Page 140 - Student: dazed And Confused

Was fame and riches truly at the core of that story even though there may be little or no
money to be made in short story writing?

'For me, reading and writing horror is about
eating my own shadow so it won't eat me.'

(Shannon, p15, 2007)

Perhaps the true motivation is to turn ones fears into fiction before they have chance to

materialise. Motivations, and the desire to prove such cynics wrong, are often perceived as
profound and vital, as voiced by the students asking Stephen King repeatedly about why he

writes and where he get his ideas (StephenKing.com). It is assumed that a writer of horror

must have deeply personal reasons for writing this and no gentler type of fiction. This is not
always the case as the reasons can be as seemingly superficial, but just as important as,

keeping the car running or to buy a new pair of boots. People are always going to pay for

good music or a good story, but no reader needs to know or suspect that their books and

CDs are more money-makers than works of love.

The aim of many a writer, and especially in the horror genre, is to push the
limits a little further each time. Yet no-one has ever specified what these limits are - maybe

that is to their credit. Writing something totally new and original can no longer be used as

we come to understand that every story has been told in some way, though new twists and
spins always come out. This truth never stops people dreaming though, it often only

encourages them to 'write the greatest car crash song ever written' jimsteinman.com).the

work that sprang from this pushed boundaries, not only in what was acceptable for the

music industry, but also in writing circles. Sex, violence and a seedy underworld of
forbidden passions were almost drilled into peoples' brains in 1977 and has since become

more socially acceptable. The contents of any work are barriers as we debate whether it

will escape censorship and seep into public consciousness. These kinds of barriers are there

for the breaking and will, no doubt, be broken over and over again. But it is not only the
words that end up on the page that form the boundaries to be pushed - any writer will have

his is her own personal obstacles to overcome. Indeed it can be argued that a writer is not a

true writer if they have not experienced some difficulty in their creative process. Stephen

King was surviving a serious drug addiction at shat was debatably the peak of his career. Jim