Stephen Edwin King is a best selling American author. His horror and science-fiction novels have sold millions of copies worldwide and most of his books were made into movies.
His memoir “On Writing” is part autobiography, part blueprint to effective writing habits. The writing advice mentioned in this book applies to everyone, not just fiction writers.
Here are some of the tips shared by King for aspiring writers.
Vocabulary
Use the first word that comes to your mind, if it is appropriate and colorful.
Example
Instead of “John stopped long enough to perform an act of excretion” say “John stopped long enough to take a shit”
Avoid the Passive Tense
With an active verb, the subject of the sentence is doing something. With a passive verb, something is being done to the subject. You should avoid the passive tense.
Example
Passive / Active Sentences
“The meeting will be held at seven o’clock” / “The meeting’s at seven”
“My first kiss will always be recalled by me as how my romance with Shayna began” / My romance with Shayna began with our first kiss. I’ll never forget it
“The rope was thrown by the writer” / “The writer threw the rope”
The Adverb is not your Friend
Adverbs are words that describe other verbs , adjectives or adverbs. They usually end in -ly. These, like the passive voice, are not needed.
Example
Sentences like
‘Put it down!’ she shouted.
‘Give it back,’ he pleaded, ‘it’s mine.’
‘Don’t be such a fool, Jekyll,’ Utterson said.
are better than
‘Put it down!’ she shouted menacingly.
‘Give it back,’ he pleaded abjectly, ‘it’s mine.’
‘Don’t be such a fool, Jekyll,’ Utterson said contemptuously.
Dialogue Attribution
Attribution verbs are words that let us know who is speaking. Keep it simple with “he/she said.” No need to use any others like believes/expresses/echos etc.
Some writers try to evade the no-adverb rule by shooting the attribution verb full of steroids.
The best form of dialogue attribution is said, as in he said, she said, Bill said, Monica said.
Easy Vs Hard Books
“Easy books contain lots of short paragraphs – including dialogue paragraphs which may only be a word or two long – and lots of white space. They’re as airy as Dairy Queen ice cream cones. “
“Hard books, ones full of ideas, narration, or description, have a stouter look. A packed look. Paragraphs are almost as important for how they look as for what they say; they are maps of intent.”
Other Tips
The single-sentence paragraph more closely resembles talk than writing, and that’s good
If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.
Begin by writing what you love to read, not write what you know.
Write what you like, then imbue it with life and make it unique by blending in your own personal knowledge of life, friendship, relationships, sex, and work. Especially work.
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