink in almost 27 years

OT, but what does that even mean? Recovered maybe, recovering, no. He is just someone that hasn't been an alcoholic for 2+ decades...

It's like saying "I'm recovering from a broken ankle, I had my surgery in 1983 and have had no pain at all, and no fractures either, and been running ultra-marathons and doing base jumping ever since 1986".

Re: Stephen King: Can a Novelist Be Too Productive? (2015)

#74

Post by hrnnnnnn »

coldtea wrote: post #73

> I’m a recovering alcoholic, haven’t had a drink in almost 27 years OT, but what does that even mean? Recovered maybe, recovering, no. He is just someone that hasn't been an alcoholic for 2+ decades... It's like saying "I'm recovering from a broken ankle, I had my surgery in 1983 and have had no pain at all, and no fractures either, and been running ultra-marathons and doing base jumping ever since 1986".

The way I've often heard alcoholics talk about it is that despite their effort, the disease is always there. There's always a voice saying "have a drink" that they have to constantly guard against, even after such a long time.

Re: Stephen King: Can a Novelist Be Too Productive? (2015)

#75

Post by reednj »

TheOtherHobbes wrote: post #68
pmoriarty wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't say there was no difference, just that whether you think one is better than another is not "objective" but a matter of personal preference. Clearly Dan Brown and Don DeLillo are different. They write different sorts of books that appeal to different sorts of readers. But I struggle to see how those differences make one "objectively" better than the other. If there are objective criteria by which one could ju…

There are fairly standard criteria for literary criticism that include psychological and social insight, use of vocabulary, use of advanced writing techniques, use of form, and many, many more. It is all opinion, but there’s a difference between the opinion of Alan Kay and of someone who has two days of Python and a copy of Angry Birds.

Your example of Alan Kay isn't a very good one though, because we can objectively test their opinions on say, the best way to implement `malloc` by having them do it and testing the results against the computer. There is no such equivalent for literature.

Re: Stephen King: Can a Novelist Be Too Productive? (2015)

#76

Post by ramblerman »

coldtea wrote: post #73

> I’m a recovering alcoholic, haven’t had a drink in almost 27 years OT, but what does that even mean? Recovered maybe, recovering, no. He is just someone that hasn't been an alcoholic for 2+ decades... It's like saying "I'm recovering from a broken ankle, I had my surgery in 1983 and have had no pain at all, and no fractures either, and been running ultra-marathons and doing base jumping ever since 1986".

> and been running ultra-marathons and doing base jumping ever since 1986

Your own analogy doesn't hold up because by that logic then a recovered alcoholic would be 'fit' to have a drink again

Re: Stephen King: Can a Novelist Be Too Productive? (2015)

#77

Post by sorokod »

sudosteph wrote: post #41
senectus1 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

hilarious. But really, they dont write the same sort of books... Martins books are hella complex worlds. King does theme'd stories... I'm not saying one is better than the other, just very different products that require a lot of different sorts of work to complete.

Are you unfamiliar with the Dark Tower series? King is no stranger to "hella complex worlds". Though tbf, it did take him quite a while to finish the entire series. But he was writing things in the meantime (or getting hit by a truck) for the most part. If you sum up the time he spent actually writing, he still was able to get them much faster. Edit: Another fun fact, many of King's non-Dark Tower books tie into the…

A fan of Dark Tower but in a way, the Dark Tower multiverse is of "lower resolution"

Re: Stephen King: Can a Novelist Be Too Productive? (2015)

#78

Post by IIIIIIIIII »

I've tried to read King a few times over the years. I couldn't get over the lack of prose style and find him to be a craftsman of plots that (other) people are enthralled by, but not much of a writer. This is what happens when you're raised in your literary interests by the likes of Joyce and Proust, perhaps. If I'm a snob so be it. When I heard Harlan Ellison wrote novels in bookstore windows in a matter of days I thought "that makes sense."

Re: Stephen King: Can a Novelist Be Too Productive? (2015)

#80

Post by stupidcar »

IIIIIIIIII wrote: post #78

I've tried to read King a few times over the years. I couldn't get over the lack of prose style and find him to be a craftsman of plots that (other) people are enthralled by, but not much of a writer. This is what happens when you're raised in your literary interests by the likes of Joyce and Proust, perhaps. If I'm a snob so be it. When I heard Harlan Ellison wrote novels in bookstore windows in a matter of days I t…

Speaking as a relative non-snob, I'm always a bit baffled when people cite Joyce like this. I mean, he clearly had an unrivalled mastery of language, but do people actually like reading prose like that? Even his supposedly more accessible stuff like Dubliners and Portrait of the Artist just seemed so dense and obtuse that while I could objectively admire the skill on display, I never once really found myself enjoying them.

I'm not saying art should exist purely for the sake of entertainment. But, ultimately, if I'm investing the time to read a book, I need to get something out of the experience from moment to moment, and generally I find I get more from reading a bad writer with fun ideas than an expert stylist who makes no concessions to enjoyment.

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