Try any goddam thing you like, no matter how boringly normal or outrageous. If it works, fine. If it doesn't, toss it. Toss it even if you love it.
Stephen KingRead
The object of fiction isn't grammatical correctness but to make the reader welcome and then tell a story.... Writing is seduction. Good talk is part of seduction.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Fiction prioritizes engaging storytelling over strict grammar, and writing is akin to the art of seduction.
In this quote, Stephen King emphasizes that the essence of fiction is not bound by grammatical rules but focuses on creating an inviting atmosphere for the reader. He likens writing to seduction, where the ultimate goal is to charm the audience and effectively narrate a captivating story, suggesting that effective communication involves an element of allure and connection.
Themes
FictionStorytellingWritingSeductionEngagement
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used as a part of a writing workshop to inspire aspiring authors.
More from Stephen King
All quotes →Eddie discovered one of his childhood's great truths. Grownups are the real monsters, he thought.
Stephen KingRead
Hairstyles change, and skirt lengths, and slang, but high school administrations? Never.
Stephen KingRead
Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader’s.
Stephen KingRead
That's the day's business. Thinking. Thinking and isolation, because it doesn't matter if you pass the time of day with someone or not; in the end, you're alone. He seemed to have put in as many miles in his brain as he had with his feet. The thoughts kept coming and there was no way to deny them.
Stephen KingRead
Late last night and the night before, tommyknockers, tommyknockers knocking on my door. I wanna go out, don't know if I can 'cuz I'm so afraid of the tommyknocker man.
Stephen KingRead
Similar quotes
I just had a crazy, wild imagination all my life, and science fiction is the greatest outlet for me.
Steven SpielbergRead
I think the way kids create is so inspiring. They're drawing a picture? They love the picture they drew; they're not tortured about it.
Spike JonzeRead
What I'm working on now - I'm back to fantasy, although considering that it's me, I'm turning it into a kind of science fantasy. It's a vampire story - but my vampires are biological vampires. They didn't become vampires because someone bit them; they were born that way.
Octavia ButlerRead
I see my own style as being a symbiosis of the styles of Alekhine, Tal and Fischer.
Garry KasparovRead
Reinforced concrete buildings are by nature skeletal buildings. No noodles nor armoured turrets. A construction of girders that carry the weight, and walls that carry no weight. That is to say, buildings consisting of skin and bones.
Ludwig Mies Van Der RoheRead
Oh, I'm impressed with Lorraine Hansberry. She was a genius at whose feet I could sit.
Ruby DeeRead