One word at a time.
The novelist Stephen King has sold more than 400 million books.
King has written more than 65 novels, many of which have been turned into films.
Films based on his novels and short stories include Misery, The Green Mile, The Shining, Salem’s Lot, Carrie, The Shankshank Redemption and Stand By Me.
There is often a tendency to think that writers like Stephen King comes from the ‘right’ side of the tracks.
Middle class parents, good school, good university, well-heeled and well-educated from the cot.
Nothing could be further from the truth for Stephen King.
He never knew his father.
King’s mother worked minimum-wage jobs as she tried to raise her sons, David and Stevie.
Much of King’s childhood is a blur to him. He can remember periods of time where he lived with his uncles and aunts because his mother was unable to keep a roof over their heads.
You get the picture.
It wasn’t easy street.
As a teenager King developed a fascination with science fiction and horror films. He was an avid cinema-goer. He devoured books.
Then, he started writing stories and mailing them off to magazines.
He wasn’t an instant success.
He got rejection after rejection.
Rather than be defeated by the rejection slips, King took an alternative tack.
He embraced the struggle.
He put a nail in his bedroom wall and started collecting the rejection slips.
Eventually the nail wasn’t big enough and he had to get a longer spike for the mounting collection of rejections.
But he started to claim some minor victories.
A story here and a story there was published.
Like seeing the first buds of muscle in your arms after weeks of training, it was all the encouragement that King needed. He kept going.
But life was tough.
Married while at university, he couldn’t get a professional job after graduation.
He worked in a laundry-cleaning factory while his wife, Tabitha did shifts in Dunkin Donuts.
Exhausted after long, dreary shifts cleaning the dirty linens from local hotels, King continued to write stories.
One of his memories from that time reads like one of his stories.
Returning from a day spent with Tabby’s parents, one of King’s sons took sick. The Kings were so broke they couldn’t afford the medicine the young boy needed.
On arriving home, King spotted an envelope in the letter box. A magazine had taken one of his stories and sent him a cheque.
He could buy his son the medicine he needed.
King recalls that anecdote in his book On Writing with such incredible clarity, you just know it’s true. Anyone who has been broke will immediately recognise the authenticity.
Despite their financial difficulties, King’s wife Tabitha never protested when he sat for hours typing in their trailer home.
In fact, it was Tabitha who encouraged him to persist with a story called Carrie which King was going to abandon.
Carrie was King’s first published novel.
He was making $6,000 a year as a teacher when he got a phone call from his publisher who informed him that the paperback rights for Carrie had sold for $400,000.
He has never stopped writing since.
His work ethic is incredible.
King used to tell interviewers that he wrote every day except for Christmas Day, the Fourth of July and his birthday.
That was a lie.
In On Writing, King’s part memoir and tutorial about his chosen craft, he sets the record straight: “The truth is that when I’m writing, I write every day, workaholic dweeb or not. That includes Christmas, the Fourth of July and my birthday.”
His ritual is set in stone.
He writes in the morning, not stopping until he has completed his quota of 2,000 words.
Afternoons are for naps, walking and correspondence.
Evenings are for reading.
With global-success stories like Stephen King we usually only see the shiny headlines.
Another bestseller. Another block-buster movie.
Success. Success. Success.
We only see the silver lining.
We don’t see the years of struggle.
More often than not, behind every silver lining lies a huge cloud of industry, perseverance and a dogged refusal to quit.
Whether it’s writing or getting lean, fit and strong, the recipe for success is the same.
It has to be all-consuming.
When you’re in the zone, you must stay there for as long as you can.
No weekends off.
Remember, to conquer weight loss, you must conquer the weekends.
So it’s seven days a week.
But always one day at a time.
Stephen King would agree.
King was once asked by a radio interviewer how he managed to write Carrie while living in a trailer home. ‘One word at a time,’ replied King.
One rep at a time.
One step at a time.
One session at a time.
Never stop and you’ll get there.
PH
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