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
If you're just starting out as a writer, you could do worse than strip your television's electric plug-wire, wrap a spike around it, and then stick it back into the wall. See what blows, and how far. Just an idea.
Interpretation
Stephen King suggests that writers should experiment boldly and embrace risks in their creative process.
This quote by Stephen King emphasizes the importance of experimentation in writing. By using the metaphor of manipulating a television's electric plug, he encourages new writers to take daring steps that could lead to enlightening or unexpected outcomes, reflecting the unpredictable nature of creativity. It suggests that pushing boundaries and being adventurous can lead to greater insights in one's writing journey.
In practice
A writing workshop facilitator might use this quote to motivate participants to take creative risks.
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.
Eddie discovered one of his childhood's great truths. Grownups are the real monsters, he thought.
Hairstyles change, and skirt lengths, and slang, but high school administrations? Never.
Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader’s.
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.
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.
We need less memorization - I never memorized the periodic table of the elements - I've never used it, and I'm a physicist! I can look it up.
All children are artists, and it is an indictment of our culture that so many of them lose their creativity, their unfettered imaginations, as they grow older.
Hunger, inadequate medical care, poor housing, and inferior schools are enemies of the sense of wonder. It is easier and less expensive in the long run to prevent a loss of imagination by providing adequate nutrition, housing, medical care, and schooling than it is to try to restore that loss.
Remember, it is no sign of weakness or defeat that your manuscript ends up in need of major surgery. This is a common occurrence in all writing, and among the best writers.
Good teaching cannot be reduced to technique; good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher.
True literacy is becoming an arcane art, and the nation is steadily "dumbing down."
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