Authors use pen names for various reasons. Sometimes its because they aren't aloud to get published according to the publisher, and other times its because they want to write more. Many authors new and old use pen names when writing. Even famous authors, like Stephen King or J.K. Rowling. There are many books still out there that haven’t been read that much but famous authors write them, because their pen names aren’t well known and people didn’t know it was they.
Pen names are names that authors use instead of their real names. As stated in “What’s in a name?” Eric Blair uses the name “George Orwell” because he feared his early work would embarrass his family. Sometimes, a pen name is the only way an author can get published, sometimes depending on their gender or race. There have been many authors who could not get published because they were girls. The writer of the Harry Potter series J.K. Rowling thought that if she put her real name on Harry Potter, her readers wouldn’t take the book seriously if they knew a woman had written it. Many authors fear the same as Rowling.
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Even one of the best and most well known authors has written books under pen names, and that is Steven King. Steven King has written various books under the name Richard Bachman. As stated in “Who Is Richard Bachman?” King embraced the Bachman pseudonym because it allowed him to analyze his own success in his writing career: was he successful because of his talent or successful because of luck? King also has a complete backstory to his character. “Bachman” has a wife, he used to be on the coast guard, and works on a dairy farm. In 1985, King had been revealed as being Richard Bachman. Stated in the article “Who Is Richard Bachman?” a Washington D.C. bookstore owner noticed that the writing styles of the two authors seemed similar. And even though he was revealed as being Richard Bachman, Steven King still used the pen
In On Writing’s section titled “On Writing,” Stephen King iterates multiple times, his true feelings for writing by telling his story. The central point that he uses to say that writing is his passion and what he truly feels joy in is how he writes. King at one point says, “When I am writing, it is all the playground…”(King 149), this is the best example of how he translates his feelings. He uses the playground as a metaphor to intensify the joy he gets from writing, as a playground or park is something we can all relate to. It is not just that one quote, but it is also his tone as a whole, rather than being some distanced writer not showing emotion, he creates a tone of a proud father, pushing a child to love what he does, and not to take it for granted. King accomplishes this tone by giving small tips and tricks that he has used over the years, almost as a mentor to give the sense as it is not just a book, but a guide to becoming a better
As a child, Ray Bradbury loved to read fantasy novels. Inspired by his favorite writers, he longed to become a fantasy writer himself. Bradbury lived during the Great Depression with very little money, therefore he could not put himself through school. Instead, Bradbury went to the library every other day for ten years. During this time, he realized that he wanted to pursue his dream of becoming a writer. To get money, Bradbury started publishing his works in a newspaper. Because he wanted practice, he used several pseudonyms to make it look like he had several authors publishing their stories in his newspaper, but in fact, it was written entirely by Bradbury himself. “Bradbury uses [his] stories not only to entertain, but to cause readers to think about their own lives” (Clark, Tracy). He focused more on the message of his story than the popularity of it. “When ask...
In an Amazon.co.uk interview titled “Magic, Mystery and Mayhem: An Interview with J.K. Rowling,” when asked about the way she came up with the names of characters in her books, she replied, “I invented some of the names in the Harry books, but I also collect strange names. I've gotten them from medieval saints, maps, dictionaries, plants, war memorials, and people I've met!” J.K. Rowling chose these names for a reason based on the deeper meanings behind every character's name and the way they relate to their roles and personalities. In Octavia E. Butler's short story “Speech Sounds”, Rye and Obsidian were the names she chose for her characters. Rye, the name of the main protagonist which symbolizes home and earth yearns to reconnect with her family and to rebuild a family of her own while Obsidian, the supporting character, is named after a type of lava stone, which is believed to contain magical properties that “absorbs and destroys negative energy such as anger, criticism, and fear” (Zagata). The names of the characters have two purposes: to describe the character's role and personality, and to give them an identity.
Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his parents separated when Stephen was a toddler, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family was at the time, and in Stratford, Connecticut. When Stephen was eleven, his mother brought her children back to Durham, Maine, for good. Her parents, Guy and Nellie Pillsbury, had become incapacitated with old age, and Ruth King was persuaded by her sisters to take over the physical care of the elderly couple. Other family members provided a small house in Durham and financial support. After Stephen's grandparents passed away, Mrs. King found work in the kitchens of Pineland, a nearby residential facility for the mentally challenged.
The Harry Potter book series has sold over 450 million copies and has been translated into almost every language on the face of the earth (“Harry Potter”). Millions have faithfully followed the story about this magical world and have fallen in love with the many enchanting characters. What most readers do not recognize is the prominence that classical Greek/Roman mythological allusions play in the beloved Harry Potter roles through their names and personality attributes. The importance of names is extremely significant to a person’s identity, especially in literature where words are meant to bring stories to life. J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, continues this concept through her characters by linking their names to classical
My book was The City of Bones, written by Cassandra Clare. As a child Cassandra spent a lot of time traveling around the world. She went to Los Angeles for high school. After high school she worked for many entertainment and tabloids. She began writing fan fiction using the name Cassandra Clare. She deleted her fan fiction shortly before she wrote her first novel, “City of Bones”. Cassandra has written many other books, including the rest of the series to City of Bones. City of Ashes is the second book to the trilogy, and City of Glass is the third. As of now I think she is working on the next cycle of books for the Mortal Instruments series. She tells young writers about how she gets her ideas. She says that your ideas come from all around you, everything you experience in your everyday life.
It is possible that by having a woman take his name, he is subjugating her to him so he is elevated in importance in a way that will translate professionally. If you notice, many women in positions of fame resist this by keeping their maiden names after marriage. Look at Beyonce Knowles for one, or Sarah Michelle Gellar. They have both maintained their identities. Many women will also hyphenate their name as a way to maintain their professional
For example, Jake and Jean-Pierre, and Anna and Sadie. Although Jake and Jean are two different people in the novel, they kind of mirror each other. Jake and Jean are both writers, however, Jean writes in French and a little bit successful, while Jake translates Jean’s works to English. After knowing that Jean has won a prize for his works, Jake wonders if he could too. “It's easier to sell junk when you're known than works of genius when you're unknown” (p16f). Jake did later on think about writing his own work, but in this quote he is talking about an unfortunate, yet reality of
So, is Joseph Hillstrom King (Joe Hill) a writer because he and his father, Stephen King, share an artistic "gene" that makes them want to write? Or is Joe Hill a writer because he grew up in a house with Stephen King, where he learned to love the things his father loved to do?
Stephen King was born in Maine in 1947. His father abandoned him when he was 2 years old. His mother and brother was all he ever knew. Him and his brother were raised in Fort Wayne, Indiana where his father lived at the time. He was also raised in Connecticut too. His mother decided to move them back to Maine for their own good. There he got a job at Kitchens of Pineland. A kitchen of Pineland was by a mentally challenged hospital. He went to a Durham grammar school then attended Libson High School. In 1966, He graduated. At University of Maine of Orana, he was a sophomore that wrote for The Maine Campus, the school’s newspaper. He became a member of the Student Senate in Student politician. He also attended an Anti-war movement. In 1970, he graduated. His examination was a 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums. From his examinations, he got a diploma to be a full time teacher.
For such a successful writer, Stephen King really had no secret to his writing style. King has credited free writing for his best ideas. He also has a very down to earth way of looking at his fame. Stephen King would read for four hours, and then he would write for four hours or until he reached 2,000 words. In a Time magazine interview, King called this his nine to five approach and that he, “worked until beer o’ clock.” When asked where his ideas came from, King would often reply, “I have the heart of a small boy. . . And I keep it in a jar on my desk.” Also, he does not have just one particular way of writing horror, and what often sets off the terror in his readers most was the vast amount of detail portrayed.
In the first place, pen names can be created in many different ways. You could create you own name like Benjamin Franklin, which went “under the persona of the middle-aged widow Silence Dogood”(What’s in a Name? By: E. Bennet). Also, you could use your abbreviations of your name as a pen name. A great example is J.K Rowling. In fear of young boys finding out a woman
I never thought of changing my name but authors do,so the can be able to publish a book. Well I have a few reasons why they do so. According to the article people like .J K. Rowling, she is a woman but people wouldn’t take her Harry Potter books serious if they knew. She was a woman so that’s why she has a pen name so they would not know who she really is. Another good reason according to the article Lewis Carroll he wrote the Alice in Wonderland. Since he is a man people didn’t like the idea of him writing a book about a girl fantasy, so he also had a pen name and disguised his self so people would think he is a woman, author have a pen name so they would be able to publish there books.
Edgar Allen Poe used his literary works, to deal with stresses of reality. In his works he vented his frustrations and own negativity, and often used his own life experiences in his characters. Poe made it through much of his life by disguising his feelings in his work. To begin with Poe was considered to be a gothic fiction writer. Specifically his most used themes were questioning of death, reanimation of the dead, and mourning. However Poe also wrote humor tales and hoaxes. He was a very confused individual but he used his life and pain to become a very famous author. (Gale.Web, 2013)
Have you ever caught yourself imagining? J.K Rowling is the author of the Harry Potter series and spent a lot of her time imagining. Rowling came up with imaginary things to make her books interesting. She is now a well-known author and very famous. Imagination can lead to great things.