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. 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.

* 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. 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: Often re-uses names from his other books to describe completely different people. Examples include: Patrick Hockstetter, who was a Shop scientist in ''Literature/{{Firestarter}}'' and a sociopathic schoolmate of the Loser's Club in ''Literature/{{It}}''; Martin Coslaw, who was the nice, crippled hero of ''Literature/CycleOfTheWerewolf'' (and the film based on it, ''Film/SilverBullet'') and a cruel disciplinarian in ''Literature/{{Blaze}}''; he shows up a third time in ''Literature/ElevenTwentyTwoSixtyThree'' as a high school football player and actor. Similar to a ContinuityNod (above). Also, has used names of people in his own life to help name some of the characters as a form of ShoutOut (see below).
** Taken UpToEleven in ''Literature/{{Desperation}}'' and ''Literature/TheRegulators'' (Richard Bachman), which share almost all the same characters but give them drastically different positions and personalities.
** 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]].

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: The entire 200-page manuscript for his novel ''The Cannibals'' vanished midway through writing it. King has never found the missing manuscript, and can't bring himself to start over. He did work elements of it into ''Literature/UnderTheDome''

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: The entire 200-page manuscript for his novel ''The Cannibals'' vanished midway through writing it. King has never found the missing manuscript, and can't bring himself to start over.

** As noted on the main page King himself shares his name with 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]].

** Also inspired the short story of "Memory", as the story was inspired by what he was able to remember and not remember from having the accident.

* 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 King does, indeed, famously admire J.K. Rowling and famously ''loathe'' Stephanie Meyer, it actually came from blogger Robin Browne.

* 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 King does, indeed, famously admire J.K. Rowling and famously ''loathe'' Stephanie Meyer, it actually came from blogger Robin Browne.

* AuthorExistenceFailure: Narrowly averted in 1999, when King was struck by a van while walking along a road. His personal brush with death was later incorporated into several of his works, including his ''Dark Tower'' series, which he hastened to complete so he wouldn't leave it unfinished if this trope came down for real. Oddly enough, he ended up long outliving the guy who hit him.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Tends to happen a lot with his earlier 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."

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Tends to happen a lot with his earlier novels. He himself has said he's sometimes "too much a writer of the moment."

* TechnologyMarchesOn : Reading "Word Processor of the Gods" is hilarious 30+ years after its publication in 1983. The WANG word processor as it's described in the story went for a ''starting price'' of $3000, and could cost up to $18k! In the days of $400 desktops, it's funny. Knowing that price got you a whopping [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Laboratories#Wang_OIS_2 64K of RAM]] is unbelievable.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Tends to happen a lot with his earlier novels. He himself has said he's sometimes "too much a writer of the moment."

* NamesTheSame Often re-uses names from other books to describe completely different people. Examples include: Patrick Hockstetter, who was a Shop scientist in ''Literature/{{Firestarter}}'' and a sociopathic schoolmate of the Loser's Club in ''Literature/{{It}}''; Martin Coslaw, who was the nice, crippled hero of ''Literature/CycleOfTheWerewolf'' (and the film based on it, ''Film/SilverBullet'') and a cruel disciplinarian in ''Literature/{{Blaze}}''; he shows up a third time in ''Literature/ElevenTwentyTwoSixtyThree'' as a high school football player and actor. Similar to a ContinuityNod (above). Also, has used names of people in his own life to help name some of the characters as a form of ShoutOut (see below).

* OldShame:
** King pulled ''Literature/{{Rage}}'' out of circulation after its potential involvement in several school shootings. He still regrets it to this day.
** He despises ''Film/MaximumOverdrive'', frequently referencing it when discussing failures.

** Taken UpToEleven in ''Literature/{{Desperation}}'' and ''Literature/{{TheRegulators}}'' (Richard Bachman), which share almost all the same characters but give them drastically different positions and personalities.

* 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 King is, indeed, a great admirer of J.K. Rowling, it actually came from blogger Robin Browne.

* 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 many critics of the latter revel in the idea that such a respected author would say this, it actually came from blogger Robin Browne.
** The quote does fit him as he's been shown to have nothing but respect for J.K. Rowling.

* 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, and while many critics of the latter revel in the idea that such a respected author would say this, it actually came from blogger Robin Browne.