10 Things I learned from King, Stephen

• "My job isn't to help them (characters) work their way free, or manipulate them to safety-those jobs require a noisy jackhammer of plot- but to watch what happens and then write it down."

•  The book, Misery, began from a dream Stephen King had about a famous writer. He wrote the dream recollections on an American Airlines cocktail napkin.

• "I like to write longhand, actually; the problem with that, once I get jazzed, I can't keep up with the lines forming in my head and I get frazzled."

• "Description begins with visualization of what it is you want the reader to experience."

• ''Practice the art, always reminding yourself that your job is to say what you see, and then get on with your story."

• ''There are lots of  would-be censors out there, and although they may have different agendas, they all want basically the same thing:for you to see the world as they see it."

• "The delete key is on your machine for a reason."

• "Symbolism exists to adorn and enrich, not to create a sense of artificial profundity."

•  ''Writing isn't about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friends.    In the end, it's all about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life as well."

• "That includes the Prime Rule, of course: Write a lot and read a lot."