The Master Of Malice
“It starts with this: put your desk in the corner, and every time you sit down there
to write, remind yourself why it isn’t in the middle of the room. Life isn’t a support
system for art. It’s the other way around” states Stephen King in his book On Writing
(94). Stephen King is a world-renowned author for his works in horror fiction, fiction,
cinema and television. He has published more than forty novels and written nine
screenplays (Adams 1). Stephen King draws a great deal of his inspiration from his
surroundings, his job and his life experiences.
Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947. Stephen came as a
surprise to his parents, Nellie Ruth and Pillsbury King. Mrs. King was told she would
never conceive. The couple had adopted a son, David, Stephen’s older brother. When
Stephen was just a toddler his parents divorced. Nellie moved Stephen and David to
Indiana for a short time then to Connecticut. At the age of twelve, Stephen’s small family
moved back to Maine (Stephen King.com 1-2).
Stephen showed an interest in writing at a young age. When he was growing up
his brother would allow Stephen to write articles for “Dave’s Rag”, his brothers
independently published newspaper (Full Biography 2). Throughout his
childhood he would read articles from horror comics and become inspired. He began to
write short stories and sell them to his mother’s friends for a nickel (King On Writing
15). Stephen graduated from Lisbon Falls High School where he was sought after to be
on the newspaper staff. Stephen sold his first professional story to Starting Mystery
Stories in 1967 (Stephen King.com 1-2).
Stephen King met his wife, Tabitha, while attending the University of Maine at
Orono. Tabitha and Stephen were married in January of 1971. The couple lived in a small
apartment; their only source of income was Stephen’s salary as a laborer at an industrial
laundry. In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching sophomore English in Hampden
Maine and working on short stories on the evenings and weekends. In 1973, his first
novel Carrie was published. Not long after that his second novel ‘Salam’s Lot was
published. With the money made from the two novels Stephen and Tabith...
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...e natural talent (Adams 2-3). King believes that a strong desire to write is what fuels
brilliant story telling.
“Write what you like, then imbue it with life and make it unique by blending in
your own personal knowledge of life, friendship, relationships, sex and work” (King On
Writing 157). Stephen King is the 2003 recipient of The National Book Foundation
Medal For Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He is also the world’s best
selling novelist (Stephen King.com 2). When Stephen is not writing he spends his time
playing guitar in a rock band called “Rock Bottom Remainders” (Full Biography 5). The
way King parallels his life with his writing without making it seem like every story is a
biography is amazing. His stories are compelling and inspiring. “These are just interests
which have grown out of my life and thoughts, out of my experiences as a boy and a man,
out of my roles as a husband, a father, a writer and a lover” (King 208). Stephen King is a
phenomenal author who has written many classics of the twenty-first century. He has
cleverly told the world about himself and his life through his immortal words.
what a good writing consists of. King manifests the idea of the more we read can equivalence to
...e does not discuss what she is writing, while she is writing it. She is afraid that if she speaks of it, it will wear out her idea. She says, “If you want to be a writer, I have two pieces of advice. One is to be a reader. I think that's one of the most important parts of learning to write. The other piece of advice is: Just do it! Don't think about it, don't agonize, sit down and write”.
Kings' letter is addressed to the eight clergy men who had originally posted the srticle to the newspaper. King quotes them by saying how they called his activities "unwise and untimely." King writes about his situation and why he is being held in the Birmingham jail. He simply shows how he is similar to Apostle Paul and other prophets whom were wanting to bring freedom to people. The reason why king had agreed to be apart of the protest is so that he could bring freedom and stop segregation in other cities.
He and Tabitha Spruce married in January of 1971. He met Tabitha in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University of Maine at Orono, where they both worked as students. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.
“On Writing – A Memoir of the Craft” is not written in the traditional textbook format. The structure of this book works as an educational tool is because it offers a personal look at how writing has affected one successful novelist's life. Each section of the book contains something important about the craft of writing. The book also includes a great deal of about the personal impact writing has had on Stephen King's life.
expressed that the boy woke up one day wanting to be a writer, and he then picked up his
In the “On Writing” section of the book, King relays that if you want to be a writer “you must
(58). He had to write short stories to make a living. He had wrote over
odd jobs and eventually made his way to California where he met his future wife,
Another critic, from norwaywrites.com, wrote in a similar sense talking about how Kings works are to the point of being unpublishable. He states, My senior Creative Writing professor in college, a National Book Award winning author, brought into us during a lecture on basic prose and readability a chapter excerpt from Stephen King's newest book at the time, Cell, and without telling us who wrote it asked us to read it and discuss. None of us had read the book yet, because apparently a college education is enough to scare people away from second rate penny stock fiction. We hated it. We marked it up, took it apart, rewrote it, and more or less declared it unpublishable before our professor informed us that it was in the New York Times Bestseller list and had already made more money than all of our college loans combined. He also states that his writings are atrocious and that "the Uncle Scrooge-esque money vault that he s...
... get his stories to fascinate readers. He is crazy but he is amazing at what he does. His love of cars and fantasy is what got me into reading his books. Stephen King bases his stories and movies on Edgar Allen Poes works. For example, Dolan’s Cadillac is a newer version of Cask of Amontillado but way worse. The newest novel he has written is Under the Dome. I love reading because of him. I hope he continues what he is doing now.
“I write because I love. I write for the survival of self, my children, my family, my community and for the Earth. I write to help keep our stories, our truths, our language alive”. (qtd. in Anthology 396.)
In 1958, when King was eleven years old, the family moved to Durham, Maine. This was where King discovered that he had something in common with his father. In the attic of his aunt and uncle’s garage he discovered an old trunk that contained a box of his father’s books, including some by horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, and some of his father’s attempts as writing short stories. King’s teachers reported that one of his greatest passions was writing stories of his own, which he started doing at age six (Hoppenstand 8; Stephen King). Stephen King’s life has influenced his works and served as an important source of inspiration, which is evident in his education and early writing experiences, his pseudonym Richard Bachman, and his near-fatal acc...
Stephen's relationship with the opposite sex begins to develop early in his life. Within the first few pages of the novel lie hints of the different roles women will...
...lly as [he] can, using for [his] defence the only arms [he] allow [himself] to use - silence, exile, and cunning" (226-269). By discussing how education affects Stephen from a child to a young man, Joyce has shown the reader Stephen's development as an artist and human being.