On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

In this chapter, King begins to discuss what tools a writer should possess. To make a comparison, King narrates the time he helps his Uncle Oren fix a broken screen. Uncle Oren insists on bringing his father’s toolbox, which is handmade and weighs somewhere between 80-120 pounds. Uncle Oren ends up only using one screwdriver from the box, and the 8-year-old King asks why he bothered bringing the whole box. Uncle Oren responds, “It’s best to have the tools with you” (114).

Writers must also have a toolbox filled with what they will need while they work. This toolbox should have at least four layers, with the top one containing the most common tools, one of which is vocabulary. According to King, it doesn’t matter the size of your vocabulary, but rather how you use it. He gives excerpts from writers with “enormous vocabularies” and “smaller, simpler vocabularies” (116). Each has its merit. What’s important is to “use the first word that comes to your mind, if it is appropriate and colorful” (118). In this way, you get as close to the meaning as possible, whether or not you use complex or simple words.

Grammar should also be present on the top shelf of the writer’s toolbox. King asserts, “we won’t spend much time here because we don’t need to” (118).He adds that you can either grasp the basics of grammar or you can’t—the latter of which will probably mean that you aren’t reading this book. It’s important to master the basics of grammar because, “bad grammar produces bad sentences” (120). King references The Elements of Style, by Strunk and White, as a useful text. As Strunk states, it’s okay to break the rules of grammar if you’re “certain of doing well”; that is, if you have a certain mastery over the text (121).

The second part of this chapter begins talking about nouns and verbs, which are “the two indispensable parts of writing,” since every full sentence must contain at least one of each (120). When writing, King finds that a simple noun-verb construction can be useful. Sentences with too many modifiers and clauses can get confusing, so reverting back to these simpler structures can be helpful. He encourages writers to go buy a copy of Warriner’s English Grammar and study it.

King discusses two of his personal writing “pet peeves” in this chapter (122). The first is the use of the passive voice. Active voice places the doer of the action as the subject at the beginning of the sentence, while passive voice places the object of the verb at the beginning of the sentence. King believes that the passive voice feels safe to writers and that they believe it lends an authority to their work. However, King states that the passive voice is “weak, it’s circuitous, and it’s frequently tortuous, as well” (123).

King also warns that “the adverb is not your friend” (124). Adverbs usually end in –ly and modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. Adverbs are used by a timid writer who believes “he/she isn’t expressing himself/herself clearly, that he or she is not getting the point or the picture across” (124). For King, it’s better to say “he slammed the door” rather than “he closed the door firmly” (125). Adverbs should be used sparingly and almost never used in dialogue attribution. King himself admits that he has been culpable of adverb use but does his best to avoid it.

King uses this chapter to discuss style, which exists on the second level of the toolbox. He reaffirms that Elements of Style is the best resource for style advice.

He specifically discusses paragraphs, which are “maps of intent” and the “basic unit of writing” (130, 134). They help to organize thoughts and allow the coherence of a work to take shape. In expository prose, paragraphs should be “neat and utilitarian,” where the topic sentence states intent and the following sentence amplifies the main idea (135).In fiction, the paragraph is less structured, with the “turns and rhythms of the story dictating where each one begins and ends” (133).Fragments can also be used as paragraphs and be a useful stylistic tool. They can “streamline narration, create clear images, and create tension as well as to vary the prose line” (133). They resemble speech more than they do writing.

King concludes the toolbox section by further reflecting on writing and its meaning. He asks the reader to pick up a book and notice its weight, which doesn’t necessarily guarantee quality. However, “there is the matter of commitment whether a book is good or bad, a failure or a success” (135). The weight indicates commitment to the work.

On the third level of the toolbox, you begin to write “real fiction” (136). Once you have been writing words and sentences, there might be a point where your paragraphs “begin to breathe” (135). The writing becomes alive. You can now use all of your tools to build “whole mansions, if you have the energy” (136).