Why Stephen King is the best author

This isn't a very well written essay, it's more of a fangirl spouting paragraphs on why she idolizes this author. So try not to cringe at my very bland writing 😅.

For those who don't know who Stephen King is, though I would be thoroughly disappointed, he is a very well known horror and supernatural novelist. He has sold over 350 million copies of his books, which most have been adapted into movies, tv shows, etc. His most notable works are IT, Carrie, and The Shining.

Although I am a very huge fan of Jane Austen, I think that Stephen King is a more phenomenal writer. I'm not saying that Stephen King is better than Jane Austen, they are both equally amazing authors. King does look up to many famous authors like Charles Dickens, William Golding, and Ray Bradbury. He has learned plenty from the well known authors that he became a successful author from them.

Admittedly, I have only read ten books by Stephen King, but the fact that he is able to write and publish over 80 books and get his first book published when he was only in his 20s is crazy. He has won many Bram Stoker awards and World Fantasy Awards which is also very impressive. He is the King of Horror after all.

His stories and writing has made me become an avid fan of horror. I get scared very easily, I had a terrible phase back in middle school where I would only watch horror movies. And that all stopped, but once I read my very first Stephen King novel I was blown away. I picked up more and more, then I started to fall in love with horror all over again. He truly knows how to write horror (and write in general), though some of his stories aren't the scariest ever. He is able to include sophomoric humor and still keep it eerie and mysterious. He keeps a good balance between the suspense and dramatic irony. It was also interesting to learn that most of his stories come from his nightmares. I mean, why get a therapist and talk about your nightmares when you can write it down and get paid for it.

Though many would argue, his stories have no correlation with Edgar Allen Poe poems or H.P. Lovecraft short stories, both are fantastic authors by the way, but he is his own writer and has his own style. Although I may be biased and have only read one contemporary horror novelist, I have read many horror stories that lead all the way back to the romanticism era and--with no prejudice against any specific novel or author-- I was not as thrilled and impressed with 1800s and 1900s horror. Though certain gothic fiction like Jane Eyre and Great Expectations were top notch, certain horror was not my cup of tea. I do know how much gothic fiction has evolved throughout the years, it has gotten more gruesome over time, but I respect that the earlier ages of novels have been the backbone of horror. Books like Frankenstein and Dracula have paved the path of horror and made Stephen King's stories seem exceptional. (Although I'm not a fan of Shelley or Stoker, they are still very talented writers, would highly recommend even if you don't enjoy horror).

King makes it exceptionally easy for people to love his characters. Some of my favorites, Luke Ellis (The Institute), Eddie Kaspbrak (IT), and Danny Torrance (The Shining/Doctor Sleep). I do enjoy that all these characters are adolescents and aren't always thinking about relationships (since the majority of books include that).

Luke Ellis is a very bubbly and clever character. As you read The Institute, you start to enjoy the fast pace plot and Ellis's pure and resourceful character. You almost pity his naïve thinking in the beginning, then empathize with his feeling of hopelessness within the novel. Eddie Kaspbrak from IT is a very well known character, as many would recognize if you watched the movie. As much as I do enjoy King's writing of Eddie and Richie's platonic friendship, I did prefer the movie take on their relationship (call me a hopeless romantic if you will). You could almost sympathize Eddie's struggle with his mother and hypochondria. Danny Torrance is a boy with the same powers as his father, but doesn't abuse them the way his father did. He does become an alcoholic in the future, but he tries to recover from his addiction, which is an experience Stephen King knows well. Danny is a very loving and forgiving character that readers can't help but appreciate and admire. King is able to make his characters realistic and favorable at the same time, which many authors can't achieve (no prejudice against any specific author). He isn't afraid to elaborate more on parental abuse, along with drug and alcohol abuse. He also isn't afraid to add in diverse and LGBTQ characters into his writing, and doesn't add in those characters because he feels forced to.

The very first book I read by Stephen King was in fact a nonfiction book (The Institute was the first novel I read written by him), "On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft". He gives amazing tips on how to write fiction, which I use for myself in hopes to be as talented and respected as him. I would go back to that book at least once a week to make sure I follow his insightful advice. Though it may be sort of ironic that the very first book I ever read by an author that I look up to was not in the genre he is most known for, it did help build my love for his work. Stephen King is the very reason I aspired to be a writer, maybe not as a career like him but to pursue as much of it as I can.

Other than the writing tips that King adds into his nonfiction book, he also talks very intimately about his past, since he has had a very hard time getting his start, as he described within the book. While he was writing his first novel ever, Carrie, he would write on a crappy foldable table, with a barely functioning typewriter and earning minimum wage at a laundromat. He even talks about his alcohol and drug addiction, and explains the struggles he'd gone through as an author and as a person. He also mentions the car accident that nearly kills him, which can be a frightening experience for an author to write about. It shows the type of person he is, strong and persistent enough to continue what he absolutely adores doing even after a traumatic accident.

Stephen King has shown growth as a person and as an author, how he isn't afraid to write about what he believes in and what he enjoys. He shows his struggles as a person and his developed character within his writing, which is an approach many authors are scared to follow. I admire his work and I hope to be like him in the future.