Today I would like to talk about the world idol of horror fans - Stephen King. Not so long ago he turned 66 (I just want to add another six). During his life, he wrote more than 250 works, and many of his creations can now rightfully be called cult. Under the cut, I suggest you look at some unknown, but interesting facts from the life of the legend of world literature.
Many have heard the story that Stephen King's father mysteriously disappeared when the boy was two years old and his brother David was four. Just went out for cigarettes and didn't come back. Only as adults did the brothers learn that their father had started another family, in which he had four children and had lived all the time near their old house. By the way, David is not Stephen's brother, he was adopted two years before the birth of the writer. But Stephen King himself never mentions it. Stephen was a sickly boy. One of the most vivid childhood impressions from childhood is otitis, which the writer fell ill with in the first grade (at the age of five) and the pain from piercing the eardrum, which he had to endure during three procedures. “My cry is still in my ears,” he wrote, almost fifty years later. During one of his serious illnesses, six-year-old Stephen decided to rewrite the comic with a sequel, just out of boredom. That's where it started literary activity. “My cry is still in my ears,” he wrote, almost fifty years later.
King's first reader was his mother (it was she who prompted him to write his own stories). When he brought her four own works, she paid the boy 25 cents each. “It was my first dollar I ever made,” writes Stephen King. His mother's support and his faith in his son's ability helped him later.
In the late fifties in America produced children's magazine"Famous Monsters of Filmland". Its editor, Forrest J. Ackerman, is a literary agent and lover of fantasy. This magazine was Stephen's favorite reading material.
Later, Forrest began to publish another magazine - "Cosmonaut", in which the boy sent his first story. The story was never published, and Stephen King happily forgot about it. But twenty years later, the famous writer had to face his childhood story - he signed it for ... Forrest J. Ackerman, who kept this unremarkable work all these years. The first issue of the magazine "Famous Monsters of Filmland", 1958
In 1962, Dave and Stephen King published a home newspaper called Dave's Mustard Platter, which was read by the entire town of Derham. First, the boys made prints on a hectograph, and then they bought a rotaprint. Somewhat later, it was on this hectograph that Stephen printed the first book, on the cover of which was written “the work of Stephen King” - a free reworking of one of his favorite horror films under the “edgarposh” title “The Well and the Pendulum”.
Stephen King met his wife in college. After three years of marriage, they already had three children. To feed them, the writer had to work in the laundry. During this time, he wrote "The Night Shift" and "Sometimes They Come Back" - at night and at lunchtime. Stephen King says of writing, "The job of a writer has as much to do with sweeping the floor as it does with mythical moments of insight."
The breakthrough to fame was the novel Carrie (1974), which King initially threw in the trash. The drafts were found and saved by his wife Tabitha, who also forced the writer to finish the novel after all. By that time, Fury, The Long Walk, and The Running Man had already been written.
By the way, Stephen King does not like his "Kerry". He says he doesn't understand main character and does not believe some of the characters. The rights to this novel were sold by his literary agent to Signet Books for $400,000. This money helped the writer's family to get out of poverty. First edition of Carrie, 1974
In King's works one can often find analogies with his own biography. The novel "Misery" (1987), in which an abnormal nurse holds the writer captive (the film adaptation of this novel is one of the most successful adaptations of King, with the inimitable Kathy Bates, who won Oscar and Golden Globe awards for her role in this film) , he wrote about himself in captivity to alcohol and drugs.
The Tommyknockers (1987) is an analogy novel, a cry for help. The voices in the head of the writer, who took possession of her will and invisible alien rulers of the mind. King joked that he had already drunk so much that he did not remember writing "Cujo" (1981), a novel about a St. Bernard who caught rabies. Since the late 80s, the writer has not drunk a drop of alcohol. Kathy Bates as Mad Nurse. One of the scariest shots from the movie Misery, 1990
In 1999, Stephen King's life could have ended in a car accident. Rather, he himself did not get into an accident, he was hit by a van flying at breakneck speed, driven by a not quite normal driver named Brian Smith. At the time of the accident, he reached into the back seat to push his Rottweiler away from the meat fridge. The writer was saved, and he even returned to normal life, although at first no one believed in such an optimistic outcome, especially the doctor who first examined the writer after the accident. The most interesting thing is that Brian Smith himself is like a character who has descended from the King's pages, flying into reality to do away with the creator.
King, who is known to be a fan of rock music, for a long time played rhythm guitar in the all-writer Rock Bottom Reaminders rock band. Moreover, the group did not just gather in the garage of one of its members, but performed with concerts, had its fans and even brought in a certain income. In addition to music, writers discussed their literary achievements and ideas - such a versatile creative union.
In many of King's works, there are "winks" to the Regular Reader - a person who, without any doubt, exists in reality, for whom Stephen King wrote and still writes. Heroes of one work, casually mentioned in another, bringing together various cycles and storylines, the unity of place and time - all these features of writing make the books written by him a single work- a lifetime of a man named Stephen King.
Today, almost everyone knows who Stephen King is. At the mention of his name, people usually imagine a gloomy man with glasses who loves to drive his readers into hysterics. Whether this is true or not is debatable, but he can certainly be called an extremely prolific author who has written so many books that you can probably build a whole tower from the floor to the ceiling of your room from them.
In the 80s and 90s, Hollywood producers literally jumped on King's books, because they were perfect for adaptation, and the film industry just needed fresh stories. Thanks to this, we know more about many of the characters of the king of horrors from films than from books by this author. IN last years new thrillers and horror films appeared in the cinema, again reviving the popularity of Stephen King's works. Take at least the films "It", "The Dark Tower", "Gerald's Game" and "Mr. Mercedes" (The Dark Tower, IT, Gerald's Game, Mr. Mercedes). But how well do you know the writer of these legendary stories? Here is a selection of 25 interesting facts about the lord of fear and the king of horror - Stephen King.
Stephen and his wife Tabitha are co-owners of several radio stations
Stephen King is a big fan of rock and roll. He and his wife Tabitha own 3 radio stations in Bangor, Maine. These are rock music station WKIT-FM, alternative music station WZLO-FM, and talk show and news radio station WZON-AM, all of which are registered under the same corporate name, The Zone Corporation.
King is a dedicated fan of the Boston Red Sox baseball team.
Stephen King is a big fan of professional baseball and the Boston Red Sox. famous writer loves matches with their participation so much that he even took part in writing and publishing a book about his favorite team, which tells about the 2004 playing season. The second author was Stewart O'Nan (Stewart O'Nan, known American writer novelist), also a fan of the Boston Red Sox.
The first draft of the novel "Carrie" King threw in the trash
Before Stephen King became world wide famous author, he practically struggled to survive, was bankrupt and barely got his stories published in cheap magazines. When the writer was working on the manuscript of the mystical novel "Carrie" (Carrie), he threw the first version into the bucket. Luckily for everyone, his wife Tabitha pulled the draft out of the trash, read the manuscript, and encouraged her husband to finish the book. Subsequently, "Carrie" became the first novel published by King and a real bestseller!
In order to publish as many novels a year as possible, Stephen King began to use pseudonyms. He published as many as 7 books under the name of Richard Bachman (Richard Bachman) and wrote one short story under the pseudonym of John Swithen (John Swithen). At some point, the writer's most astute fans began to guess who exactly was the real author of Bachmann's novels, and King stopped using this name.
King enjoys playing small roles in film adaptations of his books.
Many of Stephen King's works have been adapted into screenplays, and the author is not at all ashamed to appear in films based on his novels. The King of Terror has appeared in at least 14 roles belonging to characters from his books.
The Dark Tower combines almost all of King's books
Fans of Stephen King's work know that all of his novels are connected in one way or another. Some heroes of some books end up in other novels of the author, and the cycle of books "The Dark Tower" is a real saga that combines the whole fictional universe horror king.
King has sold over 350 million copies of his books.
King was nicknamed “The Master of Horror” for a reason, because his works have been read in a binge around the world for several generations in a row. Proof of this is the 350 million books sold by the legendary author, and this is only official data.
Alice Cooper was going to play Pennywise the Clown
This year, the horror film It, based on the book by Stephen King, premiered in cinemas around the world. However, this story was not filmed for the first time. So, there is even the series "It", in which the sinister and bloodthirsty clown Pennywise is played by the famous American actor Tim Curry. However, initially this role was intended for no less famous and perhaps even more outrageous American rock singer Alice Cooper.
King wrote 48 novels, 84 short stories and 16 short stories
Stephen King is indeed an avid writer. After the first publication of the novel, he published 47 more novels, 84 short stories and 16 novellas. The author continues to write to this day, publishing at least 1 book per year.
In the 80s, King had serious problems with drugs and alcohol
In the 1980s, when Stephen King became one of the most readable writers, he almost died due to his unhealthy addictions. The author took drugs and drank to get rid of the psychological trauma of childhood, but it almost destroyed him. King's wife, Tabitha, his relatives and friends intervened. As evidence of the seriousness of the problem, they collected empty beer cans, cigarette butts, tranquilizer packs, cocaine and marijuana residues that belonged to the writer, and dumped them all on the carpet in front of him. Such a demonstration helped King realize his illness and turn to specialists to overcome addictions. In the 1990s, the author entered as a sober person.
King is afraid of flying and...
It turns out that the king of horrors himself is afraid of a lot of things. For example, he is afraid of flying. Also he is afraid creative crisis.
King strives to write at least 2,000 words a day.
In order to write so many books, Stephen King introduced a personal rule for himself - to write texts of at least 2,000 words every day. With this kind of discipline, an author can write an entire novel in just a few months, depending on the length and complexity of the book, of course.
King and John Mellencamp wrote the musical
Stephen King writes more than just books. For example, together with John Mellencamp, he wrote the musical Ghost Brothers of Darkland County. Unfortunately, their joint work did not work. great success.
King's writing was inspired by H. P. Lovecraft's short story Lurking at the Doorstep.
Stephen King started writing after reading the book Lurking at the Threshold by H.P. Lovecraft (Lurker in the Shadows, H.P. Lovecraft). This explains a lot, because the story that inspired King is dedicated to mystical events and is literally saturated with terrible mysteries.
King collaborated with Michael Jackson himself on the short film "Ghosts"
Few people know that the king of pop Michael Jackson and the king of horror Stephen King joined forces, and thanks to this, the famous video clip for the hit "Thriller" (Thriller) was born. The video was an abbreviated version of their previous collaboration - the short film "Ghosts" (Ghosts), which was so weak that it was forgotten and buried almost immediately after its premiere.
King hates Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of The Shining
Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of Stephen King's The Shining is considered one of the best films horror of all time. This movie is loved by Kubrick fans and King fans alike. But who would have thought that King himself would not like the film. The writer once said, “It (the movie) is like a big and gorgeous car without an engine,” and his words clearly ooze disappointment.
Stephen King's mansion looks like a haunted house
Have you ever wondered what the house of the king of horrors looks like? It turns out that Stephen King lives in a rather creepy place. His mansion has quirky architecture, and the gates leading to the house look like they've stepped out of the pages of a dark comic book about the Addams Family (Addam's Family).
Writing has become a family affair for the Kings.
After becoming the author of mystical novels, Stephen King practically founded family business. His wife Tabitha King has already written 10 books, and both their sons, Owen King and Joe Hill (Owen King, Joe Hill), also write novels and short stories. By the way, Owen King married a writer.
As a child, King saw his friend die, but he does not remember anything about it.
When Stephen was just a boy, he went to play with his friend who lived near the railroad tracks. According to the mother, when the child returned home, he was white as a ghost. Mrs. King found out that her son witnessed his friend being hit by a train. The boy did not remember anything at all, and he was told about the tragedy a few years later. It is said that it was childhood trauma that could have caused Stephen King to start writing horror books and mystical novels.
It is one of King's favorite books.
Stephen King once said that Lisey's Story is his favorite novel. However, he later admitted that he loves the books It and 11/22/63 almost as much.
If you've ever wondered what Stephen King's own X-Men comic would look like, then Heroes for Hope: starring the X-men is the answer to all your questions. This charity issue focused on the Ethiopian famine of 1984-1985 and was contributed by many famous authors comics of those years. Today, this edition is not so easy to find.
King signs his books only at meetings with readers.
Anyone who bumps into the author on the street or sends him a copy of the book by mail to get the coveted autograph is bound to be disappointed. The thing is that Stephen King gives autographs and signs his novels only at pre-scheduled meetings with readers and during presentations of his books.
King was hit by a van in 1999
On June 19, 1999, Stephen King was in a terrible car accident. The writer was walking down the street when he was suddenly hit by a 1985 Dodge Caravan van. It turned out that the driver was distracted by his dog and lost control of the car. In the hospital, the writer's doctors stated an injury to the right lung, multiple fractures of the right leg, head damage, and King was kept on an artificial respiration apparatus for almost 20 days. The king of horrors was threatened with amputation, but the surgeons managed to save his leg after a series of operations. Later, King's lawyer bought the minivan that hit his client so that the car did not get on the online sale, and he sent it to a landfill under pressure. King himself was very upset that he did not have time to get this minibus personally in order to take his soul and smash the ill-fated Dodge with a sledgehammer.
King wrote this novel while still in high school, but he published it somewhat later and under the pseudonym of Richard Bachman. However, after several terrorist attacks in the United States, reminiscent of the plot of the book (shootouts in schools and hostage taking), the author requested the removal of "Rage" (Rage, 1977) from print and store shelves. They say that a copy of the ill-fated "Fury" was found in a bag of one of the students who showed up to the school with a weapon and threatened to shoot them all. The writer was extremely upset that in the 1980s and 1990s, his novel inspired young readers to real crimes and bloody murders, and he didn't want that to happen again.
King suffers from triskaidekaphobia
In addition to the fear of flying and the fear of falling into a creative block, Stephen King also suffers from a real phobia under the long and terrible name "triskaidekaphobia". This compound word means a painful fear of the number 13. The writer is afraid of this numeral so much that everyone possible ways avoid him in his life. He even admitted that he never stopped working on a book if it was the thirteenth page and kept writing until he got to a “safe number.”
Nicknamed the "King of Horror," American writer Stephen King is not only a very prolific author, but also a talented one. He works in the most different genres, and his works are distinguished by very original plots, passions and unexpected endings. King has a whole army of fans around the world, and his works have been filmed many times by a variety of directors.
Facts from the life of Stephen King
- When the future writer was two years old, his father left his mother and disappeared from sight. Mom told little Steven that the Martians had taken dad.
- He has step-brother who was adopted by the parents before the birth of their own child.
- The writer signed some of his works with the pseudonym "Richard Bachman". Also, once under a review published in a magazine, he signed himself as "John Sweeten".
- In total, from the pen of King came out full-fledged 55 novels and about 200 short stories.
- Apart from fiction, he wrote 5 popular science works.
- By the time of Stephen King's 70th birthday, more than 350 million copies of his books had been successfully sold. They have been translated into many languages.
- Stephen King played episodic role in the drama series Sons of Anarchy.
- His works have been filmed more than 100 times.
- Many of King's works are set in US state Maine, which he himself calls "the most mysterious state in America."
- In youth future writer played in a rock and roll band, as well as in the school rugby team.
- In his youth, shortly after his marriage, Stephen King worked part-time in a laundry to provide for his wife and three children. Some of his works, which later became famous, he wrote right then, right at work, during breaks.
- In some of his works, the characters are writers. Researchers of King's work attribute this to his own biography.
- To become a writer, he was pushed by his mother, who in every possible way encouraged her son's hobby.
- Stephen King wrote his first stories as a child.
- In childhood and adolescence, he read the works of another "master of horror", Howard Lovecraft (see).
- In 1999, the writer was hit by a car. Doctors weren't sure if he would survive, but he did.
- The novel "Carrie" brought Stephen King more than 200 thousand dollars. In the 70s, when it was written, it was even more money than it is now. Moreover, at first he did not finish "Carrie", sending the manuscript to wastebasket, but his wife convinced him to finish the work. It eventually became his first commercial success.
- Stephen King is the richest writer in the history of world literature. Just like Pablo Picasso was the richest artist (see).
- The writer's favorite genre of music is hard rock.
- One of early works Stephen King's "Fury" has been pulled from sale after several school shootings in Kansas. One of the shooters had this book. The writer himself approved the withdrawal of the circulation.
- IN certain period life, the master of the pen completely plunged into the alcohol-drug abyss. As he himself admits, he does not even remember how he worked on his famous novel"Tommynockers", written in those years. Fortunately, later he managed to cope with addictions.
- Stephen King, by his own account, has been writing at least 2,000 words a day for many years. He strictly adheres to this norm, which he himself established.
- The writer has developed aerophobia. He is afraid of flying on airplanes.
- Another of his phobias, rather unusual, is the fear of psychiatrists.
- Stephen King's favorite sport is baseball.
- The writer often appears in small roles in film adaptations of his works.
- In his famous cycle « Dark tower there are references to almost all of his other landmark novels.
- Stephen King's house looks like a haunted mansion from some novel he wrote.
- King's wife, as well as his two sons, followed suit and also began to write. One of them also married a writer.
- He considers the novels "It" and "The Story of Lizzie" to be his best works.
- Stephen King never signs autographs on the streets - only at official fan meetings, and he only signs his own books.
- Being not too superstitious person, he, however, is afraid of the number 13 and avoids it in every possible way in his life.
- King states that anyone who wants to become a writer should dedicate at least 4-6 hours daily to this activity.
- His favorite Music band the rock band the Ramones.
- In 2003, Stephen King was awarded the prestigious National Book Award for his contribution to the development of literature in the United States.
There are a huge number of talented and revered writers in the world, but not all of them managed to become a legend during their lifetime. The biography of Stephen King is no less fascinating than his works. This man achieved world fame and recognition at a young age.
Amazingly, even those people who are far from horror and from reading in principle know about him. Stephen King's books are a cocktail of genres, extraordinary fantasy, wild imagination; films based on his stories chained a huge part of the population to the blue screen, made them cry, laugh, tremble with horror and empathize with the main characters. But was the path to glory easy? This is the biography of Stephen King.
Childhood
The King of Horrors was born on September 21, 1947. He was born to Donald King and Nellie Ruth Pilsberry, and this can be called a miracle, because the couple were convinced that Ruth could not have children. The couple's relationship did not work out, and the second child did not help strengthen the union (the first boy, David King, was adopted in 1945).
Biography of Stephen King sad side. When he was only two years old, his father left the house for cigarettes and did not return. Ruth raised her two sons alone. But she did not fall into panic and despair, the active woman did not lose her optimism and enthusiastically clutched at one job or another. In fact, she was a bright representative of feminism, but her hard life and the need to rely only on herself made her so.
But numerous relatives, having learned about Ruth's troubles, tried in every possible way to support her, in particular financially. This is due to the constant moving of Stephen from one city to another. They were visiting Donald's parents, Ruth's sisters.
Carier start
The biography of Stephen King also tells about the beginning of his career. The gift of writing manifested itself very early - at the age of seven. It was at this age that the pen test took place. In 1959, the active King brothers decided to publish their own newspaper. It bore an uncomplicated name - "Dave's Leaflet" - and was successfully distributed among relatives, acquaintances and neighbors. By the way, it's not free.
Constant moving had a negative impact on the boy's health, he also suffered from measles. A passion for writing helped to distract from the pain, which later turned into a life's work. The author's first serious work was published in 1965. The story wore interesting name“I was a teenager robbing graves.” A year later, he graduated from high school and entered the university.
In 1966, the first novel, The Long Way, was written, but King was rejected by the publisher. The young man did not take criticism well and reacted painfully to the fact that the book did not make the proper impression. Nevertheless, the author's works were presented to the general public. In 1979, The Long Way saw the light of day, but was published under a pseudonym - Richard Bachman.
Stephen King: bibliography
Not many writers can boast of such efficiency. Inspiration never leaves this author, as evidenced by the huge number of books that Stephen King writes year after year. His bibliography includes over 50 novels, as well as many short stories and novellas.
The most significant and any novels:
- "Carrie".
- "Lot".
- "Shine".
- "Confrontation".
- "Dead zone".
- "Inflammatory look."
- "It".
- "Misery".
- "Tommyknockers".
- "Dark Half"
- "The right things".
- "Dolores Claiborne".
- "Insomnia".
- "Marena Rose".
- "Hopeless".
- "Bag of bones"
- "Hearts in Atlantis".
- "Dream Catcher".
- "Mobile phone".
"Monsters are real, ghosts are too"
“Monsters are real, ghosts too. They live inside us and sometimes take over,” wrote Stephen King. Quotes from his the best works fans know by heart. The expressions that the author composes differ deepest meaning and are able to tell a lot about his personality, attitude to life.
"What trap compares to the trap of love?"; “Only the dead speak true prophecies” - all this is Stephen King (quotes given by us are from the immortal cycle “The Dark Tower”).
Family
The writer is lucky: he has a large and strong family. He met his wife - Tabitha Spruce - at the university. A year after they met, they got married, and the union turned out to be indestructible. His wife gave him three children and became the main critic.
There is one interesting story about how the master of the pen threw the novel "Carrie" in the trash, deciding that the work was a failure. Tabitha saved the manuscript, read it, and told King that he should complete the novel. Fortunately, he followed the wise advice. When the spouses were on the verge of poverty and collapse, they did not see any prospects in the foreseeable future, the phone call that changed their lives once and for all. The novel was accepted for publication and offered a fee of $200,000. The book made him famous, it was the beginning of the great path of the king of horrors. He said goodbye to the teaching profession and devoted himself to his beloved work.
Personal life has developed perfectly, Stephen King's novels are sold in millions of copies - this is a well-deserved success.
Screen adaptations
Many wonderful films have been made based on the works of this writer. The Nightmares and Fantasies of Stephen King is a short film. The miniseries includes nine stories in the first season. The plot is taken from three collections: Everything is Ultimate, Night Shift, Nightmares and Fantastic Visions. The dynamic development of events and the unpredictable ending found a grateful audience. But opinions about the stories are ambiguous, the audience claims that in some places the filmmakers managed to convey a chilling atmosphere of horror and fear, and some sin with flaws.
Talented writer King Stephen Edwin is open to society, willingly gives interviews and makes contact with people. Here are some interesting moments from his life:
- In 1999, while walking, the writer was hit by a van. His nightmares and fears became reality. Multiple injuries (broken ribs, a damaged lung, a crack in the spine) could lead to irreversible, fatal consequences. There were fractures on the leg, at first they even wanted to amputate it. He hardly believed in a happy outcome, but time passed, and the body recovered, of course, very slowly. During this period, the writer announced that he was retiring, and yet returned to work after a long period of time.
- King played in a kind of rock band, it was unusual in that it included only writers. She was successful in narrow circles and even brought income.
- A novel called "Rage" caused massive "insanity". Teenagers took weapons and started shooting at the school. After that, the writer decided that the book should be withdrawn from sale.
- The writer has set for himself a daily minimum of words (2 thousand) and does not go to bed without fulfilling the norm.
- The Running Man was written in record time short term- 10 days.
- King's daughter - Naomi - belongs to sexual minorities. In 2000, she married a school teacher.
- King was in rehab for drugs and
- The writer never uses mobile phone. There is an assumption that the explanation for this fact lies in the book of the same name (“Mobile Phone”).
- He has received countless awards and the Distinguished Contribution to American Literature Medal.
Conclusion
The Stephen King stories are written in various genres: Horror, Fantasy, Thriller, Drama, Detective, Fantasy. Perhaps that is why he has so many fans all over the world. Where do so many ideas and ideas come from? Is there any mysticism in this? Some people tend to think that otherworldly forces help the writer to create, that magic is involved here. Most likely, this is a delusion. Once in a hundred years, gifted people with inexhaustible imagination and energy are born.
The name of Stephen King needs no introduction. Ask anyone who Stephen King is and they will tell you - a horror movie. Horror book.
American horror writer. And the man who made an unreal fortune on this.
So that you understand what kind of money in question, I'll give an example:
In 1998, King was ranked #31 on the Forbes Top 40 List of Entertainers celebrity list. making about $40 million a year...
Not bad, right?
His books have already been published in hundreds of millions of copies, translated into most languages of the world. Stephen is rightfully considered the richest writer throughout the history of literature. Many of his novels have been made into films.
Take five minutes to read this story and you will find out what made Stephen King a successful and very rich man.
So what made Stephen King such an amazing success?
You will not believe! It was FEAR.
The beginning of Stephen's story did not bode well. But even then he turned out to be a winner in the game with life: his mother was barren, and no longer expected children. But one fine day he appeared :) It was on September 21, 1947 in the small and unremarkable town of Portland in Maine.
The father could not stand the addition of the family. According to one version, he immediately defiantly left, according to another, he quietly left the house for cigarettes after a couple of years - and no one saw him again.
True, 40 years later, Stephen found out that he lived nearby after that day, with a new wife and four children.
But back to Stephen's success story.
So, poverty incomplete family were the start. Subsequently, this was added own family, all the same poverty, three children and job denials.
And suddenly such a success!
He got lucky? May be.
But most likely, fear helped him in success - an all-consuming fear that settled in him in his deep childhood. Surprisingly, this inevitable feeling can provide a great incentive to success.
Stephen experienced his first fear when he was 4 years old - he witnessed how his friend died, who fell under a freight train. Death was terrible. Stephen suffered a severe shock.
After unexpected departure father from the family, King's mother, Nellie Ruth, had to constantly look for money to feed the children - David and Steve. Steve was constantly ill, and from an early age, he, lying in bed, took a piece of paper and a pen in his hands and began to write his first stories.
Why wrote? Perhaps because he found literary tests of his father in the attic, and wanted to overtake him. And perhaps because the fantasy world helped to distract from the pain.
And after a while, something happened that finally predetermined his fate - in the attic of his own aunt, he found a box with fantastic comics. From that moment on, King began to write only about mysticism and horror. Topic found :)
By the way, many years later he was asked why he writes, King replied:
The answer to this question is quite simple, there is nothing else I would like to do. I started writing short stories because I love writing short stories. That's why I do it.
It is believed that as soon as you find the meaning of life, your main business, everything will go like clockwork.
Stephen was not so.
Yes, he began to write regularly for the student newspaper of the university where he studied, and in 1965 he made his first "real" money by publishing the story "I Was a Teenage Grave Robber." And during his freshman year, King even completed his first full-length novel, The Long Way.
But Stephen continued to be overcome by fear of failure, and when he nevertheless sent the novel to the publisher, he received a harsh refusal. He became very sad and left his novel for a long time.
King decided to forget himself in the army and go to fight in Vietnam, but the medical board declared him unfit to military service based high pressure, poor vision and flat feet.
The only thing that pulled him out of a creative crisis was his marriage to Tabitha in 1971 and the birth of two children some time later - son Joe and daughter Naomi, and then another third child - son Owen.
And King continued to write. It was very difficult - Steven had to work in the laundry, and then as a teacher in English. But this brought very little income, the family had nothing to pay for housing, food and the maintenance of children. Fear for the future of his family may have won, but King did not stop writing.
He put some manuscripts on the table, and some he dared to take to large publishing houses, receiving more and more refusals there, because "they are of no interest to anyone."
In general, the best thing that King received at that time was that his works were published in erotic magazines for men. When he showed his relatives copies of articles, he diligently covered up all the erotic pictures.
And so it came to one, just as failed, as it seemed to King, the book "Carrie", which he, in a fit of anger after another refusal, threw it into the trash.
However, this was noticed by him and his wife. She made him go back and pick up the book from the trash can and finish it. One gets the impression that the wife of Tabiti very seriously influenced Stephen. And he listened to her in everything :)
It was this very book from the trash that made King famous, and made it possible to say goodbye to a beggarly existence. Now he could feel like a real writer who can earn a living doing what he loves.
And here the second secret of King's success appeared - this is perseverance. He set a goal for himself to write 2,000 words every day. And he did not deviate from his norm for a day.
King also treated money with great respect, and measured the power of talent with it. Those. if a writer earns enough by his labor to eat, or pay for electricity, then he is well done. And if they don’t pay money, then the talent is still rather weak :)
Few writers could boast such a measure of writing talent. Maybe that's why so many writers have always lived in poverty?
Further, King's fame grows literally at a frantic pace - he writes new books that instantly sell out in millions of copies, dozens of publishing houses fight for his stories that were previously rejected, and box-office films are made based on his works.
But fears do not leave Stephen, so there were more than enough materials and ideas for books. Throughout his life, Stephen draws ideas for his horror films in everyday life. For example, once King and his family went to rest in a secluded hotel and took room 217 there. King was immediately haunted by horrifying visions, and the idea for The Shining was born.
The protagonist of the novel is a semi-crazy alcoholic writer who arrives with his family at a swanky empty hotel to spend the winter there. And under the influence of alcohol, or due to the evil "will" of the hotel, the writer stops writing and begins to kill everyone. Brr.. How did his family endure such stories?
To better write the image of an alcoholic, King himself began to drink alcohol, and then drugs. And then the wife came to the rescue again. Or she, or vices. Stephen, as always, obeyed, and did away with bad habits.
And the book was made into a film that received two Oscars - best award in cinema.
The Kings got everything they dreamed of - a big own house, cars, possibility of rest abroad, good school for children.
Now Stephen King, like many wealthy people, is actively involved in charity work and often gives interviews, talking about his secrets of success. Or rather, he has no secrets from readers: fear is what created the writer Stephen King.
