Welcome back Author Toolbox Blog Hoppers!! This month I am sharing my favorite tips from Stephen King's wonderful book, "On Writing." If you don't already own this and/or have never read it, I definitely recommend it. Will every piece of advice work for you? Probably not, but the advice is valuable nevertheless.
1. If you want to be a writer you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.
This is so true. If you don't read, it's going to be a lot harder to write. If you don't write, why would you want to be a writer?
2. The best stories always end up being about the people rather than the event.
I agree. When stories focus to heavily on the event and not the people experiencing it, the story ends up feeling empty.
3. You should avoid the passive voice.
Yup, the passive voice is annoying. When the story is told from a passive voice, the characters lose their agency and become someone who has things done to them instead of doing things themselves.
4. The road to hell is paved with adverbs.
I agree with this when the adverb is added to a dialog tag. However, I feel like adverbs can be used wisely in dialog.
5. Never use "emolument" when you mean "tip."
Yep, step away from the Thesaurus! I understand wanting to change up a few words here and there or if you have a character that only uses the biggest words possible. But constant use of big words in place of smaller ones that mean the same thing is tedious to read and can take the reader out of the story.
6. Description begins in the writer's imagination, but should finish in the reader's.
This is classic show-don't-tell. Yes, you have to be descriptive to an extent, but you don't want to take the reader's ability to imagine away from them.
7. If you can do it for joy, you can do it forever.
YES YES YES!! If writing makes you happy, you won't want to stop!!
Well, it's nice to be back at it. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and happy new year. I wish you all nothing but the best in the year to come!
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