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
The object of fiction isn't grammatical correctness but to make the reader welcome and then tell a story.... Writing is seduction. Good talk is part of seduction.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Fiction prioritizes engaging storytelling over strict grammar, and writing is akin to the art of seduction.
In this quote, Stephen King emphasizes that the essence of fiction is not bound by grammatical rules but focuses on creating an inviting atmosphere for the reader. He likens writing to seduction, where the ultimate goal is to charm the audience and effectively narrate a captivating story, suggesting that effective communication involves an element of allure and connection.
Themes
FictionStorytellingWritingSeductionEngagement
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used as a part of a writing workshop to inspire aspiring authors.
More from Stephen King
All quotes →Eddie discovered one of his childhood's great truths. Grownups are the real monsters, he thought.
Stephen KingRead
Hairstyles change, and skirt lengths, and slang, but high school administrations? Never.
Stephen KingRead
Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader’s.
Stephen KingRead
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.
Stephen KingRead
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.
Stephen KingRead
Similar quotes
Beauty is all very well at first sight; but who ever looks at it when it has been in the house three days?
George Bernard ShawRead
I can paint pictures, but I cannot rule men.
Fra AngelicoRead
Weirdly enough, if I'm having trouble with a guitar part - not the playing of it but the writing - I'll mess around with echo and other effects, just turn everything up and make it as crazy as can be, and it winds up taking me somewhere. I've found so many guitar parts from echo. It's limitless.
The EdgeRead
Whatever the thing you wish to say, there is but one word to express it, but one verb to give it movement, but one adjective to qualify it; you must seek until you find this noun, this verb, this adjective.
Gustave FlaubertRead
A poet is a nightingale, who sits in darkness and sings to cheer its own solitude with sweet sounds.
Percy Bysshe ShelleyRead
You should create a work that is so valuable it might eventually sell at a high price, but you've got to concentrate on how you create that artwork.
Yayoi KusamaRead