Fiction author Stephen King is well known for his impressive collection of horror novels (although he doesn't personally subscribe to the constraints of genre). Now 72, he is nearing his fifth decade as a writer, having written over 60 published novels, most of which became best-sellers. His most recognizable work includes “Carrie” (1974), “The Shining” (1977), “Pet Sematary” (1983), and “It” (1986), to name a few. While I haven’t personally read any Stephen King novels, I can’t help but be impressed by his iconic stories and wonder how he produced such a great volume of work...surely he would have run out of ideas by now? Where does he get his inspiration?
In a 2014 interview with Rolling Stone, King had a rather short answer as to what initially drew him into the horror and supernatural genre. “It’s built in. That’s all,” King said. As for his typical day of writing, King had this to say:
I wake up. I eat breakfast. I walk about three and a half miles. I come back, I go out to my little office, where I’ve got a manuscript, and the last page that I was happy with is on top. I read that, and it’s like getting on a taxiway. I’m able to go through and revise it and put myself – click – back into that world, whatever it is. I don’t spend the day writing. I’ll maybe write fresh copy for two hours, and then I’ll go back and revise some of it and print what I like and then turn it off.
If we apply Vansteenburgh’s thoughts on incubation (time away from a problem after impasse, which can result in deactivation of incorrect knowledge representations in the brain) and insight to King’s writing process, we can see that he utilizes that incubation time to his advantage. Perhaps he has evaded writer’s block all these years by allowing himself to step away from his work and come back to it with fresh eyes (and new insight).
When asked about the inspiration behind his 2018 novel “The Outsider” on CBS This Morning, King mentions a piece by Edgar Allan Poe and goes on to explain that when an idea “pops into” his mind, he thinks, “Well, let’s play with this a little.” The interviewer inquires whether King is always taking notes or picking up little bits of behavior to use in his books, to which King replies, “It’s like what they say about sharks — they have to keep swimming and feeding all the time. But, you don’t do it on purpose. Every now and then you’ll see something, sometimes it’s two things that come together that give you an idea.”
So what’s Stephen King’s motivation for writing his stories? It seems that his motivation is almost entirely internal. He has more than just a passion for writing — being an author isn’t his career, it’s who he is. In the Rolling Stone article he says,”I can remember as a college student writing stories and novels, some of which ended up getting published and some that didn’t. It was like my head was going to burst – there were so many things I wanted to write all at once. I had so many ideas, jammed up. It was like they just needed permission to come out.”
Stephen King’s natural inclination to collect bits and pieces of his experiences and couple them with his inner stream of creative ideas, along with the pleasure he derives from writing, has undoubtedly been the recipe for his continued success. If we refer to Smith and Ward’s definition of divergent thinking, we can see how King skillfully uses imagination and memory retrieval to flesh out new ideas, restructuring concepts in a novel way to produce compelling fiction.
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THe number of books Stephen King published is enormous, and his comment on his inconsistently published work in college reminds of how creative people often produce a majority of unappreciated work. Artists, writers, and researchers may pump out thousands of ideas in a lifetime, and the small fraction that are groundbreaking happens to be an impressively large number thanks to the quantity of work. Stephen King is an absolute machine with his writing.
ReplyDeleteThe mention of how it's a natural instinct for Stephen King to collect his experiences helps emphasize the "creatives are collectors" idea we have discussed in class. It's fascinating that writers like Stephen King can take everyday experiences and turn them into such incredible stories.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog post! I think you perfectly captured Stephen King's use of incubation with the quote that you used. I used to always wonder how creative people like authors and artists never ran out of ideas, but now I think that incubation has a lot to do with it. It's extremely important to let your mind rest and take a break in order to ease any type of potential anxiety. Therefore, I think incubation has a lot to do with Stephen King's success. Also, I like how you mentioned that being an author is not his career, but rather, it is who he is. This is important to distinguish because it shows how King's lifestyle has made him a successful author.
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