I've actually read Cujo, but have never seen the movie. I remember liking it, but that was so long ago I can't tell you why.

My favorite had been a short story in Four Seasons called The Body. A few years after I read that, I was pleased to see it become a film: Stand by Me.

I finished the book On Writing in less than a day. A helpful and interesting read.

Quoted from KevinLenihan I read every book King came out with when I was a kid. And I was a kid when he was first becoming famous. So Carrie, Salem's Lot, Firestarter, Cujo, Four Seasons(my favorite), Dead Zone, The Stand...just off the top. But then I got to Tommyknockers and I quit. It was awful. It just went on and on like mindless droning. I quit King cold turkey and refused to read him for like 20 years. Well, having just read his book on writing, I have learned that Tommyknockers was written at the peak of his drug and alcohol addiction. He would write all night with cotton in his bleeding nostrils from the cocaine he was fueling himself on. So no wonder Tommyknockers was junk. And that was when his family finally did an intervention, and he cleaned himself up. For me, the drug is coffee. And there is a point where coffee is so unhealthy you can feel it. And yet you often need it to plow through what you're trying to do with  writing.

I heard he was so fucked up  that he doesn't even remember writing Cujo, which is one of my favorites.

Yeah. For me, I didn't start writing UNTIL I stopped drinking! lol

Quoted from Dreamscale Salem's Lot for me was the high point.

Agreed, this is my favorite and King's favorite as well from what I hear.  Also loved The Langoliers.

It never ceases to make my blood run cold.  That one's my favorite.

Salem's Lot had a couple of parts too that made my hair stand up.

Quoted from KevinLenihan My favorite had been a short story in Four Seasons called The Body. A few years after I read that, I was pleased to see it become a film: Stand by Me.

One of my favourite pieces of work by King and, not surprisingly, one of my favourite films as well

I also don't think there's any other author with as many novels, novellas and short stories made into films. The more and more we discuss him here, the more I realize what an amazing writer he is.

IMO, some of his best books didn't turn into the best films, but some of his books that were good, but not great were made into amazing films. My faves being The Shining, Shawshank, Misery, Stand By Me and 1408. Disappointments being Hearts In Atlantis, Pet Sematary, Under The Dome, Desperation and Bag Of Bones.

I picked up Dream Catcher today.

Quoted from KevinLenihan I picked up Dream Catcher today.

I remember when it came out, was all excited, bought the novel, etc.  it starts very well  good concept but by the end is a muddled confusing bore fest.

Insomnia I have tried to read twice but never been able to finish. It's hilarious that for some reason I have never read The Shining or seen the film.

I think Ben Affleck is involved with bringing a new version of It out, not sure. A mini series would do it justice.

The Stand mini series looks a bit dated now but holds up ok. I remember watched the 9hrs of it of on video once weekend. Still think that any actor who plays Randy Flagg has to be a black dude. That's how I picture him when I read the book - he's described as the dark man! So he has to be a Negro dude!

Some of my other  faves by Kingy are the JFK one, Under The Dome, Pet Sematary and The Green Mile

Quoted from Grandma Bear I also don't think there's any other author with as many novels, novellas and short stories made into films.

You made me curious! And the internet provideth:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/bro.....uthor_in_cinema.html

In brief:

1. William Shakespeare (831)
2. Anton Chekhov (320)
3. Charles Dickens (300)
…
14. Stephen King (127)

But none of those other losers gave us Maximum Overdrive.

Quoted from KevinLenihan I picked up Dream Catcher today.

Dreamcatcher is King trying to revisit the magic of It, but ultimately failing.

It's still a good book, I enjoyed it.  Better than the movie.

Quoted from Guest Dreamcatcher is King trying to revisit the magic of It, but ultimately failing. It's still a good book, I enjoyed it.  Better than the movie.

But the first hour of the movie is quite good...or great, IMO.

Me and Mr. King share some striking similarities when it comes to the novel craft:

Quoted Text 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".

This I NEVER do.  Plotting takes away the fun of it.  Everything I write, even scripts, is written off-the-hip improvisation 100% of the time.  I never plan anything out with little diagrams and beat sheets or character graphs and storyboards.  

Whenever I write a script/novel, I write it off-the-top-of-my-head first.  Then if I feel it needs a rewrite, I'll just take what I used, build on it and IMO that's pretty much how you should tackle this profession.

Improvisation lends itself to originality at times.  Planning stuff never works for me.

Quoted Text 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.

No more than 3 months, yep.  He's right on that account.  It took me 3 months to write my own first draft for Age of Shadows.  Came in at 418-pages.  I spent 2 months prior to that drawing the characters, landscapes and cities, very badly I might add.

So yeah, 3 months is about as long as it should take.  

HOWEVER!  The second draft is a bitch and takes longer for some unknown reason.  I've only managed 12 chapters in 6 months, which is way below my average.  Then again, I am balancing the novel with screenplays, so...

--------

Weird that me and Mr. King share those similarities.  I thought I was alone, lol.  Good to know other writers share my mind-set, or I share their mind-set, depending on how you perceive things (he's known, I'm not).