When you start, it's very cold, an impossible task. But then maybe the characters start to take on a little bit of life, or the story takes a turn that you don't expect ... With me that happens a lot because I don't outline, I just have a vague notion. So it's always felt like less of a made thing and more of a found thing. That's exciting. That's a thrill.
Stephen KingI think that we're all mentally ill. Those of us outside the asylums only hide it a little better - and maybe not all that much better after all.
Stephen KingI know I can do it," Todd Downey said, helping himself to another ear of corn from the steaming bowl. "I'm sure that in time her death will be a mystery, even to me.
Stephen KingSo okay - there you are in your room with the shade down and the door shut and the plug pulled out of the base of the telephone. You've blown up your TV and committed yourself to a thousand words a day, come hell or high water. Now comes the big question: What are you going to write about? And the equally big answer: Anything you damn well want.
Stephen KingThere is zero, and there is eternity, and there is mortality, but there is no ultimate.
Stephen KingSome of this bookโperhaps too muchโhas been about how I learned to do it. Much of it has been about how you can do it better. The rest of itโand perhaps the best of itโis a permission slip: you can, you should, and if you're brave enough to start, you will. Writing is magic, as much the water of life as any other creative art. The water is free. So drink. Drink and be filled up.
Stephen King