I didn’t really mean to, but I’ve been having a feast of writing how-to books passing through my life lately. Usually I try to ration that kind of stuff out – because the one thing that’s a whole lot better than reading writing how-to books is definitely just WRITING – but the writing’s been in a bit of a lull and a bunch of how-to books that I’ve had on reserve at the library for ages just all arrived at once.
Which means this week I’ve been devouring Stephen King’s On Writing again. I read it once on loan from some foreign library (in Japan? or Germany?) but I couldn’t remember much about it. It’s lovely. It’s utterly readable and interesting and didn’t make me feel there are a million rules to follow when I write; but at the same time it gave me a bunch of reminders of how I can improve my writing. So for my own good more than anyone else’s, here’s a list of reminders I need, courtesy of my interpretation of Stephen King’s:
- no adverbs. Well, almost no adverbs.
- no passive voice. Ditto.
- watch dialogue attribution. Usually, stick to “X said” or better still, nothing at all.
- King writes 2,000 words every day. I should write something every day.
- keep your first draft private. Don’t let other people’s ideas interfere with yours until they’re on paper.
- story is everything. Characters come next. Other stuff doesn’t matter.
- good description makes the reader participate.
- make dialogue honest.
- 2nd draft = 1st draft minus 10%
- nail down the symbolism and theme after the first draft, then enhance them
- re-read 1st draft after (minimum) 6 weeks, and all in one sitting if possible.
A lot of these reminders will frame what I now go back and do with the draft of my first novel, which I hope to make a start on this weekend (a long one, thanks to our Queen’s Birthday holiday).
And also this weekend, the next Writers Weekly 24-Hour Short Story Contest is on and I’m signed up again. It’s on Sunday (my time) so send some creative energy my way, please.
[...] may remember I got quite enthusiastic about revisiting my first novel draft after I re-read Stephen King’s On Writing. I’ve got a brand new draft printed off in a ring binder (a pretty ring binder of course, [...]