Stephen King doesn't usually hold workshops, but when he does everyone goes nuts about it.Through grace and luck I happened to get a spot among 99 other people at a writing workshop he's holding this weekend in Savannah, GA. I'm pumped, obviously. It's going to be awesome. BUT, I wanted to ask any Stephen King lovers (or anyone for that matter) what sort of questions they would ask King if they had the opportunity. Chances are I'll get one possible shot at a question, if at all, and I wanted to make it a good one. Does anyone have any ideas?
Ho. Lee. Crap. I am jealous! Don't ask him where he gets his ideas from. Man I would love to meet Stephen King. His work inspired me to start writing.
I'd like to ask him how he keeps his focus and momentum--I mean, does he ever feel he is repeating himself (even if other people don't think he is). But I can't think how to ask this without sounding crass and tactless!
Wow, that's awesome. How long is the workshop? Will you be writing a short piece or something like that for others in the workshop to critique? As for a question, I'd probably ask something about his younger days as a writer, when he was still unknown in the writing world. Perhaps I'd ask him how he disciplined himself to be able to finish a novel so quickly (I'm pretty sure at one point he was churning out 3 or 4 novels a year).
@TDF- I'm so excited. I've met a few decently successful authors before, but no one on his level of achievement. And I think if I asked him where he got his inspiration the other writers in the room would throw me out on my butt. @ I recently read his book "Under the Dome." It's amazing. Not because there's anything particular outstanding about the writing, but because he keeps up a frantic pace for 900 PAGES. There's no way I could stay so highly dynamic for that long. I like that question.
I'm still new to to Stephen King (just started reading The Stand) but what I've read of his so far is amazing! Your very lucky to be able to meet such a well known writer! Enjoy it
Wow, that's great! Way tae go Chad! I'd ask him what his favorite sweets are, and if he ever eats them while he is writing.
The workshop ran for a little over an hour, but it was pretty great. King is a really funny and easy going guy. The workshop sort of devolved into a craft talk but it was still enjoyable. He went over his editing style for a bit, particularly how he worked on the 500 page plus novels. Usually he writes about six or seven pages and edits those about three times so that by the time he finishes editing isn't so daunting. He also talked a lot about copyrights, and some stuff blew my mind and sort of terrified me. He mentioned that 3 to 4 lines of song lyrics can cost about $50,000, depending on the author. Sometimes more. Just a few lines. Nuts. He also said something interesting about when to write. Apparently, all of his books are based around fears he had when he wrote them. So "It," for example, was written during a child endangerment phase, when he was worried about the safety of his own children. He said that he finds his best work is done whenever he has a personal connection with it. Oh, and he also said that teaching kills your writing. Which was funny, because the room was about half full of college writing professors. I got about 20 minutes of footage on my phone, and I might try uploading it to youtube.
So, he's very much in the "edit as you go" camp. I agree about having some sort of personal connection to the story. Thanks Chad.
Yeah I was surprised to hear this, but It makes sense. I'm definitely swaying towards "edit as you go".
