Character development

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Duece41

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Dec 12, 2019
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His character development is one of my favorite things about Stephen King. I grew up in small, SMALL town ND. Every town has at least one character that for some reason stands out. In my town they had to take turns as it was a target rich environment Freudianly speaking. In SK's writing it's not just the main characters but all the little side characters and how they are all tied together that weaves the tapestry. It reminds me of a book I read once called Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters. The entire book is a series of short free verse poems in the form of epitaphs written by the people of that town about themselves. It was written in 1915 and in my mind reminiscent of Stephen's work. The Trashcan Man, Delores Claiborne, Buddy Ripperton, Junior Rennie, I could go on. It seems we all know people like these. Both writers have a knack for showing real believable people. I believe Stephen and Edgar would be very good friends.
 

Gerald

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Sep 8, 2011
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Usually there is a lot of attention to the characters, but I like that he says that situation is as important to him as character. In this note about the Under the Dome series he says:

“The book is the boss,” Alfred Bester used to say, and what that means to me is the situation is the boss. If you play fair with the characters—and let them play their parts according to their strengths and weaknesses—you can never go wrong. It’s impossible.

 

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
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His character development is one of my favorite things about Stephen King. I grew up in small, SMALL town ND. Every town has at least one character that for some reason stands out. In my town they had to take turns as it was a target rich environment Freudianly speaking. In SK's writing it's not just the main characters but all the little side characters and how they are all tied together that weaves the tapestry. It reminds me of a book I read once called Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters. The entire book is a series of short free verse poems in the form of epitaphs written by the people of that town about themselves. It was written in 1915 and in my mind reminiscent of Stephen's work. The Trashcan Man, Delores Claiborne, Buddy Ripperton, Junior Rennie, I could go on. It seems we all know people like these. Both writers have a knack for showing real believable people. I believe Stephen and Edgar would be very good friends.
33600
 

Duece41

New Member
Dec 12, 2019
3
19
63
Usually there is a lot of attention to the characters, but I like that he says that situation is as important to him as character. In this note about the Under the Dome series he says:

“The book is the boss,” Alfred Bester used to say, and what that means to me is the situation is the boss. If you play fair with the characters—and let them play their parts according to their strengths and weaknesses—you can never go wrong. It’s impossible.

Yes. Sometimes the story takes over where the writer leaves off. Sometimes things evolve that even the writer doesn't see coming.
 

Gerald

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Sep 8, 2011
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The Netherlands
Yes. Sometimes the story takes over where the writer leaves off. Sometimes things evolve that even the writer doesn't see coming.

I think it's important that nothing in a story ever feels forced by the writer. The writer and what he wants should be invisible. Things should progress in a way that feels natural to the given situation. With King it always does, because he sticks to this idea that the situation is the boss.
 
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SpazzTheBassPlayer

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Dec 16, 2014
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what makes King's characters so real is that he uses criteria that almost everybody on the planet can relate to, and the more embarrassing, the more real: his characters get angry, get remorseful, they love, they hate, they drink, they smoke, they fart, they burp, they run out of toilet paper, they like some music, they hate some music, they pick their nose when they think nobody is looking, they finger-swipe a little icing on the cake when nobody is looking, and a few will pick their nose and then finger-swipe the icing, etc...….its these ancilliary things that bring his characters to life, not their personalities
 
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SpazzTheBassPlayer

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Dec 16, 2014
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The magic of Stephen King: characters so real that you get to know them....empathize with them...you can taste what they eat.....you can feel what they feel......its in the flaws: Everyone has flaws and King emphasizes those things.......little things that we all do and can relate to

Im happy to say that Joe Hill has this same talent but its not a copy: Hill does it in his own way

edit - i already responded to this thread lololol