How big is your thinking?

Dear Stephen King,

I have been assembling a series of over 300 books that I want to write. It is a giant outline comprised of seven ages throughout our planet's history. Each age has seven moving points that change the course of that age's history. Then each of those moving points has seven novels most likely chronicling the lives of the same characters.

I'm wondering if you write in this way. From what I understand you are a "write by the seat of your pants" author. I can see you taking notes about where you want to go with a sequel or second sequel but I believe you only have an idea of what you want to write when you sit down. You don't have a full outline. You will have to let me know a little more about how you do that.

I personally, have discovered that I need an outline to sit down and write. I have to know how story is going to end before I can start writing that story. I like to have beats to write about. I guess it's because of my short attention span. I write about 100 or 200 words at a time. Then I have to get up and do something around the house and then I come back and write another hundred or 200 words. This means I sit down and write eight or nine times before I can quit for the day.

I am trying to study ways to be a little more focused, to have a more specific place and time to write. The process is something that is ever evolving, and I will continue to make changes to my routine until I find a way to be more consistent about putting words down on paper.

I look forward to hearing more about your writing process. 

Sincerely,
Robert Gasperson

Do you ever have writers block?

Dear Stephen King,

I wonder if someone who writes as much as you do ever has writers block. You always seem to have something to write about. And to tell the truth I always have something to write about.

I figure you have a system kind of like I do. I keep a notebook with me at all times so when an idea does strike me, I write them down. This way when I am trying to write and can't think of something to write about all I have to do is go back to my notebook.

Also I have a series of books that I want to write that number about 340 books. This means I will never run out of ideas for stories because I have an outline of many stories I want to write already.

I know others like Scott Sigler actually has a timeframe laid out in front of him for the next 3 to 7 years of what he's going to be writing. He will always have something to write because he already knows what he is writing in advance.

How do you make sure that you always have something to write?

Sincerely,
Robert Gasperson

Do you write when you're sick?

Dear Stephen King,

I have been fighting a cold for the past week and a half. It's a pretty nasty cold. It makes me tired most of the time, and even with working 10 to 12 hours every 55 days a week I have been exhausted and my body doesn't seem to be healing as fast as I would like it to be.

I'm doing a little bit of writing here and there but nothing extreme. I would like to be writing about 1000 words a day but I seem to be averaging about 200. Mostly I think I'm progress. Some of the reason is because I don't feel good.

I wonder do you write your sick? I know some others probably right because they're sick. It's a good time to eight. It's a good time to get those words on paper. I just know how to do it myself. I only feel like laying down and doing nothing.

Stay healthy my friend,
Robert T Gasperson

Can You Sell Your Soul to the Devil?

"The Stranger" was a basic story about a man who sold his soul to the devil. He killed a guard and stole an unknown amount of money. We believe you stole the money from a bank but you didn't go into too much detail about that. The story was more about the state of his soul.

This is one of those storylines that are used all of the time in books and TV shows like supernatural horror movies dazzled. It's usually a story about how the person who sold his soul finds a way to get it back from the devil. He usually finds a way to cheat the devil or a power higher than himself takes the rights who is the devil.

Being a religious man I don't really believe our souls belong to us to so anyway. our souls belong to our Creator. I have always wondered how religious you are. You bring religion into a lot of your stories. It is one of mankind's biggest struggles in life. Is there a God or is there not.

I have never seen you mentioned God and any interview. I wonder if you believe in God. I believe you do otherwise you would not put so much of it in your stories. Especially because of the ending of "the stand".

Things in Wells Feed Karma

Dear Stephen King,

I was trying to not laugh at the choice of the name Oglethorpe when I found myself intrigued by the story of a kid who found his own fate became that of the animals he had himself mistreated. 

Karma is one of those things we learn in life. We're not necessarily confident in the existence of karma, but when something happens to us not long after we have done the same thing to others, we begin to wonder if the phrase "what goes around comes around" can really be justified as something this world really supports.

You packed a big story into a one page short about a kid who tortured animals and tried to kill his nanny by tripping her as she went down the stairs, before he himself was lowered to the bottom of the well to be tortured and mutilated by some unknown creature.

Karma can go both ways. If you do good things then many times good things will happen to you. When I came to Maine back in 2003 to see your house and the city you grew up in, I ran into a lady at the laundry mat who told the story of the pool and rec center that you funded just because you could. She said you knew that the kids of the neighborhood needed a place to hang out to keep their minds and hands entertained. 

There are many things like this I have seen you do over the many years I've been a fan. I appreciate everything you've done. Thank you for being able to help those in need, help those who are sick and help those who can't help themselves.

I am curious. What kind of charity is close to your heart? Some people help those charities that will benefit their loved ones. Our family tries to help the charities that look for a cure for anaphylaxis because there are people in our family who are highly allergic to nuts. If we can help others who have the same condition as our loved ones, maybe our loved ones will be lucky enough to find a cure.

Stephen King's Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS

Dear Stephen King,

Yesterday I watched you do the ice bucket challenge to support ALS research for a cure. It was refreshing to watch someone as famous and as successful as you are to step back and do something that was not only fun, being soaked by a bucket of ice water by a friend, but also doing something so serious as helping those who are fighting a debilitating disease like ALS.

I have a coworker who was diagnosed a few months ago with ALS. I did not know it at the time and was wondering why he was only working with one arm. I mentioned the fact in a coaching manner. Luckily he did not become offended by my remark. He just let me know what was causing the issue. Sometimes there are comments we make that we wish we could take back after learning what these people are going through.

I hope that one day they will be able to find a cure for ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease. There are so many people who suffer, who cannot move like you when I can. And not everyone can afford the care that it takes to live with this kind of disease.

Thank you again for giving to this much-needed cause, and challenging your peers to give as well. If we all gave a little bit, whether it be money or time or just a simple prayer, maybe one day they will find a way to give these people their lives back.

People, Places and Things Part 1

Dear Stephen King,

I have become almost obsessed with the 18 page anthology you and your buddy Chris Chelsey put together called “People, Places and Things.” The info I found said you had your own publishing company called “Triad & Gaslight Books”. This was a publishing company created by two 13 year olds. That name is rather impressive. It almost sounds like you each had your own ideas for the publishing company, then you put them together to make one.

As I read through this short collection of one page stories, I see the beginnings of some of the things that would later grow into novels like The Shining. “The Hotel at the End of the Road” reminds me of what you wrote about Overlook Hotel where Jack looses his grip on reality while trying to write his next novel.

There are a few stories I have not been able to find in any way, shape or form. “The Dimension Warp” makes me wonder what is being describe. Is it a hole in the fabric of time that leads to another time or another dimension? Maybe it is one of the first ideas about a pocket universe, a universe between universes.

Then there is the story “I’m Falling” which, according to everything I have read, has been long lost in the depths of the darkest corners of time. I wonder how it was lost. It was ripped out of your personal copy, or maybe it is in your copy, but you want to keep it to yourself, keeping your fans feeling like there is something of yours they have not read. That would be an ingenious move to keep us in your deep dark pockets.
   
“I’ve Got to Get Away!” is a great testament of the repetitive nature of our assembly line society. We go to work everyday, help make some boss really rich, collect our measly paycheck and dream of getting away. I don’t know if a 13 year old you was thinking about that at the time, but that is how I read it.
   
I have a few more stories I am looking forward to reading. The stories “The Thing at the Bottom of the Well”, “The Stranger”,    “The Cursed Expedition”, “The Other Side of the Fog” and “Never Look Behind You” I still have to find and read.

Thank you for your childhood creations,
Robert T Gasperson

Finding Stephen’s Writings

Dear Stephen King,

For years I have followed your work. At one time I had a pretty impressive collection of your books. I had all the hardbacks, most of the anthologies and many of the old magazines that I could find on ebay. When I got married, I had to give up a lot of my collections, and My books shelf was one of them. I am not entirely sure I am over that sale. I did make the guy happy I sold the books to.

I have made it a challenge to find every piece of writing you have allowed into the open market. I started by looking at the complete list of written works on your website. It is a great list. It helps me find the stories that are not in my collection.

The next part of my search are the few works that were available before you sold “Carrie”. In “On Writing” you described a series of newsletters you and your brother Dave wrote called “Dave’s Rag” That led me to a story called, “I was a Teenage Grave Robber” which was published in Comics Review in 1967. This story led me to Horrorking.com and their list of Rare Works by Stephen King. This was the motherload. I was so excited about finding this.

I soon discovered an anthology you and your childhood friend Chris Chelsey wrote together. It contained 18 single page stories, of which you wrote 8 and 1 you co-authored with Chelsey. I have found synopsis of several of these stories, but I have not been able to find the stories themselves.

After a little more research, it turns out there are a number of books about rare works you have either not released or have not been republished in an anthology. "The Lost Works of Stephen King", by Steve Spignesi and "Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished" by Rocky Wood with David Rawsthorne & Norma Blackburn are two of those books. The first I can get pretty easily. The second I might have to settle for the kindle version. It is out of print and the copies available are $50-200. I look forward to the hunt though?

Thanks for the rare stories
Robert T Gasperson

PS. Do you enjoy hiding stories or leaving easter eggs inside stories for your true fans to hunt for?