I really like Stephen King, and I have read a lot of his books. But I don't think he is a literary genius. Even HE doesn't think he is a literary genius. I saw an interview with him once and he said something like, My writing is not like a gourmet meal. It's more like McDonalds. It's pretty good and pretty reliable. I think that is about right.

One of the things that I noticed about his books is that they are great most of the way through, then near the end they seem to wander a little bit, and then they can end kind of weak. I read his book about writing and about his own personal writing process, and now I think I understand why this happens. He said he does not begin with a plot. He starts with some kind of image or scene in his mind, and then he tries to form characters and the begining of the story to fit with the image or scene. After that he just lets the characters work off each other and lets the story develop as he writes it. I think at some point he just runs out of steam and decides he needs to end it, and he just comes up with some way out of the story. If you read the Stand, I think you will see what I mean. If you ever get the sense that a Stephen King novel is not really going anywhere, you are probably right. I guess you just have to treat it as a journey, not a destination. It's usually a pretty good journey.