how to write like Stephen King?

[@noutsakh.2135]

"It's like dipping your nuts in the bowl of baked beans. It's not painful, but I wouldn't go out of my way to do it." - this has to be one of the most hilarious similes I've ever come across.

[@The_Open_Book]

As someone who recreationally sits in beans, I can't say I get it 😝

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

Hahaha what can I say, I've been told I have a way with words 😂

[@blqsmysrh4834]

I swear you are criminally underrated.

[@The_Open_Book]

Arrest every unsubscriber, I will bail you out of jail lol

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

That's nice of you to say, thanks 😊

[@SDHegyes]

I think you hit the nail on the head about why Stephen King's writing is so enjoyable to read. The character flaws he inserts into his characters are exactly what makes them feel so human. They aren't inherently good or evil. They just are. They're people with good and bad traits that allow them to live life in whatever story they find themselves in. I've only read a small handful of his books and short stories, and of course, not the ones you mentioned the most, but I have noticed how he doesn't tend to describe anything unless it was important to the tale he was telling. In "Lisey's Story" he only described a willow tree because it hid the married couple from the outside world and they could almost visit Boo'ya Moon for a bit, and then he only described what Boo'ya Moon looked like when Lisey finally visited it herself and saw the reality of her husband's mind and where he got his ideas from. And I think that's the only things that are ever fully described in any detail in the book. That and the golden shovel. Great video!

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

Exactly, you've described my feelings too. Thanks for watching!

[@GreenerSideOfSam]

“How can I tap into into that level of success” Immediate word that comes to my mind: Drugs 😅 Maybe not success but definitely that level of creativity. I never would’ve thought of some of the things he did!

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

Hahahaha well I didn't want to be the one to say it, but... 😂

[@GreenerSideOfSam]

@@CamWolfeAuthor it’s okay I’ll take the fall for it 😂

[@jakerockznoodles]

I agree that it's so important to have characters whose flaws really contribute to the story. Otherwise if they're superficial flaws it comes across as pointless, and if they are behavioural issues it makes the characters unlikeable but in a way that doesn't aid engagement of the story. Role playing can especially fall into this latter trap with brooding rogues whose abrasive personality ends up detracting from the story (rather than pushing the story along, the story has to drag these characters kicking and screaming with them).

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

For sure, having the flaws make an impact on the story is definitely the best way to do it

[@StarryRoses]

"Write drunk, edit sober." -Stephen King

[@Zett76]

The saying is older than King. 😁

[@Bluehearte07]

I love this video. You're right about how he utilizes flawed characters to tell an extraordinary story. I love Stephen King. The man is just too good at his work. Like every other writer including you, Cam Wolf!

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

Thanks so much!

[@StarryRoses]

You're giving me so much help rn. I wrote the first draft of a horror-fantasy ten years ago and put it aside because I wasn't sure if it should be flowery or blunt. I've come back time and again to edit it but couldn't figure out if I was doing it "right". I'm super motivated to get back into it again now.

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

I'm so glad I could help, good luck with the writing!

[@alaskau9175]

The baked beans analogy is suspiciously specific. One must wonder how you came to know exactly how this feels.

[@juliuschas]

Yeah, now I'm curious about how that would feel. Do I let the beans cool off after taking them out of the oven?

[@juliuschas]

Cam: 1. A big nose set the whole Cyrano de Bergerac thing a-rolling. 2. Are all the lightbulbs in Australia purple?

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

😐

[@hilarybush2748]

I tried writing a short story "like Stephen King" but with the aim to make something cosmic-horror-esque. In hind-sight, I suppose my main character's flaw was that he was a food blogger. lol (Maybe I was trying to tap into anti-technology-boomer-vibe Stephen had when he wrote "Cell".)

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

Hahaha I like that though!

[@zoejung5570]

That intro 😂... I would definitely read about your scary milkman. It has potential 🤔

[@Garydoug]

I just found your channel, Cam. Really great work. I could see you being an important beacon in the horror community. Please put your cape back on and make more videos. You really are great.

[@PraveenKumar-kj8rq]

The title I waited for years.

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

Thanks for watching 😀

[@Garydoug]

The best example of first person present tense that I've read is the Red Rising series. Pierce Brown wrote the books in a way that could be more easily translated to film.

[@valerieclaussen3925]

Really love your videos. They're informative and fun to watch.

[@jeremyfee]

Wonderful video! I like this type of discussion.

[@dreamjanus1177]

5th foundation = His degree BA in English...I'm sure that helps a little.

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

Maybe just a little 😂

[@kinkajuu1]

i found one extremely effective method of creating likeable paragon characters... and its by making their ideals get so thoroughly challenged that they discover their ideals to be based on naivete and the incapacity for them to resolve the truth with what they believe.

[@Skinniest_Kween]

8:40 let's take a moment to appreciate that you called him "Stevie boy" lol

[@RhiannonSenpai]

9:04 I have the same problem. I write fantasy & science fiction. How could I write in first person in those fantastical worlds? For contemporary or historical, sure.

[@aquariusowl3872]

Stephen King is one of my favorite story tellers.

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

Me too 😊

[@cinthiacruzado2594]

I'm still practicing past tense because I always had trouble with it as opposed to present tense. The reason for this is that I would get confused on whether events are happening now or in the past.

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

That's fair enough. That's my problem too, except the other way around 😂

[@ourladyofdarkness2622]

Take out the Horror, long hours and the insane focus, and the glasses for now, I could be a rule 63 Stephen King! I can look like a turtle!

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

I think the turtle part definitely plays a bit role in the success, so you're halfway there!

[@celinevaillant5275]

Yeah I prefer writing 1st person because I can better connect to the character. The main character. And it's like instead of listening to the story, I'm living within it, and the things happening to the main character are happeing to me. I find it more exciting, thrilling and I love that. My life needs that thrill as I don't get it in reality because I don't wanna mess up my whole life. So instead I can watch the mess happen and fix itself in another world.

[@hideoussails1783]

I prefer active writing. With excessive description my eyes seem to glaze over just like when Aunt Zelda starts talking about her bunion surgery

[@The_Open_Book]

Really? Because, I really want THAT descriptive detail now lol

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

oh boy, if there was anything I didn't want to visualize, it's bunion surgery 😂

[@alxna._]

5:09 i agree but i actually would like to state that when a character is sp kind and basically so unreal that they become unknown to our standard of living they become scary. This something I like to explain offen in the horror genre and how we actually get scared. Its less of a creature or thing that scares us but more of a fear of the unknown and the mystery that awaits us which is commonly used in susspence.

[@Zett76]

It's (sort of) easy to learn how to build a narrative, interesting characters… The crux - his impeccable writing style. That is hard to reach, or even to emulate.

[@danecobain]

One does not simply write like Stephen King

[@NothingisWorthTheRisk16]

welp i got the glasses how to get the rest

[@lionessoftheseas]

Low-key when you put those glasses on, I was wondering why Stephen King was on my screen. I thought for a sec that he'd hijacked your channel or something

[@lionessoftheseas]

But that milkman idea kind of slaps. Imagine a horror centred around a milkman who's unable to deal with the fact that people don't want milk dropped off at their door anymore, and keeps trying to gain customers before losing it. A commentary on... nostalgia?

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

I am slowly becoming him. Slowly... but surely 😐

[@brynjolf3974]

Do you have a discord?

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

Not at the moment sorry, but I definitely might get one started in future!

[@brynjolf3974]

@@CamWolfeAuthor epic. Keep up the good work

[@Sven_E07]

King is a phenomenon, is unique, I admit. But a really bad technician, meandering, bad style, that's why I can't bear to read his novels. Tried 5 or 6 or times. Lesser known authors would get King's published drafts hit over their heads 15 times until they are tightened and polished. I as a writer, after years of actively learning the craft, can exactly see where King is lazy in his rewriting (and it's much easier to spot this in other authors than in the own writing). His style is made more for his short stories, which I love on the other hand.

[@loudrimshot]

This video is in first person.

[@Fortimo]

"See you in the next one, cat sh*t".🤣

[@The_Open_Book]

Can I get rich by ONLY coming up with good ideas and never writing them though? Worth a try 😂

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

If it works, let me know so I can try too 😂

[@TheJollyMisanthrope]

Overwrite everything, keep any editor that might trim your story of the heaps of unnecessary fat far away from your writing, etc.

[@koryleonard8147]

I'm first

[@LiterallyJasmine]

The secret is a law of numbers, write a thousand books and surely at least one will be good 😂

[@CamWolfeAuthor]

Haha that does seem to be Stephen's method! 😂

[@Zett76]

There are thousands of pulp authors who've proven you wrong. 😉

[@LiterallyJasmine]

@@Zett76 I see your point, but I also don’t agree with the general opinion that pulp fiction must be bad fiction

[@Zett76]

@@LiterallyJasmine well, define "good", then… 🙂 I think that quantity helps, too. But to raise the quality, you have to publish less, and plot and edit 20x more. Or maybe even 30 times. (I hate my first drafts. After 10 editing rounds, I start loving at least some of the sentences…)

[@Temerold_se]

drugs lots of them.

[@Temerold_se]

i mean im right

[@Zett76]

King stopped doing them, more than 30 years ago. 😎

[@Temerold_se]

@@Zett76 sure thing, either way, he's best books are from then