Stephen King on Stephenie Meyer:

"Both Rowling and Meyer, they’re speaking directly to young people. ... The real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can’t write worth a darn. She’s not very good."

Hee hee hee hee hee.

I do question the 'Jo Rowling is a terrific writer' bit because of the bloat of the last few books (among other things), but hee hee hee nonetheless.  And he says that James Patterson is terrible, too.  Heh.

More hilarity at fandom wank.

(second link via Occupation Girl)

Comments

I think the "bloat" is less a matter of her writing skills and more a matter of her publishers' greed. The fact that the books got bigger only means they stopped editing her around book three. I guarantee that the first drafts of the first three books were considerably bigger (and probably looked more like the last four). They were all edited before she became a phenom. After that, her publishers said, "Write whatever you want, we'll try to take out the spelling mistakes, but then we're putting that big honkin' book on the shelves."

She is a terrific writer and does so many things very intelligently (whereas Meyer wants simply to write trashy romance and appeal to base emotions). All writers need an editor to rein them in with a little focus. It's not Rowling's fault her publishers refused to do that.

[Andy]

I think the "bloat" is less a matter of her writing skills and more a matter of her publishers' greed. The fact that the books got bigger only means they stopped editing her around book three. I guarantee that the first drafts of the first three books were considerably bigger (and probably looked more like the last four). They were all edited before she became a phenom. After that, her publishers said, "Write whatever you want, we'll try to take out the spelling mistakes, but then we're putting that big honkin' book on the shelves."

She is a terrific writer and does so many things very intelligently (whereas Meyer wants simply to write trashy romance and appeal to base emotions--not that there's, theoretically, anything wrong with that but you should expect to be called out on it if you take yourself too seriously). All writers need an editor to rein them in with a little focus (Meyer needed that as well). It's not Rowling's fault her publishers refused to do that once she became insanely popular.

[Leila]

I think it's definitely fair to blame the bloat on a lack of editing (and many of Stephen King's novels suffer from the same, IMHO), but I do think Rowling's books also suffer a bit from her tendency to over-explain, like, everything. A lot of telling rather than showing. My issue with it may certainly be more a matter of differing tastes than anything else. Any of my issues, obviously, didn't stop me from reading each of her books (and Meyer's, for that matter, though in a different way) in a single sitting and enjoying them (for the most part) enormously.

[Brian F.]

Oooh. And he called out Patterson too.

[Leila]

Yeah, but that's nothing new.

Still way funny, though.

[Brian F.]

I think that's ultimately what I want out of my own writing career. I'm not in it for the vast wealth. I just want to be famous enough that I can publicly say what I think about certain people and suffer zero ill consequences.

I'm petty but even a petty man can dream.

Oh, and re: your comment on Rowling over-writing. I think a lot of that can be chalked up to the internet. No, seriously. I think in the last few books, she got tired of answering the same fan questions over and over ("How does this work?" "Why didn't they just do this instead?") so she chose to cover all her bases and explain why every permutation but the one the characters chose was impossible. Maybe you should consider her "thorough in attending to fan questions," rather than an overwriter. :-)

[Maureen E]

I laughed out loud when I read this. Yay Stephen King!

[TadMack]

I chuckle that he says the Meyer books aren't overtly sexual. Oh?

I don't find JKR that stupendous of a writer, either, for the most part, but she has that 19th century vibe going on that is old-fashioned storytelling; familiar and comfortable (and, maybe I say it, DICKENSONIAN?) and safe. Plus she has tons of cool-things-per-page. Or, she did until right up 'til the last few books.

[Kelly Fineman]

Bwahahaha! Love Stephen King. He's the man.

And Tanita - I think the Twilight books are not overtly sexual. The sex is all implied or of the "fade to fluttery curtains" nature. It's more about the not-having of it, really. But then again, talking about not-having it is still sexual in a way, I suppose.

[Allie]

I think Stephenie Meyer admited that she wasn't a good writer, but that she was a good storyteller. Not sure where I heard that. I know it was before King called her out.

[Propagatrix]

ZOMG King is just JELUS bcuz he cant SPARKLE!!!

[Kay]

That's hilarious. Except for the Patterson part. His books are genius, except for the last MR book. By the way, Stephenie is my life.

[Victoria Vaticide]

Propagatrix, you spelling is as atrocious as your opinion. I'm for free-speech and all, but, seriously, why?

I don't agree that Meyer is a great writer or storyteller. She mistakes dangerous infatuation as love, Bella and Edward have an abusive relationship that is portrayed as normal, Bella is weak, Edward is an ass, she stuck to hair stereotypes [for the most part] (blonde bitch, sweet brunette, angry redhead, etc.), and is just shallow overall. The poorly written stories with titles that give away the plot and horrible smut on quizilla are better.

[Joyce]

It makes me laugh how people think that Stephen King is "jelus" of Stephenie Meyer. If King was jealous he would proabably would have bashed J.K.Rowling too, considering how much more successful Rowling is compared to Meyer. Rowling speaks out to both genders and people of all ages, wheras Meyer speaks to young little girls who have as many wet dreams as Meyer has.

[Propagatrix]

Um, Victoria, I'm not really a Twilight fan. That comment was a micro-snark on the sort of Twilight-obsessed teens who leave that kind of comment. :)

[Victoria Vaticide]

I'm sorry, Propagatrix. I tend to take things... seriously. ._.;;

[Air Jordan shoes]

Life is only if the "first meet ", that would be...