It’s been my experience that most “X rules of Y” are more guidelines than strict rules, at least when it comes to anything that is any kind of artistic endeavor

It’s been my experience that most “X rules of Y” are more guidelines than strict rules, at least when it comes to anything that is any kind of artistic endeavor. The key is knowing which rules to follow when, and which rules to break — and when. But, if you want to write as well as King, and in the same genre or a related genre, I think you could probably do much worse than to start off by following his rules.