Half way through this interesting book. It's not on screenwriting, but there are some interesting comparisons. I'll come back and add some as I discover them. King says:

1) he generally does not plot his novels, and the times he has, it usually does not work out well. He doesn't even go into the story knowing the ending. He believes that plotting leads to characters doing things that are "false".

2) most of his stories are built around a simple "what if" proposition. What if, for example, a novelist was captured by his biggest fan and forced to write a story the way she wanted it(Misery). He comes up with a what if scenario, builds toward it with his story, then resolves it.

3) he writes 2000 words a day when on a project. He does one project at a time and does not take breaks. He believes a novel should take no more than 3 months for the first draft.

4) his day is split between reading and writing. He believes if you don't read, you are not a serious writer. It's not about adopting another writer's style, but it's about visiting these various inner realms. The bits and stuff of all these realms become part of his own tool box. He reads about 75 novels a year. He takes a book with him everywhere he goes. Avoids the "glass teat"of TV.

5) King used to teach high school English. He's not anal when it comes to things like sentence fragments. He understands that, used effectively, they can create succinctness and strings of isolated images, images which stand out more because of their isolation. Of course, he says, one should only risk playing with these things if they are sure of what they are doing.

He is, however, extremely anal when it comes to passive verb use and the employment of adverbs. It would say this is kind of a pet peeve for him, an area where he crosses over into slightly irrational, because there are situations the passive works best...such as when the subject has been set up by the previous sentence and therefore should not be placed as the object...but King's sensitivity is extreme on this, probably from correcting so many high school papers.

relevance for screenwriters:

Hard to say. I would not advise giving up plotting screenplays, for instance, but what King says about the importance of the characters' actions not ringing false is worth heeding. Personally, I plot my screenplays as much as I can...however, I don't let the plot become a prison. If the story wants to go in different directions, I often let it.

I think the "what-if" foundation is probably very useful to screenwriting, and is pretty similar to making something high concept.

And splitting one's time between reading and writing also has relevance...though different with screen. In screenwriting, I think a writer can be helped by a variety of things: reading scripts, watching film, and reading novels. I do think that since words are the main tool of a screenwriter, it's not enough to just write scripts and watch movies. But obviously, unless you're a pro writer like King, it's hard to find the time to both read and write, so we do the best we can.

I read this many, MANY years ago.  It's a good read for sure.  King is/was the master, so his words are gold.

I actually employ a similar technique in not plotting out my work, but starting with characters I get to know, a situation I create, and an effect I try to realize.

The only script I've written that I knew the ending before I started the actual writing was Key to my Heart, but the pre-writing on that one went on for months before I typed FADE IN.

Yeah I read this one years ago when I was in middle school. At the time, King was my favorite author and still remains one of my favorites today. The book was highly inpsirational and I would recommend it to any writer. However, take his advice with a grain of salt. His track history is far from perfect.

Stephen King's definitely my all time fav writer. I started with Cujo when I was like twelve. Started writing short stories shortly after trying to emulate him. Unsuccessfully, of course. But his books inspired me to write, which is the most important thing for me.

Unfortunately, I never read his On Writing, but I guess I should. His work ethic sounds daunting.

Steve

Actually, Steve, to my surprise it's not daunting at all.

He writes 2000 words a day. He does this in the morning and most days he's done by lunch. In the afternoon he naps, takes care of letters and stuff. At night, family time, reading time, Red Sox time.

When he's writing a novel, he writes every day. It takes no more than 3 months. Then he takes a break before beginning the next.

Each book gets a second draft and then a polish.

I think the thing to understand is he put in a lot of time writing when he was a teenager. A lot of time. He sent hundreds of short stories out to magazines, managed to publish a few. So he was very busy at a formative age. That kind of skill stays with you forever.

What do you, rent his upstairs apartment? Only kidding. I thought I read somewhere he does 10,000 words a day. Perhaps when he was younger. Or that might have been the advice he gave to writers trying to crack the biz.

I don't live upstairs, I'm reading his book. As indicated in the thread title, it's called On Writing.

If I had had to guess, I would have thought he wrote a lot more words a day. But he says 2000 a day, one rewrite(done at least 6 weeks after finishing) and then a quick polish.

10,000 words a day would be a lot, trust me.

I still see 2,000 as a lot. It's tough because I see the words in my head, but transferring them to "paper" is a challenge. It was even tough when I tried that Dragon speech stuff. It's like the prose and dialogue gets completely jumbled in my head, even though the story's clear as day. Go figure.

Fantastic book. Good call, Kev.

I suspect many writers would see 2000 as a lot. King's output is pretty unusual. I know Graham Greene talks about writing 500 a day.

The first screenwriting book I ever read had Lew Hunter recommending 10 pages a day, 15 at most, so that's always how I've always done scripts -- first draft in 6 - 9 days.

I was working on a novel this week, before reading King's book. I set myself the goal of 2000 words a day(just a coincidence), and I found I was doing 2500 to 3000.

As with screenwriting, the hard part is when you get stuck with where to go next in the story. King pushes through to his 2000 no matter. The rest can be fixed on second draft.

For screenwriting, 6 to 9 days would be very hard for me. Usually takes me 5 to 7 weeks. Because it's like being in a maze: if you take a wrong turn, it screws everything that follows up, so it's difficult to fix later on rewrite.

However, of my 10 or so scripts, the 2 that achieved the most recognition were the ones I cranked out. My zombie/gangster script was written in a few weeks, and I was really just trying to learn how to write action.

And I wrote a script last year in 2 weeks that just missed the Nicholls quarter finals. That was my first attempt at using the 8 sequence method. I didn't plan for that story to be written so quickly, it just came together.

I've been told that you have to read his books in chronological order because he sometimes references other works.

I found that out first hand when I was reading Needful Things.  A portion of Cujo was ruined for me with a simple paragraph.

Does On Writing have any spoiler moments like that?

As for this chronological business, I'm on IT right now.

His book On Writing is part memoir, part instruction how to write. He talks a little about some of his books, but only as examples.

Steve,
11/22/63 has a really creepy reference to It in it when the protag spends some time in Derry. Very good stuff.

I LOVE "On Writing". Love, love....LOVE! I read it when it first came out, and now have it on Kindle for my PC and listen along on "Audible". King himself is the narrator and it's not only filled with incredible insight but it's highly entertaining as well. When I listen to it, I feel like I'm hanging out with him. LOL. I've learned so much from "On Writing". There's a segment where he talks about creating atmosphere. He describes a bar he's using in a scene. He picks out all of the things that stand out to him and then whittles away the things that aren't very important. I took that lesson and apply it to everything I write.

So, I not only recommend the book, but if you can get the audible version, you won't be sorry.

Since I'm a HUGE King fan and people kept telling me I just HAD to get this book, I got the audiobook earlier this week. Looking forward to it!