STEPHEN KING ON SHORT STORIES

In this post I wanted to share with you some interesting information about Stephen King on short stories. The following he wrote about very early in his career when the little bit of extra income he needed came from the short stories he was able to sell: "The stories when they sold (they didn't always), were simply a welcome bit of found money. I viewed them as a series of pinatas I banged on, not with a stick but my imagination. Sometimes they broke and showered down a few hundred bucks. Other times, they didn't."

As Stephen King became involved in his novel writing he wrote fewer and fewer short stories. He became dismayed. There were stories he no longer knew how to write, these stories were eluding him. "There are a lot of things in life that are like riding a bike, but writing short stories isn't one of them. You can forget how. Certainly it never occurred to me that writing short stories is a fragile craft, one that can be forgotten if it isn't used almost constantly. It didn't feel fragile to me then." Stephen King thought if he read enough short fiction, immersed himself in it he might be able to recapture some of the effortlessness that had been slipping away. He didn't see losing his ability to write short stories as a fair exchange for a wallet load of credit cards. From there he read hundreds of stories during his year as a guest editor for Best American Short Stories and as he had hoped he got excited all over again and started writing short stories again.

After reading this I have come to the following conclusions:

Even the best of writers struggled long and hard before their careers took off. It was their persistence, determination and hard work that fulfilled their hopes and dreams.

The absolute importance of using your creative ability constantly so it doesn't become lost.

Keep writing....