Stephen King’s book, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft blends memoir with advice for writing at any stage of your writing journey.

I was gifted this book 7 years ago when I moved across the country. As a young twenty-something struggling to make ends meet and keep up with her nine-to-five, writing had quickly been placed on the back burner.

King provided me- a floundering writer- with kernels of wisdom that hadn’t been shared throughout my schooling. Some of the simplest, seemingly obvious tips had not been introduced to me until then.

Today, I want to share 6 lessons from King’s memoir that have influenced my writing development. This book has remained on my shelf throughout the past seven years and I hope to pass on King’s wisdom to you!

The first draft is for you. You have decided to write this story because it excites you.  

Yes, we have an outline to follow, but as we all know, sometimes it’s hard to reign in our characters and sometimes we discover a gem that we didn’t know was there. 

We polish that gem alone during our first draft. It is our book baby, but not for long.

As King reminds us, when we revise our manuscript it’s time to “open the door” and let our readers in. The book no longer belongs to just us. It belongs to all of those who will read it.

We must refine the gems until they sparkle. We must be ready to self-critique our work and to cut out whatever does not serve the story.

As King writes, “You must not come lightly to the blank page” (p. 106). 

This quote struck me deeply while reading. 

If I am serious about sharing my work with the world, I need to be willing to sacrifice some of my words.

I must create a story that serves my readers, a story where the writer disappears into the background so that the characters and the plot can shine center stage. 

To do that is very serious work.

King hits readers with a hard blow when he reminds us that, “You can never completely put on the page what’s in your mind and heart.” (106). 

Translating thoughts and often feelings into words is challenging. 

I believe that the truest form of a story remains within the writer. As soon as we put pen to paper, we are retelling the story within us and as we know, each time a story is retold, a small part slips away. 

King reminds us that all writers feel that they cannot firmly grasp what they set out to do in their manuscripts.

Yet, he insists that stopping writing because it is too difficult or because the writing is not flowing onto the page is a bad idea. 

Perfectionism is futile. A writer who gives into their fear of failure will not find success. 

Persevere and persevere again. For every time that I have veered away from writing, I have failed to heed this lesson.

In high school, I shared one of the first stories that I’d written with a friend and she suggested that I focus on writing what I know.

Now, I’m certain that story was subpar and that her advice was genuinely stated to help me.

But as someone without a fascinating life, “write what you know” was a limiting statement.

For years, I worried that my work was childish because I didn’t have direct experience with the plots that I wished to develop.

King’s memoir alleviated many of the self-limiting beliefs that I’d built up due to this tiny statement.

In his book, he encourages writers to interpret the above statement broadly, reminding us that our imagination and our heart also know things (158). 

Our stories are richer when we engage our imagination and allow the feelings we experience to be painted across the page. 

So now, thanks to King, I am willing to explore and test the boundaries of what I know. 

And, when I truly encounter a moment that I am at a loss to express or does not fulfill my intentions, I go out and discover its unique experience- in other stories, in the world or in the people around me. 

You know a lot and much of what you don’t know can be learned. Write to your heart’s content.

At some point in a young writer’s career, we love to write long, flowery descriptions filled with cliched metaphors and imagery.

Why? Perhaps, we fancy ourselves a writer and a poet. Perhaps, we believe that this will set us apart as one of the greats of old.

But, as King puts it so well, why search for longer words and overused cliches when what first came to mind- the simple word- is most closely relevant to what we wished to express? 

Why muddy the reader’s ability to understand by inserting words that stray from your initial meaning and exhaustive descriptions that remove us from the story?

In high school and university, my well-worn thesaurus stood proudly upon my desk in easy reach. 

From King I have learned…

Discard your thesaurus.

Know which words and phrases to avoid.

Show the reader what is relevant to the plot. 

Readers are smart. They’ll use their imagination to fill in the blanks.

Yes, King states many of the rules that we have learned.

• Avoid passive verbs. Place the action at the beginning of your sentence. 

• Cut out adverbs. They are lazy. Strengthen your sentences.

• If you know who is speaking, remove dialogue attribution. It interrupts the action and flow of the story.

Beyond these references to grammatical awareness, King emphasizes the importance of following grammatical rules unless there is a clear purpose for breaking them.

What’s your favourite rule to break? Do you overuse it?

My most trusted first reader revealed to me that I am an overuser of dashes.

I love to impress upon my readers that the character has paused or been interrupted or is thinking deeply. 

However, when overused, I’ve done a disservice to my story. I’ve broken the flow.

The reader can no longer focus on the plot due to the continuous stop-and-start. 

As a teacher, I often tell my students that writers first have to know how to use grammatical rules before they can break them.

I tell them that a rule should only be broken at the most opportune time. It must make sense for the character, the plot and the reader. 

It should occur in a way that the reader is hardly aware a rule has been broken. If they are no longer immersed in the story, you’ve done it wrong.

This rule is a challenge that I continue to improve upon. I hope to one day break grammatical rules with the finesse of one so great as Stephen King.

This last one may be common sense. But, it wasn’t to me for a long time. 

As a teenager, I loved staying up late and writing for hours on end. I’d speed through the first draft of my manuscript in no time and then jump into revising the next day.

This technique did little to tighten up my plot.

In On Writing, King recommends setting your book aside for at least 6 weeks before revising. By doing so, you will clearly be able to identify plot holes and weak character development.

When you remove yourself from the story that you’ve been so deeply involved in, your connection to the plot loosens just enough so that it is like reading the story anew. 

Without the close excitement of just writing “The End,” you are in a place to critique your work and revise it to serve the plot and your readers. After taking a break, you are more willing to give up the pieces that do not strengthen your story.

If I step back and compare past me to present me, I can reflect upon how Stephen King has influenced my writing journey. 

From permitting myself to share my story regardless of whether I have personal experience to stepping back and allowing myself space away from my work, present-day Julia can see how her manuscripts have improved due to this advice.

I encourage you to pick up a copy of King’s On Writing. Perhaps, there is a truth to be found that speaks to your unique writer persona.

Share a book for writers that has influenced your writing journey.

Let’s build a bank of resources in the comments below!

Talk soon!

Julia