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Stephen King's impact on literature
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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.
“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.)
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.
(58). He had to write short stories to make a living. He had wrote over
The Kings were your average family until one night when his father Donald said he was going out for a pack of cigarettes, and never returned home. Stephen at the time was only three years old. His father had a large collection of science fiction novels in which Stephen read growing up. By the time Stephen was seven years old, he wrote his first short story. He also was a fan of the 50’s horror movies, which inspired him to write in the science fiction field. Stephen’s stories were also influenced by the nineteenth century gothic tradition, especially the writings of Edgar Allan Poe. King as a teenager, joined the football team, played in a rock band, yet still had two of his short stories published.
odd jobs and eventually made his way to California where he met his future wife,
As one of the most influential American writers, Stephen King uses fear to capture his readers by engulfing them into his world of fears. Winning over fifty awards, Stephen King has changed the face of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction, and fantasy novels. Stephen King's life influences his literary works through his many fears, his upbringing in Maine, and his life as a parent.
Spignesi, Stephen J. The Essential Stephen King : A Ranking Of The Greatest Novels, Short
Stephen King is one of the most respected and well known men to ever write horror stories, behind Edgar Allen Poe of course. Stephen King is very famous all around the world for his novels such as It, Halloween, Carrie, The Shining, Pet Cemetery, as well as another amazing fifty-nine other novels. I have only read three of Kings books, Carrie, Pet Cemetery, and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, which I have selected for my book report. Personally The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon was my least favorite, I did not find it frightening at all, and a little boring at times. It seemed like a nine year old would not be as intelligent as the the girl in the book and very unrealistic. Not that any of his other books are realistic, just this one did not satisfy me with the amount of horror even though it is classified as a horror story.
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...
When King had started school, he had already written a handful of small tales, inspired by nonfiction books and horror magazines such as Tales from the Crypt. Although King was a great writer at the time, he usually could not get any better than C in other core subjects like math and science. Even though Stephen enjoyed reading, writing, and watching movies, he was teased at school for being different; he was taller than others of his age and was chubby. Stephens’s teacher noticed his writing skills were more advanced than the rest of his class, and that he spent a majority of his time writing stories or plays. He also published a newspaper called The...
Stephen King is known as one of the greatest horror and gothic writers of our time. The reason for this is his ability to fuse the gothic elements created by stories such as Dracula or Frankenstein and todays horror. King has written hundreds of short stories but two in-particular “The Night Flier” and “Popsy” show his unique ability to combined gothic elements from the old literature with realistic settings and people of our era. One of his greater talents is being able to use gothic element like vampires and make us see them in a different light. Kings unique way of writing with his old gothic ideals, new horror ideas, and use of realistic settings help to put a new spin on what we conceive as gothic story.
Through making the audience realize this, he also gave them hope for a world reborn without racism, without segregation, without discrimination, and without hate. King wanted his children to live in a world without judgment of race, but with the consideration of personality, for nobody should not endure judgment because of the way that they look. He spoke of his own children, which introduced a reinforced emotional attachment to the audience; this gave many parents a scenario to relate to because no parent wants their child exposed to the horrid crimes of discrimination.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Ray Bradbury started writing at a young age. When he first started writing, he wrote poems and short stories. His writing from there progressed into books and started publishing them. His childhood and his experiences had a big influence on his stories. Ray Bradbury is a well known science fiction author and wrote many well known stories about his experiences in life; many critics said his books were relevatory.(biography.com)
...dom and power of his soul, as the great artificer whose name he bore, a living thing, new and soaring and beautiful, impalpable, imperishable". (Joyce, 433) Stephen is now fully able to create from within himself, without being dependent on others to feel whole. This is accentuated by Joyce’s description of the beach scene— "He was alone. He was unheeded, happy and near to the wild heart of life". (Joyce, 433) Stephen the artist is alone and needs to be alone, not to search in vein for companionship that, even if attained, could only drag him from his newfound freedom. This realization of self-fulfillment and self-control is the single defining point in Stephen’s education; it is the brushstroke that completes the "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man."
“The scariest moment is always just before you start.” This quote is one of the most well known sayings from the famous creative writer, Stephen King. American history has been filled with hundreds of great and influential authors, starting from the creators of the first books in Ancient Rome to the stack of books in public libraries around the world. Throughout all of the famous and inspirational authors, Stephen King holds a spot in the modern world of literature. King has inspired thousands with his words and determination to carry on. He had a desire to be a writer as a child and never lost the interest even with age (“Growing up Believing in God”).