Pay Attention Grasshoppers.

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Buried in DANSE MACABRE is a long observation Stephen King made about writers and the writing bizness. Its thought provoking. I'll post it as soon as I finish transcribing it.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

'I think that writers are made, not born or created out of dreams or childhood trauma-that becoming a writer (or a painter, actor, director, dancer, and so on) is a direct result of conscious will. Of course there has to be some talent involved, but talent is a dreadfully cheap commodity, cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work and study; a constant process of honing. Talent is a dull knife that will cut nothing unless it is wielded with great force-a force so great that the knife is not really cutting at all but bludgeoning and breaking (and after two or three of these gargantuan swipes it may succeed in breaking itself which may be what happened to such disparate writers as Ross Lockridge and Robert E.Howard). Discipline and constant work are the whetstones upon which the dull knife of talent is honed until it becomes sharp enough, hopefully, to cut through even the toughest meat and gristle. No writer, painter, or actor-no artist- is ever handed a sharp knife (although a few people are handed almighty big ones; the name we give to the artist with the big knife is ‘genius’) and we hone with varying degrees of zeal and aptitude.

'I’m suggesting that, to be successful, the artist in any field has to be in the right place at the right time. The right time is in the lap of the gods, but any mother’s son or daughter can work his/her way to the right place and wait.

'But what is the right place?'

SK

 

[Thematterisclosed]

Well I agree: they say it takes ten thousand man hours of practice to get good at something. I expect talent is just realising that you have a knack or an aptitude for something. The work is what makes you an expert at it.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Well I agree: they say it takes ten thousand man hours of practice to get good at something. I expect talent is just realising that you have a knack or an aptitude for something. The work is what makes you an expert at it.

You get a gold star!

 

[glynndah]

I would recommend Lisey's Story as a parable of the writing process. It is not one of his best when read as a horror story, but it is quite insightful when taken as a metaphor of the creative process ~ and as a love letter to his wife. I listened to it as an audio book and King himself reads the afterward.

 

[jomar]

'I think that writers are made, not born ...

'I’m suggesting that, to be successful, the artist in any field has to be in the right place at the right time. The right time is in the lap of the gods, but any mother’s son or daughter can work his/her way to the right place and wait.

'But what is the right place?'

SK

Well I agree: they say it takes ten thousand man hours of practice to get good at something. I expect talent is just realising that you have a knack or an aptitude for something. The work is what makes you an expert at it.

Malcolm Gladwell wrote about it in Outliers: The Story of Success. Talent, but more importantly timing (including the month/year one is born and the times in which one is), lucky breaks and 10k hours of practice to reach expert level (often by one's early 20s). Socioeconomic levels and social intelligence among other things also factor into the success formula.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I would recommend Lisey's Story as a parable of the writing process. It is not one of his best when read as a horror story, but it is quite insightful when taken as a metaphor of the creative process ~ and as a love letter to his wife. I listened to it as an audio book and King himself reads the afterward.

Will add it to the order list.

 

[MrPezman]

The man knows what he's talking about.

I've been a Stephen King fan since I first watched IT. Afterward, I found the book, read it, and have read it at least four times since. The man has got a gift for the written word, and I'd consider myself lucky if I could write at a hundredth of his level. I'd better keep writing and hope I evolve into a better writer one day. BTW, The Dark Tower series.... If you haven't read it yet, by god, you ought to. It's a fucking masterpiece!