20 Writing and Screenwriting Tips from Stephen King

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  • čas přidán 30. 05. 2024
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    Stephen King is an American writer, screenwriter and author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", his books have sold more than 350 million copies, and many have been adapted into films, television series, miniseries, and comic books. King has published 63 novels, including seven under the pen name Richard Bachman. He has also written approximately 200 short stories. Many of his short stories and books were adapted into movies like The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, It, The Stand, The Shining, Carrie, Misery, Stand by Me, Pet Sematary,...
    Stephen King's formula for learning to write well is: "Read and write four to six hours a day. If you cannot find the time for that, you can't expect to become a good writer." He sets out each day with a quota of 2000 words and will not stop writing until it is met.
    01. Write something that’s forbidden. Say things that others won’t say.
    02. Writing is like building a campfire; one by one, your characters must come out of the woods to help add onto the fire, onto the story.
    03. Keep your imagination young.
    04. Recognize the difference between horror and suspense.
    05. To find your story, always keep your radar for finding ideas on and let them come to you.
    06. Begin with an idea from your life, then ask yourself “what if”.
    07. Write simple, visual stories with high conflict if you want your work to be adapted into a film.
    08. After you’ve finished your book or screenplay, let it marinate for some time, then come back to it.
    09. If you keep getting rejected, get a bigger nail for your rejection slips.
    10. Follow characters and situations and see where they go, instead of resorting to plot.
    11. Start with forcing yourself to write sentence by sentence, until you get into a flow state.
    12. Stop putting off reading and writing.
    13. Good ideas will stay with you, so write down all your ideas to get rid of the bad ones.
    14. Writing can be learned but it can’t be taught. You learn it yourself.
    15. Writing is self-hypnosis.
    16. Sometimes writing short ideas will lead into creating longer stories.
    17. Get your rest to come back with a refreshed mind.
    18. Learn to write for different mediums.
    19. Choose to write stories that you would like to live with for a while.
    20. Get immersed in your writing process until the outside world is gone.
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Komentáře • 62

  • @Ruylopez778
    @Ruylopez778 Před 2 lety +58

    Great advice in general - write for yourself not the audience, read widely, write a lot, start writing each day and don't wait for inspiration or motivation, it comes with the act of doing. Anyone who procrastinates should look for Pressfield's advice on 'Turning Pro' (not procrastinating). I just want to remind new writers that everyone has their own process. For example, David Lynch says, 'write every idea down, because there's nothing worse than forgetting a good idea' the opposite of how King works.

  • @Indigo2400
    @Indigo2400 Před 2 lety +88

    I'm trying to become a horror writer and director i'm 14 years old and this video means alot to me so thank you. Remember the name Axl Sixx🤘🏽

    • @dogmahnn3652
      @dogmahnn3652 Před 2 lety +9

      Go for it man. You got this

    • @Indigo2400
      @Indigo2400 Před 2 lety +2

      @@dogmahnn3652 🖤🖤

    • @Indigo2400
      @Indigo2400 Před 2 lety +6

      @I am me i'm now working on it right now. i also just released my first horror story on wattpad it's called "Lockdown Revenge" if you want to read it.
      Edit: reading the story right now there are actually pretty alot of mistakes that i made like spelling or now using all of my ability's on wattpad BUT i'm still 14 it's my first horror story. 0 excuses I'm going to keep going until i reach my goal!🖤

    • @lovecat1568
      @lovecat1568 Před rokem +3

      @@Indigo2400 Just remember that every 'mistake' you make is a step on the path of improvement. Keep at it dude \m/

    • @stupidone5558
      @stupidone5558 Před rokem +1

      Keep going bro! Don't stop.

  • @joshplowman8530
    @joshplowman8530 Před 2 lety +11

    I respectfully disagree with your interpretation of Point 13-
    Stephen King is saying DON’T write down all of your ideas; the good ideas will stick in your head because they engage you and the bad ones will eventually be erased by time. He explains this further in a different video I’ve seen; he compares it to running the ideas through a strainer, where the bad (small) ideas will fall through as time passes and the good ideas will remain.

    • @lizziewicked
      @lizziewicked Před rokem +1

      Yep it cross references. We must have seen the same video

  • @dee1408
    @dee1408 Před rokem +11

    I love his interviews. One book of his that I didn't want to end was Billy Summers. I laughed, cried, and pined for the characters. I wanted the story to continue on. Also I loved the trilogy of a detective.

    • @luckyturtle2986
      @luckyturtle2986 Před rokem +1

      I loved Billy Summers too. It was the first book I read to get back into reading and it made me want to keep reading more. I’m reading Fairy Tale right now and I’m loving it too!

  • @schlumbl84
    @schlumbl84 Před 17 dny

    I really like King's approach and wise words. He puts it all in simple words where sooo many writers these days are too much in their headspace.
    Writing is passion.

  • @patrickdodds7162
    @patrickdodds7162 Před 2 lety +37

    Anyone who wrote "The Shawshank Redemption" is worth listening to.

  • @jaybsebastiannadela652
    @jaybsebastiannadela652 Před 11 měsíci +6

    STEPHEN KING'S MY IDOL I'M TRYING TO BE A HORROR WRITER EVEN THOUGH I'M STILL 10

  • @carmenvillasenor1186
    @carmenvillasenor1186 Před 5 měsíci +2

    18:35 Time and Space Dissolve Basically when you have given your self to what you were meant to do in this life!

  • @JFreese
    @JFreese Před 2 lety +9

    Thank you so much for providing these videos to us! They are so helpful in my writing process.

  • @Thisiscinemalist
    @Thisiscinemalist Před 2 lety +2

    This video is a gem! Thanks a lot!! 😌

  • @Ravikanth_007
    @Ravikanth_007 Před 2 lety +4

    I can listen to this guy for hours

  • @Ravikanth_007
    @Ravikanth_007 Před 2 lety +1

    Thanks for the great video 👍🏼

  • @paulnorris1559
    @paulnorris1559 Před rokem +1

    Thank you so much for this. I am writing my first novel and this has given me so many tips.

  • @alejandrogonzalezinarritu9142

    Thank you so much this means a lot to me 😍

  • @crazyfilmmakers7045
    @crazyfilmmakers7045 Před 2 lety +8

    Suggestion : You have to make a video on Salim- Javed (DUO) Sir. One of the greatest writers of Indian cinema. People learn so much from them.

    • @bskravivarman
      @bskravivarman Před 2 lety

      Salim - Javed are like Coen brothers from India

    • @noedits5543
      @noedits5543 Před 8 měsíci

      they are the maha ch_utiya jihaadi pair always showing Hind_uism as superstitious and islam as holy.
      but hindus are eternal ga_ndus who severely lack any iota of self esteem, they li_ck the ash wholes of those who ab_use them.

  • @loki_l_1380
    @loki_l_1380 Před 12 dny

    "I can do better than this, and this got published!"
    This thought has pulled me out of the deep hole of self doubt more than times than I can count.

  • @benrosn8154
    @benrosn8154 Před 10 měsíci +3

    Stephen. Kings. The total genius.

  • @harryom3497
    @harryom3497 Před 2 lety +3

    Thanks

  • @Gamerboy12235
    @Gamerboy12235 Před 8 měsíci

    My dream is be be a horror writer and I read a lot of Stephen King novels to get ideas. And this video helped me out thank you!

  • @willlento1206
    @willlento1206 Před 2 lety +2

    Does anyone know where the footage of him wearing the peace sign shirt is from? Feel like I've seen every interview of his on CZcams but that one doesn't look familiar..

  • @songOmatic
    @songOmatic Před rokem

    All these tips work PERFECTLY for songwriting as well.

  • @howardkoor9365
    @howardkoor9365 Před rokem +1

    What a mind on that boy!

  • @BucketOfMarbles
    @BucketOfMarbles Před 2 lety +2

    “Fiction is a lie; good fiction is the truth”

  • @Anuar_
    @Anuar_ Před 2 lety +1

    спасибо за такой контет )))

  • @graham6132
    @graham6132 Před rokem

    13:08 - Me after putting down Thomas Pynchon’s The Bleeding Edge . . .

  • @BernardJMorgan
    @BernardJMorgan Před 2 lety +1

    Oh damn his story with of his father is basically the set up in “The Monkey”

  • @SisterCrow
    @SisterCrow Před 6 měsíci

    10:17

  • @user-nr5tj4iv8l
    @user-nr5tj4iv8l Před 2 lety +1

    Гений страхов мой поклон стивен моя блевотина.

  • @TempleOfNoMasters
    @TempleOfNoMasters Před měsícem

    Very much expected numbers one and two to be cocaine

  • @velvet5070
    @velvet5070 Před 2 lety +4

    I gave Mr. King some of these ideas back in the 80s. We knew each other very well in the 70s. We had a fall out because of the story The Shining. I worked at a hotel, and I told him to write one about a madman and a hotel. I gave him the idea. He refused to speak with me afterward.

    • @Kal-El207
      @Kal-El207 Před 2 lety +3

      Any proof of it?

    • @marieunuka22
      @marieunuka22 Před rokem

      Thats sad if its true :/ at the same time, if you hadnt givent him the idea, the shinning wouldnt have been created lol

    • @psalmsurfer1
      @psalmsurfer1 Před rokem +1

      @@Kal-El207 dont bet on it lol

    • @The-CoffeeMan
      @The-CoffeeMan Před 6 měsíci

      What an amazing coincidence. Here, in the same comment section, we have two people who gave King some of his ideas. You gave him the idea for the Shining and i gave him the idea for The Stand and IT.
      I never made it as a writer myself though so now i sell bridges for a living.
      Anyone wanna buy one is Brooklyn? I currently have it listed for sale.

  • @mrliberty8468
    @mrliberty8468 Před rokem +1

    tip numer 1 dont screw up the ending like I always do...

    • @lizziewicked
      @lizziewicked Před rokem

      Tip NUMBER 1: if you’re gonna write, learn how to spell

    • @mrliberty8468
      @mrliberty8468 Před rokem

      @@lizziewicked more like type dumb a#s.

  • @graham6132
    @graham6132 Před rokem

    I don’t get it, how is Stephen King a professional writer when he isn’t even certified by an MFA program? . . .

  • @indiegamechris4759
    @indiegamechris4759 Před 25 dny

    There's some good stuff here, but his humor makes him come off as a bit of a jerk. I'm more of a Story Grid kind of guy.

  • @lucyhall526
    @lucyhall526 Před rokem

    I will try to keep this comment as short and sweet as POSSIBLE which is virtually IMPOSSIBLE for me 99.9 percent of the time, my disclaimer is: (I'm unfortunately MIDDLE GROUND OCD, A PERFECTIONIST, and INSECURE as HELL!). I was obsessed with reading stories since I learned how to read in 1st grade, then I became obsessed with writing when I entered Junior High school back in 1974, 7th grade to be exact! I became an obsessive, voracious reader and veracious writer is a more accurate word which I should use to describe how I see myself as a writer, because my truth is my truth, no matter what memories that has filled up that part of the psyche which makes you who you have become, NATURE VERSUS NURTURE, LOVE, LOSS, LONELY, LUCKY, HAPPY, MUSICALLY INCLINED, INTUITIVE, PSYCHIC, MAGICAL, DREAMS, on and on , I can twist anyone of my life experiences and make it into a story that only I can tell, based in my reality , my truth! The 1st horror book I read when I was 12, 1 year after my father died 2 months after I turned 11, which was APRIL 4TH, 1972, he passed away on JUNE 19TH, 1972, also the movie was about to hit theater's that year and not without CONTOVERSY, I'm talking about of course THE EXORCIST! I was always drawn to the dark side of reality even as a young child, scary stories, nighttime, graveyards, witches, ghosts, I figured out the WHY as I got older with the SCIENTIFIC BREAKTHRU OF THE 21ST CENTURY, talking about DNA, THE INTERNET, LIFETIME EXPERIENCES that couldn't be chalked up to just LUCK or COINCIDENCES! This is what my lifelong overdue dream has been since I turned 50 years old, now I'm about to turn 62 in just a very short 4 months' time! I want to finish what I started several years ago, at the urging of my now 4 adult daughters and 1 adult son, write my unbelievable, true-life story, no 3rd party hearsay, to many proven documented experiences that will blow your mind and also prove that UNIVERSAL SYNCRONICITIES are not just LUCK or COINCIDENCES! FYI, I became a lifelong FANATICAL FAN of you MR. STEVEN KING, also PETER STRAUB, DEAN KOONTZ, VC ANDREWS way back in the day when as a young teenager! LIFE IS A DEFINATE MYSTERY! 💜I have to add this little SYNCRONICITY, There's 789 thumbs up, today's date adds up to number 7 which is my LIFEPATH NUMBER, 39 COMMENTS which is the number 3 added, also it is 12 which is the month, also today is the 7th, I have 16 messages waiting to be read, there's that number 7 again, 7 is the PSYCHIC NUMBER, we have 5 core NUMEROLOGICAL NUMBERS for those who are curious, I am an ASTROLOGER, NUMERASTROLOGIST, TAROT READER, and I have other interests in the PARANORMAL FIELD!

  • @patsloyan9755
    @patsloyan9755 Před rokem +1

    Mort Rainey ,” The Secret Window” , prequel please 🤍