[Neil] Gaiman is simply put, a treasure-house of story, and we're lucky to have him.
[Neil] Gaiman is simply put, a treasure-house of story, and we're lucky to have him.
Good work gets better when its read aloud, and bad work is mercilessly exposed. Its like shining a s...
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Good work gets better when its read aloud, and bad work is mercilessly exposed. Its like shining a strong light on facial structure. Even good makeup won't hide bad writing.
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[asked why he hasn't personally directed more movies] Just watch Maximum Overdrive (1986).
[asked why he hasn't personally directed more movies] Just watch Maximum Overdrive (1986).
[discovering your roots] I'm set back on my heels by this whole process. Like having a stage and tur...
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[discovering your roots] I'm set back on my heels by this whole process. Like having a stage and turning on different lights so you see things you never saw before. It's a lot to contemplate.
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The day that I deny my identity, the day I'm not who I say I am, is the day I quit the business fore...
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The day that I deny my identity, the day I'm not who I say I am, is the day I quit the business forever. Close up shop, turn off the word processor, and never write another word. Because if the price of what you do is a loss of your identity, its time to stop.
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Making people believe the unbelievable is no trick; it's work... Belief and reader absorption come i...
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Making people believe the unbelievable is no trick; it's work... Belief and reader absorption come in the details: An overturned tricycle in the gutter of an abandoned neighborhood can stand for everything.
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I've always been curious about what my past was.
I've always been curious about what my past was.
[about retiring] You know how when you're on the turnpike on a hot day, and you always seem to see w...
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[about retiring] You know how when you're on the turnpike on a hot day, and you always seem to see water at the horizon? That's my year off, right there! Whenever I get there, its always a little further along.
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[on the death of Michael Jackson] Strange man. Lost man. And not unique in his passing. Like James D...
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[on the death of Michael Jackson] Strange man. Lost man. And not unique in his passing. Like James Dean, Elvis Presley, Kurt Cobain, Heath Ledger, and a dozen others we could name, he just left the building far too soon. Because, man oh man, that guy could dance.
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Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is...
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Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.
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I was addicted for most of the 80s. Its not a terribly long time to be an addict, but it lasted long...
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I was addicted for most of the 80s. Its not a terribly long time to be an addict, but it lasted longer than WW2.
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I'm the hood ornament of the Remainders.
I'm the hood ornament of the Remainders.
As a kid, I didn't talk much, I wrote. I'm not used to externalizing my thoughts other than on paper...
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As a kid, I didn't talk much, I wrote. I'm not used to externalizing my thoughts other than on paper, which is typical of writers.
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Information always leads to more questions, where you say to yourself yes but I want to know.
Information always leads to more questions, where you say to yourself yes but I want to know.
I didn't believe there was justification for going into the war in Iraq. And it just seemed at the t...
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I didn't believe there was justification for going into the war in Iraq. And it just seemed at the time, that in the wake of 9/11, the [George W. Bush] Administration was like this angry kid walking down the street who couldn't find whoever sucker-punched him, and so turned around and punched the first likely suspect. Sometimes the sublimely wrong people can be in power at a time when you really need the right people.
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Frontispiece to "On Writing": Honesty is the Best Policy - Benjamin Franklin. Liars Prosper - Anonym...
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Frontispiece to "On Writing": Honesty is the Best Policy - Benjamin Franklin. Liars Prosper - Anonymous.
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Writing is the only thing I'm good at. I could never do another job.
Writing is the only thing I'm good at. I could never do another job.
My brains used to work better. I wrote something last week and I looked at it the other day and thou...
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My brains used to work better. I wrote something last week and I looked at it the other day and thought it familiar, so I went back 100 pages and found I had duplicated myself. Paging Dr Alzheimer.
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When asked, "How do you write?", I invariably answer, "One word at a time".
When asked, "How do you write?", I invariably answer, "One word at a time".
Never let the facts get in the way of a good story.
Never let the facts get in the way of a good story.
Each life makes its own imitation of immortality.
Each life makes its own imitation of immortality.
[his novel, The Stand] My "Lord of the Rings" of the American landscape.
[his novel, The Stand] My "Lord of the Rings" of the American landscape.
The Shining is one of those novels people always mention (along with Salem's Lot, Pet Semetary, and ...
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The Shining is one of those novels people always mention (along with Salem's Lot, Pet Semetary, and It) when they talk about which of my books really scared the bejesus out of them.
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You can take my gun, but you will have to prise my book from my cold, dead hands.
You can take my gun, but you will have to prise my book from my cold, dead hands.
Once you get to a certain age you've got to try expanding your field. You've got to try new things, ...
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Once you get to a certain age you've got to try expanding your field. You've got to try new things, and if you don't you tend to get conservative. I always say you dig yourself a rut and then you furnish it.
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[writing outside the horror genre] Writing on a non-supernatural level is like learning to talk afte...
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[writing outside the horror genre] Writing on a non-supernatural level is like learning to talk after you've had a stroke.
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I have nightmares when I'm not working. What doesn't come out on the page just comes out some other ...
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I have nightmares when I'm not working. What doesn't come out on the page just comes out some other way.
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My writing is more effective now I'm sober, and I feel more creative. I went through a period where ...
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My writing is more effective now I'm sober, and I feel more creative. I went through a period where I felt a bit flat, like a cup of Seltzer water where all the bubbles have departed. But now I feel like myself again, only with wrinkles.
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[not wanting to be a slave] Its good. Something to be proud of.
[not wanting to be a slave] Its good. Something to be proud of.
[while writing Doctor Sleep] I didn't know what was gonna happen. I never know.
[while writing Doctor Sleep] I didn't know what was gonna happen. I never know.
[finding out Tennessee was a huge slave state] I didn't know that.
[finding out Tennessee was a huge slave state] I didn't know that.
[his children Owen, Joe and Rachel] They're good kids.
[his children Owen, Joe and Rachel] They're good kids.
You should do sex, never write about it.
You should do sex, never write about it.
Harry Potter is about confronting fears, finding inner strength, and doing what is right in the face...
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Harry Potter is about confronting fears, finding inner strength, and doing what is right in the face of adversity. Twilight is how important it is to have a boyfriend.
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I recognize terror as the finest emotion and so I will try to terrorize the reader. But if I find th...
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I recognize terror as the finest emotion and so I will try to terrorize the reader. But if I find that I cannot terrify, I will try to horrify, and if I find that I cannot horrify, I'll go for the gross-out. I'm not proud.
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[on film adaptations of his work] I don't feel any urge to control after I sign a piece of paper. I ...
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[on film adaptations of his work] I don't feel any urge to control after I sign a piece of paper. I say, "See you later. You have what you need and I have what I want. As long as the check doesn't bounce, you and I are quits."
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All those addictive substances are part of the bad side of what we do. Writing is an addiction for m...
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All those addictive substances are part of the bad side of what we do. Writing is an addiction for me. Even when its not going well, if I don't do it, the fact that I'm not doing it nags at me.
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If you look too closely you might see something you don't like.
If you look too closely you might see something you don't like.
If you wrote something for which someone sent you a check, if you cashed the check and it didn't bou...
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If you wrote something for which someone sent you a check, if you cashed the check and it didn't bounce, and if you then paid the light bill with the money, I consider you talented.
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[on Psycho (1960)] They remember the first time they experienced Janet Leigh, and no remake or seque...
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[on Psycho (1960)] They remember the first time they experienced Janet Leigh, and no remake or sequel can do that moment when the curtain is pulled back and the knife starts to do its work.
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[alcoholics trying to get by without AA] White-knuckle sobriety.
[alcoholics trying to get by without AA] White-knuckle sobriety.
You have to be a little nuts to be a writer because you have to imagine world's that aren't there.
You have to be a little nuts to be a writer because you have to imagine world's that aren't there.
[on his fear of flying] The flight you have to be afraid of is the flight where there's nobody on wh...
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[on his fear of flying] The flight you have to be afraid of is the flight where there's nobody on who's afraid of flying.
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Never write a book whose manuscript is bigger than your own head.
Never write a book whose manuscript is bigger than your own head.
When Robert Bloch died, the only thing that anybody really remembered about him was that he wrote Ps...
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When Robert Bloch died, the only thing that anybody really remembered about him was that he wrote Psycho (1960), which became the famous Alfred Hitchcock movie. And whenever I'm introduced, I'm the guy that wrote "The Stand". When my name comes up in the blogs these days, it's usually in relation to H1N1: "He was the guy who thought about the flu!"
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Rob Reiner, who made Stand by Me (1986), is one of the bravest, smartest filmmakers I have ever met,...
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Rob Reiner, who made Stand by Me (1986), is one of the bravest, smartest filmmakers I have ever met, and I'm proud of my association with him. I am also mused to note that the company Mr. Reiner formed following the success of "Stand By Me" is Castle Rock Productions . . . a name with which many of my longtime readers will be familiar.
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I've killed enough of the world's trees.
I've killed enough of the world's trees.
I've had a deal for years with Castle Rock Entertainment that goes back to Stand by Me (1986). I hav...
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I've had a deal for years with Castle Rock Entertainment that goes back to Stand by Me (1986). I have told them that you can have my work for a buck. What I want from you is script approval, director approval, cast approval, and I want to have the authority to push the stop button at any point regardless of how much money you [the production company] have invested, because none of the money you have put in has gone into my pocket. What I get on the back end, if things work out, is 5% from dollar one.
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[on his fear of the number 13] The number 13 never fails to trace that old icy finger up and down my...
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[on his fear of the number 13] The number 13 never fails to trace that old icy finger up and down my spine. When I'm writing, I'll never stop work if the page number is 13 or a multiple of 13; I'll just keep on typing till I get to a safe number. I always take the last two steps on my back stairs as one, making 13 into 12. There were after all 13 steps on the English gallows up until 1900 or so. When I'm reading, I won't stop on page 94, 193, or 382, since the sums of these numbers add up to 13.
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(About seeing Carrie (1976) for the first time) In the row in front of us there were two huge Africa...
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(About seeing Carrie (1976) for the first time) In the row in front of us there were two huge African-American men. Two-hundred and fifty pounders at least. They're screaming like children. They're grabbing each other around the neck and one of them says to the other one, "That's it, that's it. She ain't never gonna be right". And I looked at my wife and I said this movie's gonna be huge.
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Sometimes human places create inhuman monsters.
Sometimes human places create inhuman monsters.
Like anything else that happens on its own, the act of writing is beyond currency. Money is great st...
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Like anything else that happens on its own, the act of writing is beyond currency. Money is great stuff to have, but when it comes to the act of creation, the best thing is not to think of money too much. It constipates the whole process.
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Charity begins at home.
Charity begins at home.
I have a short leash when people ask where I come from.
I have a short leash when people ask where I come from.
[on playing the role of Jordy Verrill in Creepshow (1982)] If I had written it for myself, I would h...
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[on playing the role of Jordy Verrill in Creepshow (1982)] If I had written it for myself, I would have put in at least one sex scene!
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[from his acceptance speech for the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution ...
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[from his acceptance speech for the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, 2003] I salute the National Book Foundation Board, who took a huge risk in giving this award to a man many people see as a rich hack.
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[his real surname Pollock] Doesn't have the same ring to it.
[his real surname Pollock] Doesn't have the same ring to it.
[after learning new things about his heritage] Wow.
[after learning new things about his heritage] Wow.
[when discovering his roots] Thankyou.
[when discovering his roots] Thankyou.
Why can't a story just be a story?
Why can't a story just be a story?
People want to know why I do this, why I write such gross stuff. I like to tell them I have the hear...
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People want to know why I do this, why I write such gross stuff. I like to tell them I have the heart of a small boy... and I keep it in a jar on my desk.
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If you don't have the time to read, you don't have the time or the tools to write.
If you don't have the time to read, you don't have the time or the tools to write.
[after a DNA test] I'm 99% European, baby!
[after a DNA test] I'm 99% European, baby!
[slaves] They didn't like it on a moral basis.
[slaves] They didn't like it on a moral basis.
The appeal of horror has always been consistent. People like to slow down and look at the accident. ...
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The appeal of horror has always been consistent. People like to slow down and look at the accident. That's the bottom line.
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You can still reconcile the idea that things are not necessarily going to go well without falling ba...
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You can still reconcile the idea that things are not necessarily going to go well without falling back on platitudes like "God has a plan" and "This is for the greater good."
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[from his dedication in his novel Doctor Sleep] My wife also read Doctor Sleep and helped to make it...
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[from his dedication in his novel Doctor Sleep] My wife also read Doctor Sleep and helped to make it better. I love you, Tabitha. Thanks to you guys and girls who read my stuff, too. May you have long days and pleasant nights. Let me close with a word of caution: when you're on the turnpikes and freeways of America, watch out for those Winnebagos and Bounders. You never know who might be inside. Or what.
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I grew up interested in nightmares, scary stories and things that go bump in the night.
I grew up interested in nightmares, scary stories and things that go bump in the night.
I'm never sure why people are interested in my life when there are more interesting people in the wo...
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I'm never sure why people are interested in my life when there are more interesting people in the world.
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I'll never be able to play like Keith Richards, but I always did my best. I always had a blast.
I'll never be able to play like Keith Richards, but I always did my best. I always had a blast.
Art is meant to be a support system for life, and not the other way around.
Art is meant to be a support system for life, and not the other way around.
[his religious beliefs] I've always believed in God. I also think that the capacity to believe is th...
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[his religious beliefs] I've always believed in God. I also think that the capacity to believe is the sort of thing that either comes as part of your equipment, or at some point in your life when you're in a position where you actually need help from a power greater than yourself. You simply make an agreement to believe in God because it will make your life easier and richer to believe than not to believe. So I choose to believe.
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[why he disliked Jack Nicholson in The Shining (1980)] Jack Torrance as written was someone who was ...
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[why he disliked Jack Nicholson in The Shining (1980)] Jack Torrance as written was someone who was a nice guy that then went over the edge, not someone who flew the cuckoo's nest from the outset. There was no moral struggle at all.
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I get my ideas from everywhere. But what all of my ideas boil down to is seeing maybe one thing, but...
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I get my ideas from everywhere. But what all of my ideas boil down to is seeing maybe one thing, but in a lot of cases it's seeing two things and having them come together in some new and interesting way, and then adding the question 'What if?' 'What if' is always the key question.
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I'm in the supermarket one day with my cart, and there's this woman, about 95. She says, 'I know who...
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I'm in the supermarket one day with my cart, and there's this woman, about 95. She says, 'I know who you are. You write those stories, those awful horror stories . . . I don't like that. I like uplifting movies like that 'Shawshank Redemption'. So I said, 'I wrote that.' And she said, 'No, you didn't.' And that was it. Talk about surreal. I went to myself, for a minute, 'It's not very much like my other stuff. Maybe I didn't write it!'
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I love the movies, and when I go to see a movie that's been made from one of my books, I know that i...
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I love the movies, and when I go to see a movie that's been made from one of my books, I know that it isn't going to be exactly like my novel because a lot of other people have interpreted it. But I also know it has an idea that I'll like because that idea occurred to me, and I spent a year, or a year and a half of my life working on it.
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A short story is like a stick of dynamite with a tiny fuse; you light and that's the end.
A short story is like a stick of dynamite with a tiny fuse; you light and that's the end.
I'm the Big Mac of authors.
I'm the Big Mac of authors.
I have a permanent address in the people's republic of paranoia.
I have a permanent address in the people's republic of paranoia.
I believe everyone is mentally ill. All people angrily screw up their faces like children or talk to...
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I believe everyone is mentally ill. All people angrily screw up their faces like children or talk to themselves when they think nobody's looking.
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When asked why am I so prolific, I say it's because I'm not dead or divorced.
When asked why am I so prolific, I say it's because I'm not dead or divorced.
Any one who thought high school was the best time of their life is totally fucked up.
Any one who thought high school was the best time of their life is totally fucked up.
I know a few writers who claim not to read reviews, and I actually believe one of these individuals....
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I know a few writers who claim not to read reviews, and I actually believe one of these individuals. I am the opposite: I anticipate bad reviews and brood over them when they come. But then I just kill a few children and old ladies and I'm right as a trivet again.
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The worst advice I've ever received is don't listen to the critics. I think you should, because some...
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The worst advice I've ever received is don't listen to the critics. I think you should, because sometimes they're telling you something is broken that you can fix. None of us like critics, but if they're saying something's a piece of shit, they're right.
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A lot of people did serve in the Civil War.
A lot of people did serve in the Civil War.
[on why he became a writer] The answer to that is fairly simple - there was nothing else I was made ...
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[on why he became a writer] The answer to that is fairly simple - there was nothing else I was made to do. I was made to write stories and I love to write stories. That's why I do it. I really can't imagine doing anything else and I can't imagine not doing what I do.
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Give away a dime for every dollar you make, because if you don't, the government's gonna take it.
Give away a dime for every dollar you make, because if you don't, the government's gonna take it.
[about On Writing] Its like the town whore trying to teach women how to behave.
[about On Writing] Its like the town whore trying to teach women how to behave.
I like to think I'm still pretty good at what I do, but nothing can live up to the memory of a good ...
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I like to think I'm still pretty good at what I do, but nothing can live up to the memory of a good scare, and I mean nothing, especially if administered to one who is young and impressionable.
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There's always a market for shit. Just look at Jeffrey Archer. He writes like old people fuck.
There's always a market for shit. Just look at Jeffrey Archer. He writes like old people fuck.
Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us - and sometimes they win.
Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us - and sometimes they win.
One of the reasons that I live in Bangor is because if somebody wants to get to me, they have to be ...
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One of the reasons that I live in Bangor is because if somebody wants to get to me, they have to be really dedicated.
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Having kids allows you to finish off your own childhood, but from a more mature perspective.
Having kids allows you to finish off your own childhood, but from a more mature perspective.
People change. The man who wrote Doctor Sleep is very different from the well-meaning alcoholic who ...
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People change. The man who wrote Doctor Sleep is very different from the well-meaning alcoholic who wrote The Shining, but both remain interested in the same thing: telling a kickass story. I enjoyed finding Danny Torrance again and following his adventures. I hope you did too. If that's the case, Constant Reader, we're all good.
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People ask me when are you going to write something serious, but that's a question that hurts. That'...
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People ask me when are you going to write something serious, but that's a question that hurts. That's like walking up to a Black man and asking how it feels to be a nigger.
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[Tennessee in the Civil War] The right side.
[Tennessee in the Civil War] The right side.
I always thought to myself you look like an Irishman and you've got the Irish imagination. I've alwa...
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I always thought to myself you look like an Irishman and you've got the Irish imagination. I've always had that appreciation for fairies and ogres and boggarts.
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[why he likes having peripheral vision] The part I want to keep, as a man and as a writer, is what I...
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[why he likes having peripheral vision] The part I want to keep, as a man and as a writer, is what I see out of the corners.
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[on his past career as a teacher] Teaching school is like having jumper cables hooked to your ears, ...
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[on his past career as a teacher] Teaching school is like having jumper cables hooked to your ears, draining all the juice out of you.
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Books and movies are like apples and oranges. They both are fruit but taste completely different.
Books and movies are like apples and oranges. They both are fruit but taste completely different.
I can't think of any books right now that would be comparable to The Exorcist (1973).
I can't think of any books right now that would be comparable to The Exorcist (1973).
I know writers who claim not to read their notices, or not to be hurt by the bad ones if they do, an...
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I know writers who claim not to read their notices, or not to be hurt by the bad ones if they do, and I actually believe two of these individuals. I'm one of the other kind - I obsess over the possibility of bad reviews and brood over them when they come. But they don't get me down for long; I just kill a few children and old ladies, and then I'm right as a trivet again.
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For every six crappy poems you read, you'll actually find one or two good ones. And that, believe me...
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For every six crappy poems you read, you'll actually find one or two good ones. And that, believe me, is a very acceptable ratio of trash to treasure.
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I'm a salami writer. I try to write good salami, but salami is salami.
I'm a salami writer. I try to write good salami, but salami is salami.
Book tours are like a pillow fight with all the pillows treated with low-grade poison gas.
Book tours are like a pillow fight with all the pillows treated with low-grade poison gas.
[the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918] It could almost be out of a horror novel that I wrote.
[the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918] It could almost be out of a horror novel that I wrote.
I'm writing but I'm writing at a much slower pace than previously and I think that if I come up with...
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I'm writing but I'm writing at a much slower pace than previously and I think that if I come up with something really, really good, I would be perfectly willing to publish it because that still feels like the final act of the creative process, publishing it so people can read it and you can get feedback and people can talk about it with each other and with you, the writer, but the force of my invention has slowed down a lot over the years and that's as it should be. I'm not a kid of 25 anymore and I'm not a young middle-aged man of 35 anymore-I have grandchildren and I have a lot of things to do besides writing and that in and of itself is a wonderful thing but writing is still a big, important part of my life and of everyday.
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[on cocaine] One snort, and it owned me body and soul.
[on cocaine] One snort, and it owned me body and soul.
I am the literary equivalent of a Big Mac and fries.
I am the literary equivalent of a Big Mac and fries.
If you are not careful and diligent about defending the right of your children to read, there won't ...
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If you are not careful and diligent about defending the right of your children to read, there won't be much left, especially at the junior-high level where kids really begin to develop a lively life of the mind, but books about heroic boys who come off the bench to hit home runs in the bottom of the ninth and shy girls with good personalities who finally get that big prom date with the boy of their dreams. Is this what you want for your kids, keeping in mind that controversy and surprise -- sometimes even shock -- are often the whetstone on which young minds are sharpened?
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[syrup] Soothing.
[syrup] Soothing.
[on directing Maximum Overdrive (1986)] I didn't get the job because I went to film school. I got th...
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[on directing Maximum Overdrive (1986)] I didn't get the job because I went to film school. I got the job because I'm Stephen King. If you become famous enough, they'll let you hang yourself in Times Square with live TV coverage.
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I'm afraid of everything.
I'm afraid of everything.
[Doctor Sleep, his sequel to The Shining] The true history of the Torrance family.
[Doctor Sleep, his sequel to The Shining] The true history of the Torrance family.
It's interesting to me to know that I have Southern roots. I had no idea. No idea of that.
It's interesting to me to know that I have Southern roots. I had no idea. No idea of that.
