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«The only way to go is to go on. To say, «I can do this» even when you know you can’t». The writer Stephen King’s success rules, which are applicable to business

«The only way to go is to go on. To say, «I can do this» even when you know you can’t». The writer Stephen King’s success rules, which are applicable to business
Photo: medium.com

 

More than 350 million copies of books, that have been published in the world, have allowed the American writer, «the king of horrors» Stephen King to call himself one of the most successful authors of our time. He writes not only in the horror genre, but also science fiction, historical fiction, drama, fantasy. In whatever genre the writer tried himself, he achieved success every time.

«Do you want to become a professional in your field? Then fill your life with what you do», King once said. Now no one  remembers that his first novel, Carrie, has been abandoned by 27 publishers in a row. The writer printed out the refusals and hung them on the wall. He did not stop creating, but only improved his skills.

In the future, luck went hand in hand with him. For Stephen King, writing books is leisure, and free hours are work. This feature is said to have made him so successful. But not only it.

King is consistently included in the Forbes list of the highest paid writers in the world. He loves to tell stories and he is a brilliant storyteller. The writer is constantly improving, creating new worlds, coming up with plots and paying great attention to dialogues.

«I want to evoke an emotional and even «animal» reaction in readers», wrote Stephen King in the afterword to the collection Full Dark, No Stars. «I’m not one of those who seeks to make the reader think. Of course, it cannot be taken literally, because if the plot is good and the characters are recognizable, then thoughts will definitely replace emotions».

To the question «How to make money on literature?» the writer always answers sincerely, «Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from a successful one is a lot of hard work».

He really did bet on hard work. «I like to write ten pages a day, each with about 2,000 words. Only under extreme circumstances I can afford to turn off my computer before I write 2,000 words», shares Stephen King in his book On Writing.

This rule also applies in business: if you do a certain amount of work every day, then you will be able to achieve the planned goal in small steps.

«Once I was working on a project and did not stop until it was completed», with these words the writer began his author’s course for students. Not getting distracted by trifles is a very important business habit. If the routines have nothing to do with their own business and future success, they can automatically be considered trifles.

King sits down at the table and just writes, ignoring errors and punctuation. The main thing is to stay in the flow and not to lose the thought, to tell the story the way you tell it to someone close, who will not find fault with words and phrases. «Read a lot and write a lot», he notes. «And if you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write».

Stephen King says, «The object of fiction is to make the reader welcome and then tell a story. To make him/her forget, whenever possible, that he/she is reading a story at all».

The writer encourages people to create for themselves, without thinking whether the publisher will be interested in this manuscript and how much money can be obtained for it. If you are interested in the story, do not worry that it will not be interesting to someone else. «When people ask me if I work for money, I say no to them. I have never written a phrase with a profit in mind», he admits.

However, it is also important to understand what colleagues or competitors are working on, what is happening in the market, to be aware of its main trends. «Submitting stories without first reading the market is like playing darts in a dark room — you might hit the target now and then, but you don’t deserve to», says King.

In writing, as in business, sometimes it’s worth going for broke, breaking the rules, and taking risks. Here is how one of the most popular writers of our time writes about it, «Take risks. Break the rules. Try your own unique ways to gain recognition. No author has become popular without a bit of risk. There is no need to be reinsured. The rule «More haste, less speed» is valid here only with the postscript «from the place where you are going». Try it. Take risks. Be creative. And then, perhaps, in a few years, we will start writing articles about you».

If luck has turned away from you, in no case turn away from it in return. After all, if you do work with pleasure, it will fill your life and make it brighter and richer. «King of Horrors» Stephen King knows it for sure. He gives his readers an important message, «The only way to go is to go on. To say «I can do this» — even when you know you can’t».

 


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