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Stephen King an American author has truly made a significant impact on todays readers. King can turn marital stress, peer pressure, or adultery into a terrifying epic that would make your skin crawl. Stephen Edwin King was born September 21, 1947 in Portland, Maine. Stephens birth was a tremendous surprise to his parents as they had been told they could not have children. When Stephen was 2 years old his parents began experiencing problems in their marriage. One-day Stephens father went out to buy a pack of cigarettes and never returned.
Stephen hasnt seen his father since. After Stephens father left the rest of the family relocated to Massachusetts. After living in Massachusetts for several years he returned to Maine and began his schooling. Stephen Kings passion for writing quickly began in 1959 when he wrote articles for his brothers local newspaper entitled Daves Rag. At the age of 13 Stephen began writing articles and even his opinions on upcoming television shows. Stephen copied some of his short stories and sold them to the towns local people for a 30 cents.
King tried selling his stories at school but his teachers stopped him. During these years King published many short stories. These early stories had science fiction themes however due to his lack of scientific knowledge they were said to be a bit thin on detail. Stephens interest in writing fiction began in 1959 when he was at his Aunts home and found a box of horror comics. The authors of these comics, Howard Phillips, Lovecraft, and Jack Finney inspired King. Shortly after this encounter he began to think about writing fiction stories.
His first published comic was titled I Was a Teenage Grave Robber. Despite this first publication Kings first professional sale occurred in 1967 when Startling Mystery Stories accepted his story The Glass Floor. After King graduated high school he attended the University of Maine. He earned his bachelors degree in English. While a student at the university Stephen met Tabitha Spruce. After a short courtship they married.
The Kings currently have 3 children Naomi Rachel, Joe Hill, and Owen Philips. This research paper focuses on the life of Stephen Edwin King. Through this paper I would like to learn how he became the man he is today. I would also like to find out if he is The Master of Horror. In this paper I will examine how he plans his novels and how he develop his ideas for them.
I chose to write this paper on Stephen King because he is a favorite author of mine. After college he knew he had to get a job, to support his wife and his children. King had many jobs before he became a successful writer. His first job was working at an industrial laundromat. King didnt enjoy working at the laundromat.
Kings second job was that of a janitor working at a school. The pay was poor and he quickly ended that job. Finally King landed a job as an English teacher. While working as an English teacher he would use his free time to write. In fact he finished his first novel entitled Carrie while teaching English at a public school in Maine. The book Carrie published by a small company called Doubleday was an instant success.
Sales of Carrie helped the Kings tremendously. However, their lives would soon be changed on that faithful day of May 12, 1973. On May 12, 1973 Doubleday sold the rights to reprint the book to New American Library for 400, 000 dollars. King was to receive half of the money. With money troubles behind him he could now concentrate on writing full time. Kings newfound success was tarnished by the news that his mother had passed away.
However not even this tragedy could derail this success. That same year King finished his second book entitled The Second Coming. Critics now labeled King as the premier author of horror novels. Kings third novel was titled The Shining and is based on a vacation Stephen and his wife took to the Estas park hotel. While at the hotel King was filled with constant dread. As a result of his experience he was able to develop his plot.
King incorporated characters he met at the hotel in his storyline. Those characters included a mad bartender and clairvoyant cook. The book was a huge success. In fact it was such a success a movie was made starring Jack Nicholson.
The Shining made Kings name known across the nation. He now became known as the author of spine chilling tales. After the release of The Shining King changed publishers for several reasons. His new publisher, NAL, owner of Viking publishing, was offered King more money, did not impose time limits for manuscript completion and retained a public relations firm to create vibrant book covers and marketing strategies... Since joining his new publisher he has managed to write over 30 novels including Misery, Cujo, and It with many becoming motion pictures. Through his publishing efforts and motion picture royalties King has done so well that he made a list of the top paid people in America in 1998 when he earned 40 million dollars.
Unfortunately King almost lost all of this on that fateful day of June 20 th 1999. King was tragically hit by a car while taking a stroll in his residential neighborhood. He sustained multiple injuries including a collapsed lung and multiple fractures of his right leg and hip. Fortunately after several surgeries he recovered. After this near death experience for King he has written a book entitled The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. This story was based on the accident he had.
After reading Stephen Kings novels one might be left with the impression that his world is bizarre. However King is routinely. He wears Levis, small glasses, carries a ball-point pen in his breast pocket, watches baseball and drinks Pepsi. King lives quietly in Bangor, Maine with his wife and children. My wife, my kids- they see me one way King has said. But something happens when you write- something thats not a normal thing, whoever I am when Im walking around thats one person, but somebody else writes the books.
Stephen King has led an inspiring life with the many books he has written. This is why it is without any surprise that he has won countless awards for his novels. When asked, King in an online interview why he writes such terrifying stories he responded by saying people want to know why I do this why I write such gross stuff. I like to tell them I truly have the heart of a small boy and I keep it on a jar on my desk. This shows Kings witty attitude as well as his sense of humor.
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Research essay sample on Stephen Edwin King Stephen Kings
