{"id":17084,"date":"2020-11-04T09:39:12","date_gmt":"2020-11-04T13:39:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=17084"},"modified":"2020-11-11T01:06:46","modified_gmt":"2020-11-11T05:06:46","slug":"stephen-king-horror","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stephen-king-horror\/","title":{"rendered":"Stephen King: Horror Writing Ideas and More"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Why is Stephen King’s horror writing successful? How does he come up with so many ideas, and how can you use his strategies to come up with ideas for great writing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stephen King’s horror writing career has spanned decades, and he started off as a horror fan writing short stories. Stephen King explains in his memoir his love for horror, and how he comes up with writing ideas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more about Stephen King’s horror writing career and how to come up with writing ideas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Stephen King: Horror Fan<\/strong> and Writer<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

From his early teens, Stephen King loved movies. There were only two movie theaters in town. One theater showed only family-friendly fare\u2014Disney cartoons and musicals. King found these wholesome, predictable, and boring. He didn\u2019t want to see manicured actors singing<\/a> happily on a stage; he wanted destruction of cities and monsters devouring humans. For Stephen King, horror was must more interesting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He found these films in plentiful supply at the other theater. King fondly recalls a dozen movies, ranging from I Married a Monster from Outer Space<\/em> to Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman<\/em>. He\u2019d watch a movie every weekend he could and anytime he could hitch a ride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One particular favorite was a loose adaptation of Poe\u2019s The Pit and the Pendulum<\/em> (his favorite scene was one showing the corpse of a woman who had been buried alive, her mouth agape in a scream). He was so enamored of the film that he decided he\u2019d write a novelized adaptation of it (\u201cblissfully unaware\u201d of the plagiarism implications), then sell the book to his classmates for a quarter apiece. The plan worked better than expected\u2014he\u2019d replicated the film\u2019s horror well in words\u2014and he sold $9 worth of books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the good times didn\u2019t last. He was called into the principal\u2019s office, where he was admonished for selling his wares in a place of education. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even worse, his teacher castigated him for wasting his writing talent<\/a> on this kind of trash. <\/strong>This comment stuck with him for years. He would review his writing with shame, wondering if he was indeed wasting his talent. In the present day, King notes that every writer (and every creator, really) will at some point be told that they are wasting their talent and be scolded for not working on something more worthwhile<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Get Started<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Stephen King is a horror writer with years of experience. So if you\u2019re a new writer, it\u2019s asking too much to adopt King\u2019s demanding daily process. Here\u2019s how he suggests you get started:<\/p>\n\n\n\n