Try any goddam thing you like, no matter how boringly normal or outrageous. If it works, fine. If it doesn't, toss it. Toss it even if you love it.
Stephen KingRead
I think the best stories always end up being about the people rather than the event, which is to say character-driven.
Interpretation
Great stories focus on character rather than merely the plot or events.
In this quote, Stephen King emphasizes the importance of characters in storytelling. He suggests that the depth and relatability of characters are what truly resonate with audiences, making them feel more invested in the narrative, as opposed to just the action or events that occur within the story.
In practice
In a writing workshop, to highlight the significance of character development in storytelling.
Try any goddam thing you like, no matter how boringly normal or outrageous. If it works, fine. If it doesn't, toss it. Toss it even if you love it.
Eddie discovered one of his childhood's great truths. Grownups are the real monsters, he thought.
Hairstyles change, and skirt lengths, and slang, but high school administrations? Never.
Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader’s.
That's the day's business. Thinking. Thinking and isolation, because it doesn't matter if you pass the time of day with someone or not; in the end, you're alone. He seemed to have put in as many miles in his brain as he had with his feet. The thoughts kept coming and there was no way to deny them.
Late last night and the night before, tommyknockers, tommyknockers knocking on my door. I wanna go out, don't know if I can 'cuz I'm so afraid of the tommyknocker man.
Some split between the inner world and outer world is common to all behaviour, and the need to bridge the gap is the source of creative behaviour.
Of course, literature is the only spiritual and humane career. Even painting tends to dumness, and music turns people erotic, whereas the more you write the nicer you become.
Why not do something strange and different for once? Artists can do whatever they want!
I like commas. I detest semi-colons - I don't think they belong in a story. And I gave up quotation marks long ago. I found I didn't need them, they were fly-specks on the page.
Cooking is not a craft to get into for money. The money may come, or it may not. But you must get into it for the craft and the culture.
The work of creation is never without travail.
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