History Literature / OnWriting

* KnowYourVines: Once when King was a child, he had to use the bathroom while he and his brother were playing. Dave told him to wipe his ass with nearby leaves, which turned out to be poison ivy. The end result was he spent several weeks getting calamine lotion and bath treatments. This was referenced in ''Carrie'' where it's mentioned as one of the pranks that was pulled on her.

* KnowYourVines: Once when King was a child, he had to use the bathroom while he and his brother were playing. Dave told him to wipe his ass with nearby leaves, which turned out to be poison ivy. The end result was he spent several weeks getting calamine lotion and bath treatments. [[WriteWhatYouKnow This was referenced]] in ''Carrie'' where it's mentioned as one of the pranks that was pulled on her.

* KnowYourVines: Once when King was a child, he had to use the bathroom while he and his brother were playing. Dave told him to wipe his ass with nearby leaves, which turned out to be poison ivy. The end result was he spent several weeks getting calamine lotion and bath treatments. This was referenced in ''Carrie'' where it's mentioned as one of the pranks that was pulled on her.

* KnowYourVines: Once when King was a child, he had to use the bathroom while he and his brother were playing. Dave told him to wipe his ass with nearby leaves, which turned out to be poison ivy. The end result was he spent several weeks getting calamine lotion and bath treatments.

* WorstAid: The way that King describes his eardrums being lanced to drain fluid comes off as this. To him, it felt like he was being punished for being sick; he describes that a nurse lay him on a cot with an absorbent paper, the doctor prepared a long needle, and ''stuck it in his ear''. With no anesthetic! King thought they were done after two trips, and during the third one he absolutely refused to behave because the doctor was a liar and incompetent in his view. [[https://www.entlubbock.com/blog/parents-guide-to-pediatric-myringotomy/#:~:text=What%20is%20a%20Pediatric%20Myringotomy,the%20problems%20would%20quickly%20return. Modern medicine recommends anesthetizing pediatric patients before installing ear tubes to drain the fluid, making "small incisions"]]. His mother had the excuse that she didn't know any better but to listen to the doctor about her sick child because it turned out the real problem was tonsillitis and the doctor for that surgery ''was'' smart enough to sedate King first.

* SparedByTheCut: in-universe, King was prepared to [[spoiler:kill Paul Sheldon]] in ''Misery''. Then he said [[spoiler:Paul surprised him by serving as an AuthorAvatar and fighting for his life]].

** After the truck accident, which led to King's lung collapsing, the paramedics had to reinflate it by inserting a tube. They reassured King he wouldn't' feel anything. He braced himself, and indeed felt some pain.

[[quoteright:326:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/s_l640_3.jpg]]
''On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft'' is a memoir by Creator/StephenKing, with a collection of essays about writing and about his life. It explains how he became a writer, and his philosophy.

** King made a newspaper called ''The Village Vomit'', satirizing all of the teachers and giving them embarrassing aliases. One of the teachers who was a hardass found out and busted him. He had to serve detention and was denied an Honor Society position.

* EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory: [[invoked]]King promotes [[ExploitedTrope taking advantage of this in your own works]]; his message there is, don't shoehorn in symbolism, instead look at your draft and polish up what naturally shows up as a recurring theme to make it really stand out. He uses the recurring motif of blood in ''Literature/{{Carrie}}'' as an example. In short: If you see not-actually-symbolism showing up prominently, encourage it to grow and make it ''actual'' symbolism.

''On Writing'' is a memoir by Stephen King, with a collection of essays about writing and about his life. It explains how he became a writer, and his philosophy.

* EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory: King promotes [[ExploitedTrope taking advantage of this in your own works]]; his message there is, don't shoehorn in symbolism, instead look at your draft and polish up what naturally shows up as a recurring theme to make it really stand out. He uses the recurring motif of blood in ''Literature/{{Carrie}}'' as an example. In short: If you see not-actually-symbolism showing up prominently, encourage it to grow and make it ''actual'' symbolism.

* KnowYourVines: Once when King was a child, he had to use the bathroom while he and his brother were playing. Dave told him to wipe his ass with nearby leaves, which turned out to be poison ivy. The end result was he spent several weeks getting calamine lotion and bath treatments.

** After the truck accident, which led to King's lung collapsing, the paramedics had to reinflate it by inserting a tube. They reassured King he wouldn't' feel anything. He braced himself, and indeed felt some pain.

* AbledAddict: Subverted. King freely admits that he was not functional as an alcoholic or a cocaine addict. He started blacking out, throwing up whatever was in his belly, and spending the rest of the next day hungover. While his output was sometimes good, the quality wasn't.

* TheAlcholic: King says that he became this after he got drunk for the first time as a seventeen-year-old. He didn't kick it until his wife and friends staged an intervention.