History Trivia / StephenKing

* WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants: Self-admitted, in ''On Writing''. He comes up with a basic "What If?" premise and then makes the story up as he goes along, filling in character traits on the fly and never concerning himself with "theme" or "symbolism" until he gets stuck and needs to find a way out. He stated that -- aside from ''Literature/TheDeadZone'' -- he dislikes his "plotted" books such as ''Literature/RoseMadder'' and ''Literature/{{Insomnia}}'', calling them "stiff, trying-too-hard" novels.[[note]] Humorously, the heavy plotting was the result of his attempt to tie both into his then-ongoing ''Dark Tower'' series, but all that plotting was for naught since the latter ended up being handwaved away in-universe while the former had no ultimate relevance whatsoever.[[/note]] However, this approach to writing sometimes backfires on him, considering all the criticism (which he himself agrees with) about his propensity for rushed, sloppy endings.

* TheWikiRule: [[https://stephenking.fandom.com/wiki/Main_Page The Stephen King Wiki.]]

* BeamMeUpScotty: There's an unflattering quote comparing the rich, moral complexity of ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' to the relative shallowness of ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' often attributed to him: "''Harry Potter'' is about confronting fears, finding inner strength and doing what is right in the face of adversity. ''Twilight'' is about how important it is to have a boyfriend." While this does reflect King's personal opinions about both books, the quote actually came from blogger Robin Browne.

* WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants: Self-admitted, in ''On Writing''. He comes up with a basic "What If?" premise and then makes the story up as he goes along, filling in character traits on the fly and never concerning himself with "theme" or "symbolism" until he gets stuck and needs to find a way out. He stated that -- aside from ''Literature/TheDeadZone'' -- he dislikes his "plotted" books such as ''Literature/RoseMadder'' and ''Literature/{{Insomnia}}'', calling them "stiff, trying-too-hard" novels.[[note]] ''Humorously, the heavy plotting was the result of his attempt to tie both into his then-ongoing ''Dark Tower'' series, but all that plotting was for naught since the latter ended up being handwaved away in-universe while the former had no ultimate relevance whatsoever.''[[/note]] However, this approach to writing sometimes backfires on him, considering all the criticism (which he himself agrees with) about his propensity for rushed, sloppy endings.

* NamesTheSame: As noted on the main page King himself shares his name with former Iowa Representative Steve King [[note]] albeit the politician King spells his name "Steven" rather than "Stephen" [[/note]], something which has caused him [[https://twitter.com/StephenKing/status/1059055138416050176 some consternation]] [[OneSteveLimit given the latter's]] [[MistakenIdentity history of making]] [[MistakenForRacist racist statements]].

* TheWikiRule: [[http://stephenking.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page The Stephen King Wiki]].

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Tends to happen a lot with his novels, which are heavy on contemporary cultural and political references that don't always age well. He himself has said he's sometimes "too much a writer of the moment."
** There's some of this in ''Danse Macabre,'' King's 1981 nonfiction overview of the horror genre from 1950-1980. For just one example, King writes, "If you have seen one film by Creator/WesCraven, it is safe, I think, to skip the others." Obviously, this was before Craven made such classics as ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet1984'' and ''Film/{{Scream}}.''