Stephen King Doesn’t Need a Notebook. It’s Fine if You Do.
He also doesn’t plot and lets ideas filter through his brain strainer. Sometimes masters are blinded by their own brilliance.
I came across this video of a speech that Stephen King gave at the University of Massachusetts in 2012. In general it’s good. I mean, it’s Stephen King giving writing advice. I’m always up for that.
The problem, for me, comes when you get to about 10 minutes in. He starts talking about how he never plots and he thinks keeping a notebook is the best way to immortalize a bad idea.
And I thought about all those writers sitting in front of him listening, and the 1.3 million (!) people who have watched the video on Youtube — probably most of them writers — and I realized something.
None of us are Stephen King.
If you ask me, that’s a fucking load off. No need to compete with him. He’s somewhere out in the atmosphere and it’s a very good guess that I will never be…
