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Why Stephen King Spends ‘Months and Even Years’ Writing Opening Sentences

ARTICLE BY JOE FASSLER VIA THE ATLANTIC


king_bannerStephen King brings us two new novels in 2013 — one on shelves already, and the other forthcoming. In June,Joylandwas published byHard Case Crime, an imprint showcasing classic and contemporary crime writers in paperback editions dressed up like vintage pulps: Stylized covers feature ominous taglines, brooding private dicks, and draped-out femme fatales. ThoughJoyland‘s story is haunted by a terrifying killer of young women, the book mostly chronicles th...

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Published on August 04, 2013 10:43
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message 1: by Steve (last edited Aug 04, 2013 09:49PM) (new)
Aug 04, 2013 09:48PM

Steve Stephen King is one of my all-time favorite authors, not because of his outstanding writing ability (quite a bit is junk), but it’s his willingness to open up about the writing process with his “dear readers”. While I will likely never be a writer (fiction, anyway), I really appreciate his insight to the process, and have used it to teach my kids during our creative writing classwork in highschool (we were homeschoolers). Look around and pay attention to the mundane things around you, then craft a story about what you just saw. It doesn’t have to be an exact representation of your view, but it should open up a whole world to your readers. SK, and many others, does that very well.
Thanks for posting the link to the article. And for the record, I’ve started your latest book, The Shuddering, this weekend. And it has the “hook” SK is talking about in the interview. :)


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