Any truth to the Dark Tower rewrite (possible spoiler)

[Icculus]

Is it true that Mr. King plans to write himself out of The Dark Tower series in a future rewrite? I enjoyed the meta nature of those portions of the story. While they were not my favorite I thought they brought a lot to the table. Can anyone verify this or hopefully shoot it down?

[Moderator]

No, it's not true.

[J.T. Adams]

For all the people who would like to take this moment to scream out "Thank God it isn't true!", let's save Ms M the trouble of a million posts as I say it for you . . .


THANK GOD!!



and a *happy dance*

[GNTLGNT]

...thank Gan, Marsha shot that sucker down like Snoopy after the Red Baron!.....

[bryantburnette]

I know there are King fans out there who dislike that element of the Tower books, but personally, I would think it was an absolute tragedy if he wrote himself out in a rewrite.

[Garriga]

I couldn't imagine a world without the Drawing of the three

[SPS]

Man I could not disagree more with most of you...

IMO ending a story with, ...he woke up and it was all a dream, is lame and the biggest cop-out ever, and the way the DT series ended is as close as you can get to that without actually saying it. I would love for the last 3 books to be re-written, they are just so different then the first 3, and are good, but not nearly as good. I love the series as a whole but I could have lived without King putting himself into the story, the influx of taheen, vampires, low-men, and the anti-climatic ending of the crimson king.

[Spinebreaker]

I hate to be the one to bring facts into an internet discussion board...

"Now he's finished the story he is trying to decide how much he can rewrite it, if he views the sequence as one very long novel. Can he do a second draft? He hopes so. Currently, Stephen King is a character in the fifth and sixth Dark Tower books, and Stephen King the non-fictional author is wondering whether to take him out on the next draft."

Interview with Stephen King by Neil Gaiman, earlier this year. You can find it here... http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2012/04/popular-writers-stephen-king-interview.html The necessary section iss just over 3/4 of the way down.

So, yeah. If you wanna listen to the man himself, there's a lot of truth to the idea of a rewrite.

[bryantburnette]

IMO ending a story with, ...he woke up and it was all a dream, is lame and the biggest cop-out ever, and the way the DT series ended is as close as you can get to that without actually saying it.

How is the ending a cop-out? A cop-out is an action you take in order to cheat your way out of an undesired outcome; what King did in ending the series that way -- which I'm sure he knew would frustrate fans who weren't on the same wavelength as he was as far as what Roland's quest was about -- was actually far away from being a cop-out. It would have been a cop-out for him to have the idea and then NOT end the series that way.

[bryantburnette]

I hate to be the one to bring facts into an internet discussion board...

"Now he's finished the story he is trying to decide how much he can rewrite it, if he views the sequence as one very long novel. Can he do a second draft? He hopes so. Currently, Stephen King is a character in the fifth and sixth Dark Tower books, and Stephen King the non-fictional author is wondering whether to take him out on the next draft."

Interview with Stephen King by Neil Gaiman, earlier this year. You can find it here... http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2012/04/popular-writers-stephen-king-interview.html The necessary section iss just over 3/4 of the way down.

So, yeah. If you wanna listen to the man himself, there's a lot of truth to the idea of a rewrite.

Since Ms. Mod is employed by King and (presumably) talks to him on a daily basis, I'm going to assume she know what she's talking about. So if she says King is no longer considering that particular rewrite, I think you can rely on her being correct.

I'd also suggest that having your introductory sentence on this board be "I hate to be the one to bring facts into an internet discussion board..." is maybe not the best way to approach this particular community. Or any community, for that matter. It's condescending and unnecessary.

[fushingfeef]

I hate to be the one to bring facts into an internet discussion board...

"Now he's finished the story he is trying to decide how much he can rewrite it, if he views the sequence as one very long novel. Can he do a second draft? He hopes so. Currently, Stephen King is a character in the fifth and sixth Dark Tower books, and Stephen King the non-fictional author is wondering whether to take him out on the next draft."

Interview with Stephen King by Neil Gaiman, earlier this year. You can find it here... http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2012/04/popular-writers-stephen-king-interview.html The necessary section iss just over 3/4 of the way down.

So, yeah. If you wanna listen to the man himself, there's a lot of truth to the idea of a rewrite.

Now that you're done sounding snotty and smug to everyone here before you've even introduced yourself, let me just say I think you're totally wrong. The rewrite Gaiman is referring to isn't a literal re-write of the entire series, it's finding parts of the story that might be missing and remain unwritten. You conveniently left out the part of the interview just before this paragraph where they're talking about how King has just finished "The Wind Through the Keyhole":

"His next book, The Wind in the Keyhole, is a Dark Tower novel, part of a sequence that King plotted and began when he was little more than a teenager himself. The sequence took him years to finish, and he only finished spurred on my his assistants, Marsha and Julie, who were tired of fielding fan letters asking when the story would be completed."

So the re-write being referred to is how many stories like TWTTK might still be undiscovered.

So, yeah. If you actually read the whole article, there's not much truth to the idea of a rewrite.

[Moderator]

I've heard (personally) Steve talk about a lot of different ideas for books over the years, many of them which have not been written although he intended to do so at the time he'd told me about them. One of those is the third book in The Talisman trilogy which is already about a year past due by his original estimation and still not on the horizon. I don't question that what Neil reported in the interview is true, but time will tell whether Steve will rewrite any of the other Dark Tower books. At the time he did the editing for The Gunslinger, he'd intended to do the next three in the series as well because there were many inconsistencies, in part because they had not been copy-edited before they were published and because of now having the benefit of seeing the story from start to finish. I asked him about this this morning and he is still thinking it over but it's not something he's working on at the moment.

[AnnaMarie]

I know there are King fans out there who dislike that element of the Tower books, but personally, I would think it was an absolute tragedy if he wrote himself out in a rewrite.


This shocked me. I thought putting himself into the book was the greatest idea ever...never imagined anyne would think differently.

I refer to it as "King out-Kingied himself". One of the things about his books is that he uses real brand names. Here, he uses a real person--himself. And, in a way, his name is a brand. So, he out-Kinged himself.

[Spinebreaker]

Firstly "I hate to be the one to bring facts into an internet discussion board..." is, as far as I'm concerned, completely comedic. An observation about the nature of facts and the internet, an electronic variation on "Pretentious? Moi". I honestly don't know anyone who would take such a comment seriously, If you di, that was not my intention. Cry your pardon.


Now that you're done sounding snotty and smug to everyone here before you've even introduced yourself, let me just say I think you're totally wrong. The rewrite Gaiman is referring to isn't a literal re-write of the entire series, it's finding parts of the story that might be missing and remain unwritten...
...So, yeah. If you actually read the whole article, there's not much truth to the idea of a rewrite.

However while 'actually reading the whole article' you'll notice the interview makes specific mention of removing the 'fictional' Stephen King from the novels. That at LEAST implies a complete rewrite of book 6. As well as MASSIVE changes to books 5 and 7.

[bryantburnette]

Firstly
However while 'actually reading the whole article' you'll notice the interview makes specific mention of removing the 'fictional' Stephen King from the novels. That at LEAST implies a complete rewrite of book 6. As well as MASSIVE changes to books 5 and 7.


Spinebreaker, this has been explained by Ms. Mod, who works for King and talks to him on a daily basis. Do you honestly think she wouldn't have the most up-to-date information on the subject? Just because you read something doesn't mean it's true; King, like all human beings, occasionally changes his mind about things, so just because he said something in an interview once months ago doesn't mean he still feels the same way about it.

This is honestly not that difficult to understand.

Also, typically when you want to say something snarky and indicate that you were being ironic, well, that's what emoticons are for. Don't blame others for your own inability to communicate. I say this as someone whose own snarkiness has gotten him into e-trouble on more than a few occasions.

[Spinebreaker]

Spinebreaker, this has been explained by Ms. Mod, who works for King and talks to him on a daily basis. Do you honestly think she wouldn't have the most up-to-date information on the subject? Just because you read something doesn't mean it's true;

So I'm supposed to definitely NOT believe everything I read... Fair enough. Does that mean your post too??? Does that mean Ms. Mod's post that you refer to? No, of course you don't. So yes, according to Ms. Mod it's not something that's being worked on right now but it's something SK is thinking about. I still don't understand the post after post of people saying "no, of course not" with no reference to ANYTHING except the posters own opinions.

According to Ms. Mod's duscussion with SK, it's been thought about, according to Neil Gaiman's interview with SK it's been thought about enough for him to consider taking his fictional self out of the books. IF that happens, at LEAST 1000 pages or so will need a severe re-writing (note the 'if').


Also, typically when you want to say something snarky and indicate that you were being ironic, well, that's what emoticons are for. Don't blame others for your own inability to communicate. I say this as someone whose own snarkiness has gotten him into e-trouble on more than a few occasions.

I've never read a single book where an author has had to use little pictures to explain characters intentions, I've never written anything where I would waste my time drawing little pictures to explain the sentiment. Not on paper, the internet or a text message. People have been writing things for a LONG long time without having to explain themselves with diagrams afterwards.

No it's not 'difficult to understand', perhaps you need an emoticon there?!? SK said in an interview he was thinking of a re-write, Our messageboard's closest contact with King say's it's something he's thinking about. So yes, there is some truth to it, and the initial question does not deserve a parade of people essentially just shouting "No, of course there isn't.".

It's taken King some 7 years to get from a suggestion in one of the DT comics, to actually publishing 11/23/63... During those intervening years he may well have only been 'thinking about it' but the book turned up.

[Moderator]

I'll take responsibility for having inadvertently contributed to the responses as I'd initially said it was just a rumor as at that time it was my understanding that Steve had given up the idea of editing the books and had never mentioned to me that he was thinking of writing himself out of books 6 and 7. Now that I've discussed it with him to verify, he has confirmed that he is thinking about it but there are no immediate plans to do so and no guarantee that those books will be redone and published so for now it's in the "possible" category rather than just a rumor.

Thanks for the support from those who posted, but hopefully my updated information can put at least that part of the discussion to rest.

[blunthead]

I hate to be the one to bring facts into an internet discussion board...

"Now he's finished the story he is trying to decide how much he can rewrite it, if he views the sequence as one very long novel. Can he do a second draft? He hopes so. Currently, Stephen King is a character in the fifth and sixth Dark Tower books, and Stephen King the non-fictional author is wondering whether to take him out on the next draft."

Interview with Stephen King by Neil Gaiman, earlier this year. You can find it here... http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2012/04/popular-writers-stephen-king-interview.html The necessary section iss just over 3/4 of the way down.

So, yeah. If you wanna listen to the man himself, there's a lot of truth to the idea of a rewrite.

The original poster's question was "Is it true that Mr. King plans to write himself out of The Dark Tower series in a future rewrite?"...please see...


Icculus
Guest
Any truth to the Dark Tower rewrite (possible spoiler)
Is it true that Mr. King plans to write himself out of The Dark Tower series in a future rewrite? I enjoyed the meta nature of those portions of the story. While they were not my favorite I thought they brought a lot to the table. Can anyone verify this or hopefully shoot it down?

I apologize, Mod, but I have to defend you because you never said sK is planning anything pertaining to this subject.

[Moderator]

The original poster's question was "Is it true that Mr. King plans to write himself out of The Dark Tower series in a future rewrite?"...please see...



I apologize, Mod, but I have to defend you because you never said sK is planning anything pertaining to this subject.

True, but I did say it was just a rumor based on the information I had at the time when I should have asked Steve first to see if that had changed. Mea culpa.

[fushingfeef]

However while 'actually reading the whole article' you'll notice the interview makes specific mention of removing the 'fictional' Stephen King from the novels. That at LEAST implies a complete rewrite of book 6. As well as MASSIVE changes to books 5 and 7.
[/SIZE][/FONT]

A thousand pardons, good sir. My bad. :blush:

I do get a bit defensive when a newbie seems to contradict Ms. Mod, although she doesn't really need me to defend her, do you, Marsha? :smile2:

[Moderator]

A thousand pardons, good sir. My bad. :blush:

I do get a bit defensive when a newbie seems to contradict Ms. Mod, although she doesn't really need me to defend her, do you, Marsha? :smile2:


But it's still appreciated. :love:

[Spinebreaker]

A thousand pardons, good sir. My bad. :blush:

I do get a bit defensive when a newbie seems to contradict Ms. Mod, although she doesn't really need me to defend her, do you, Marsha? :smile2:

No need for even a single pardon to be fair.

Didn't mean to come across as contradicting anyone. That interview with Neil Gaiman was in a major Newspaper over here in the UK so it's perfectly understandable that the information's out there.

I think a large number of people have latched onto it, as there's a general feeling that the 'deus ex machina' stuff wasn't to everyone's liking

[91rewoT]

Marsha, we wuv you.
Just thought you should know.

[Moderator]

Marsha, we wuv you.
Just thought you should know.

Right back atcha. :love:

[J.T. Adams]

Please God . . . Sai King do not change a thing about these books; certainly don't even consider taking yourself out. I think to most constant readers, they'd find that crushing. I know I would. It's the about the greatest part(s) of the series for me.

[muskrat]

Re-writing DT? No.

Expanding on DT, like Keyhole? Please, more, more, more. The way I see it, there's plenty room for more tales of Roland's early adventures. S'why I never liked the comics; I'd rather read Uncle Stevie's version of those years. Let's say, the period between Jericho Hill, and The Gunslinger --this is fertile ground for all sorts of cool stories. The comics cover these years, but those are comics, not novels, and to me, have NOTHING to do with the real Dark Tower epic.

[MrsBook]

Oh, yes: keep expanding the Dark Tower series forever! I'll buy a subscription, editions can come out annually like an old school encyclopedia! :love:

[jackson992]

I still do not see why everyone complains about the final books. I think him as an author was ingeneous just like Wes Craven did it in New Nightmare. I thought the ending was fantastic, not a happy ending by any means, but an ending that makes sense. Who knows maybe in time there could be an even different ending:P

[Spinebreaker]

Muskrat, those comics are officially endorsed by SK. He's pretty heavily involved... I doubt anything's making it in there that isn't 'official' as it were.

I think most people's dissatisfaction with the ending is the general shift in focus.

It seems like there's a definite direction that the story was going, and that direction changed hugely after SK was involved in his accident. I thought all 7 (8 now...) installments were at least good. But the parts I disliked most was the self referential stuff. I've never enjoyed Deus ex Machina in fiction. I just don't think it's ever been done well. The Dark Tower's one of the better examples, but I still feel it's weak storytelling.

Overall though, all the books in the series are worth reading, and I don't think there's anything 'wrong' with them, it's just a definite feeling that the story was going somewhere else up until that fateful moment in 1999...

[91rewoT]

The Dark Tower journey evokes a range of emotions - something a good story should do. Like it, love it, hate it, everyone is entitled to their opinion. BUT. Sai King told a story. A fantastic story. He should not feel obligated in any way shape or form to change any part of the story he told because some people didn't like it. Personally, I would be devastated if he did a rewrite and left himself out of the story. Because that is the way it happened. That's why he told it that way. I do believe there are other stories to be told (TWTTK showed us that!), but to change what is already written...no.

[bryantburnette]

Muskrat, those comics are officially endorsed by SK. He's pretty heavily involved... I doubt anything's making it in there that isn't 'official' as it were.



The timeline of the comics is contradicted by The Wind Through the Keyhole. Robin Furth has said that they represent an alternate-universe version of the stories, and that the events depicted therein are not in continuity with the events of the novels.

My guess -- which is purely a guess -- is that Mr. King stopped paying attention to the comics pretty early on in the process. After the third arc, they stopped feeling as though they had his touch to them; the arcs dealing with the fall of Gilead and the battle of Jericho Hill don't seem like "Stephen King" to me in any way.

[Ranger_Strider]

Breaking the 4th wall is probably the hardest thing to do in a literary pursuit. I think Stephen King did it with great alacrity in the DTS and he may have even redefined the concept. I would not change a thing about it.

[unclelouie]

It's true... he plans to re-write Dean Koontz into the Dark Tower series.

[J.T. Adams]

Breaking the 4th wall is probably the hardest thing to do in a literary pursuit. I think Stephen King did it with great alacrity in the DTS and he may have even redefined the concept. I would not change a thing about it.

Amen.

Neither would I.

[ka19]

Hey everyone, I'd just like to put my two cents down on this discussion. If I were to switch bodies with Mr. King and be able to change anything in the dark tower series, it would be for (sorry here comes some spoilers and stuff) Jake not to die the third time I cried for a good half hour, I was so sad and oy, oh man... But I know books sometimes have sad stuff in them, but ugh, that was heartbreaking stuff (I'm starting to tear up just thinking about it) for sure, and that shows how good of a writer Mr. King is to get people (I couldn't be the only one) emotionally attached to fictional characters to the point that we're genuinly saddened by the lose of those characters.

Thankfully I don't have freaky friday powers because I can't write for crap hah! Everything else I loved about the books especially the ending (Well except for that being the end of the quest) I'd really like to see more Dark Tower books come out, but I'm just as happy with anything Mr. King puts his pen to! Sorry this was so long and possibly awkward but I thought I'd share and say hello and I'll see y'all around the forums!

[SHEEMIEE]

Wanna. Change the story- well here's your chance, a willy wonks golden ticket to you constant reader. I'm fed up with people saying how they hated the ending- Their is no ending foolish people! Only different paths - so to honour sai king , how about joining me and a few goons in the cellar , and try to get long tall and ugly to his ultimate goal- his final destination - this time he has his horn!!!!

http://www.stephenking.com/community/group.php?discussionid=1892&do=discuss