Thanks so much for choosing our podcast. Before you start this episode, this is Kellyn Erskine

from the future. If you're listening to The Bookpile for the first time, I highly recommend

starting on a later episode after we hit our stride. Some of my all-time favorites are when we cover

the books, The Hunger Games, 1984, and the roasts of the Da Vinci Code, any of the Twilight Rosts. If you hear because you

already like the podcast and want to binge from the beginning, then thanks again. New episodes

every Monday. Hey everyone. Want to learn about creativity from one of the most successful creators

of our day? Today's book is On Writing by Stephen King. I'm Kellynerskin. I'm a comedian, a husband, a father,

but most importantly, a comedian. But before I was a comic, I wrote funny stories pretty much

from the time I learned how to write. And I'm David Vance. I started writing at age nine with a story

about elves. It went on for pages and pages. And then the last

line was, it was a tough battle, but in the end, the elves died. Whether or not you prefer the horror

genre, Stephen King is objectively a master of the craft of writing, just like how I don't like

country music, but I can still admit

that Brad Paisley is a great guitarist. King has wonderful advice for writers and creators of any skill

level, and it's all in this book, which is part autobiography, part handbook. And this is the bookpile.

What I'm trying to say is that Stephen King is the Brad Paisley

of Literature. All right. And without further ado, here are four lessons that we took from

on writing. All right, lesson one, read a lot. So he starts up by saying, if you want to be a writer,

it's really important to read a lot for a couple of reasons. The first is that when you read bad writing, you think, okay, I could do better than that. It's this great confidence booster that pushes you into the arena. The second reason, he says, is you also want to read things that are so good that you think I'll never be able to do that. He says, you need to be flattened by good riding. So I love this quote.

You cannot hope to sweep someone else away by the force of your writing until it has been done to you.

Jordan Peel was doing an interview once where he talked about seeing Second City shows when he was

younger. And he says, it's so important to see the best. That's how you know how good it can be.

...