“An opening line should invite the reader to begin the story. It should say: Listen. Come in here. You want to know… — Stephen King Copy Share Image
You want to remember that while you're judging the book, the book is also judging you. — Stephen King Copy Share Image
“A gunslinger knows pride, that invisible bone that keeps the neck stiff.” — Stephen King Copy Share Image
Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader’s. — Stephen King Copy Share Image
Only library books speak with such wordless eloquence of the power good stories hold over us. — Stephen King Copy Share Image
“A life without books is a thirsty life, and one without poetry is...like a life without pictures.” — Stephen King Copy Share Image
This is a short book because most books about writing are filled with bullshit. — Stephen King Copy Share Image
When the reader hears strong echoes of his or her own life and beliefs, he or she is apt to become more… — Stephen King Copy Share Image
As a teenager, I read a lot of H.P. Lovecraft, so I wrote like H.P. Lovecraft. And in my 20s, I read… — Stephen King Copy Share Image
Anywhere in New York, anywhere in the country, somewhere there's going to be a Coke sign. People identify with Coke. You can… — Stephen King Copy Share Image
No, it's not a very good story - its author was too busy listening to other voices to listen as closely as… — Stephen King Copy Share Image
I hardly ever read mainstream fiction that deals with life as it is. I like an element of fantasy, something that isn't… — Stephen King Copy Share Image
But there's one thing I'm sure about. An opening line should invite the reader to begin the story. It should say: Listen.… — Stephen King Copy Share Image
The movies have never been a big deal to me. The movies are the movies. They just make them. If they're good,… — Stephen King Copy Share Image
Everybody wants to psychoanalyze horror. They don't want to psychoanalyze a book like Gay Talese's "Sex with Your Neighbor" [sic] or something… — Stephen King Copy Share Image
If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot…reading… — Stephen King Copy Share Image
“And, you know, I hope you have some fun with this book. Nosh and nibble at the corners or read the mother… — Stephen King Copy Share Image
“If I show up at your house ten years from now and find nothing in your living room but The Readers Digest,… — Stephen King Copy Share Image
There is a story in the book Night Shift, called 'The Mangler,' about a laundry machine that takes on a sort of… — Stephen King Copy Share Image
By writing a horror novel where this inexplicable disorder takes over in our ordered lives, you make order look better by comparison.… — Stephen King Copy Share Image
There were no horror movies or horror books to speak of in the '40s. I picked the '50s because that pretty well… — Stephen King Copy Share Image
These self-appointed deacons in the Church of Latter-Day American Literature seem to regard generosity (of words) with suspicion, texture with dislike, and… — Stephen King Copy Share Image
“In a book, all would have gone according to plan... but life was so fucking untidy — what could you say for… — Stephen King Copy Share Image
“As I believe I have said, everyone in prison is an innocent man. Oh, they read the scripture the way those holy… — Stephen King Copy Share Image
“I don’t believe in any actual thinking God that marks the fall of every bird in Australia or every bug in India,… — Stephen King Copy Share Image
“You have to read widely, constantly refining (and redefining) your own work as you do so. It’s hard for me to believe… — Stephen King Copy Share Image
“Many writing texts caution against asking friends to read your stuff, suggesting you're not apt to get a very unbiased opinion[.] ...… — Stephen King Copy Share Image
“This is not an autobiography. It is, rather, a kind of curriculum vitae — my attempt to show how one writer was… — Stephen King Copy Share Image
“This is how we go on: one day at a time, one meal at a time, one pain at a time, one… — Stephen King Copy Share Image
“The reason authors almost always put a dedication on a book is, because their selfishness even horrifies themselves in the end.” — Stephen King Copy Share Image
A successful novel should interrupt the reader’s life, make him or her miss appointments, skip meals, forget to walk the dog. — Stephen King Copy Share Image
Shall there be truth between us, as two men? Not as friends, but as enemies and equals? — Stephen King Copy Share
The worst advice? 'Don't listen to the critics.' I think that you really ought to listen to the critics, because sometimes they're telling you… — Stephen King Copy Share
“October 3, 2017 The clown, Hagarty said, looked like a cross between Ronald McDonald and that old TV clown, Bozo—or so he thought at… — Stephen King Copy Share
“Eddie saw great things and near misses. Albert Einstein as a child, not quite struck by a run-away milk-wagon as he crossed a street.… — Stephen King Copy Share
It hurt, of course, but more often than not the best things do, I've found. — Stephen King Copy Share
“The idea that creative endeavor and mind-altering substances are entwined is one of the great pop-intellectual myths of our time... Creative people probably do… — Stephen King Copy Share
“The sun had burned through and the day had gone from dull to dazzling, yet in the west blask-satin thunderheads continued to stack up.… — Stephen King Copy Share
“God, you had enough time to have been through it three times. You've been through my stuff. I bet you over and let one… — Stephen King Copy Share
“Flakes of snow swirled and danced across the porch. The Overlook faced it as it had for nearly three-quarters of a century, its darkened… — Stephen King Copy Share
“In that instant it all seemed to come clear to him- it came in a grisly flash of light, and he realized that the… — Stephen King Copy Share
Who gets to be best-liked in any community? Who is the most trusted? Why, the man who does the dirty job, of course, and… — Stephen King Copy Share
“¿Lo ves, tonto? Volvió a regañarse. Tú lo inventaste todo, gato asustado. No fue más que tu imaginación, gato asustado, gato asustado... No te… — Stephen King Copy Share
“Death . . . but not for you. That was what Walter, clever as Satan even at the end, had said. A lawyer’s answer . . . so close to… — Stephen King Copy Share
The ghost story movie that scared me the most was The Changeling with George C. Scott. I think that's sometimes overlooked, but it's a… — Stephen King Copy Share
“Climb aboard, Jonesy. I'm going to send you up where the air is rare and the view is much more than fair.” — Stephen King Copy Share
![“Everybody wants to psychoanalyze horror. They don't want to psychoanalyze a book like Gay Talese's "Sex with Your Neighbor" [sic] or something like that. It's pretty much accepted that Americans should be interested in who they're diddling and how they're doing it.” quote by Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/cbb/stephen-king-13_accepted_everybody-wants-to-psychoanalyze-horror_3005442.jpg)
![“Many writing texts caution against asking friends to read your stuff, suggesting you're not apt to get a very unbiased opinion[.] ... It's unfair, according to this view, to put a pal in such a position. What happens if he/she feels he/she has to say, "I'm sorry, good buddy, you've written some…” quote by Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/87c/stephen-king-13_books_many-writing-texts-caution-against-askin_1682638.jpg)
