Authors, Writers, Publishers, and Book Readers

How Stephen King creates suspense

I thought this analysis of his work was interesting. It's good to learn from the masters!

http://writersdigest.com/article/the-3-steps-stephen-king-employs-t...

Do you do the same?

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Permalink Reply by Dairenna VonRavenstone on May 20, 2010 at 2:48am

I'm constantly reading and looking for common themes in what I read...subconsiously, I don't actually take a pen to any novel and mark it up.

I've noticed King's 'three steps' more so in 'Under the Dome' then any other book thus far, then again I'm not even close to being half way through that monster...lol

I think a person can learn a lot by just reading a master's works. Whether they aim to learn something or not, it kind of sticks with them.

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Permalink Reply by scribbler on May 27, 2010 at 9:37pm

I agree, you do learn. King himself said "If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that."

How are you liking Under The Dome? It's on my wishlist.

Dairenna VonRavenstone said:

I'm constantly reading and looking for common themes in what I read...subconsiously, I don't actually take a pen to any novel and mark it up.

I've noticed King's 'three steps' more so in 'Under the Dome' then any other book thus far, then again I'm not even close to being half way through that monster...lol

I think a person can learn a lot by just reading a master's works. Whether they aim to learn something or not, it kind of sticks with them.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Dairenna VonRavenstone on May 29, 2010 at 9:03pm

I read somewhere that a good author has to read at least 1,000 books of varying genres. It makes sense, the more you read, the more you can pick up.
Under the Dome is pretty good thus far. I'm kind of reading about 60 pages a week in a book store because I don't have the space for it. It's mammoth, perhaps bigger than 'It'. It has a good deal of violence right in the first few chapters then patters down for a bit to kind of work on the problem at hand...which is a dome of couse..lol. Though it seems like it's almost over where I am right now, even though I'm only about 1/3 of the way through. Then again, it's King, so I'm sure he's got something up his sleeve.

scribbler said:

I agree, you do learn. King himself said "If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that."

How are you liking Under The Dome? It's on my wishlist.

Dairenna VonRavenstone said:
I'm constantly reading and looking for common themes in what I read...subconsiously, I don't actually take a pen to any novel and mark it up.

I've noticed King's 'three steps' more so in 'Under the Dome' then any other book thus far, then again I'm not even close to being half way through that monster...lol

I think a person can learn a lot by just reading a master's works. Whether they aim to learn something or not, it kind of sticks with them.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kay Elizabeth on June 1, 2010 at 1:24am

Sounds good! I love The Stand. It was my favorite out of them all. Have you read any of the short stories he wrote under Bachman, Dairenna? The Long Walk's very good. I also liked The Regulators.

Dairenna VonRavenstone said:

I read somewhere that a good author has to read at least 1,000 books of varying genres. It makes sense, the more you read, the more you can pick up.
Under the Dome is pretty good thus far. I'm kind of reading about 60 pages a week in a book store because I don't have the space for it. It's mammoth, perhaps bigger than 'It'. It has a good deal of violence right in the first few chapters then patters down for a bit to kind of work on the problem at hand...which is a dome of couse..lol. Though it seems like it's almost over where I am right now, even though I'm only about 1/3 of the way through. Then again, it's King, so I'm sure he's got something up his sleeve.

scribbler said:
I agree, you do learn. King himself said "If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that."

How are you liking Under The Dome? It's on my wishlist.

Dairenna VonRavenstone said:
I'm constantly reading and looking for common themes in what I read...subconsiously, I don't actually take a pen to any novel and mark it up.

I've noticed King's 'three steps' more so in 'Under the Dome' then any other book thus far, then again I'm not even close to being half way through that monster...lol

I think a person can learn a lot by just reading a master's works. Whether they aim to learn something or not, it kind of sticks with them.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Dairenna VonRavenstone on June 2, 2010 at 1:49am

I read the stand and Regulators too long ago to rememeber anything...lol. I have most of King's books (including the original prints, or close to the original prints of the Gunslinger series) as well as most of Bachman. But again, I read them about 6 years ago and they're now at the back of my closet somewhere...lol.

Kay Elizabeth said:

Sounds good! I love The Stand. It was my favorite out of them all. Have you read any of the short stories he wrote under Bachman, Dairenna? The Long Walk's very good. I also liked The Regulators.

Dairenna VonRavenstone said:
I read somewhere that a good author has to read at least 1,000 books of varying genres. It makes sense, the more you read, the more you can pick up.
Under the Dome is pretty good thus far. I'm kind of reading about 60 pages a week in a book store because I don't have the space for it. It's mammoth, perhaps bigger than 'It'. It has a good deal of violence right in the first few chapters then patters down for a bit to kind of work on the problem at hand...which is a dome of couse..lol. Though it seems like it's almost over where I am right now, even though I'm only about 1/3 of the way through. Then again, it's King, so I'm sure he's got something up his sleeve.

scribbler said:
I agree, you do learn. King himself said "If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that."

How are you liking Under The Dome? It's on my wishlist.

Dairenna VonRavenstone said:
I'm constantly reading and looking for common themes in what I read...subconsiously, I don't actually take a pen to any novel and mark it up.

I've noticed King's 'three steps' more so in 'Under the Dome' then any other book thus far, then again I'm not even close to being half way through that monster...lol

I think a person can learn a lot by just reading a master's works. Whether they aim to learn something or not, it kind of sticks with them.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kay Elizabeth on June 7, 2010 at 5:25am

I used have loads of his too, then I moved house and the boxes got left behind by mistake. Long story. I could read The Stand over and over. The Gunslinger series didn't appeal to me so I didn't try them.

Dairenna VonRavenstone said:

I read the stand and Regulators too long ago to rememeber anything...lol. I have most of King's books (including the original prints, or close to the original prints of the Gunslinger series) as well as most of Bachman. But again, I read them about 6 years ago and they're now at the back of my closet somewhere...lol.

Kay Elizabeth said:
Sounds good! I love The Stand. It was my favorite out of them all. Have you read any of the short stories he wrote under Bachman, Dairenna? The Long Walk's very good. I also liked The Regulators.

Dairenna VonRavenstone said:
I read somewhere that a good author has to read at least 1,000 books of varying genres. It makes sense, the more you read, the more you can pick up.
Under the Dome is pretty good thus far. I'm kind of reading about 60 pages a week in a book store because I don't have the space for it. It's mammoth, perhaps bigger than 'It'. It has a good deal of violence right in the first few chapters then patters down for a bit to kind of work on the problem at hand...which is a dome of couse..lol. Though it seems like it's almost over where I am right now, even though I'm only about 1/3 of the way through. Then again, it's King, so I'm sure he's got something up his sleeve.

scribbler said:
I agree, you do learn. King himself said "If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that."

How are you liking Under The Dome? It's on my wishlist.

Dairenna VonRavenstone said:
I'm constantly reading and looking for common themes in what I read...subconsiously, I don't actually take a pen to any novel and mark it up.

I've noticed King's 'three steps' more so in 'Under the Dome' then any other book thus far, then again I'm not even close to being half way through that monster...lol

I think a person can learn a lot by just reading a master's works. Whether they aim to learn something or not, it kind of sticks with them.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Sean Noonan on September 16, 2011 at 9:46pm

Found this trolling through the back chats.

Good stuff and I will incorporate the technique as I polish up my books for the big boys. (I have a meeting in London on 5th November with Writers and Artists - sponsored by Bloowsbury). Never stop learning and always improve your work.

As a Master Mariner I know it takes a long time to be an expert so I know it will take a lot more time, effort and hard work to be a Master Storyteller, but if anyone wants to be one, they need to pay the dues! I know I do and am more than willing to learn from other Masters.

All in all a great tip from King here!