Stephen King and 6 Tools Every Writer Should Have in His ToolBox

In his Memoir of the Craft, Stephen King breaks up his book into three parts: 1) memories of his personal and professional life told in numbered chunks and fragmented snippets; 2) what's in his toolbox and what should be in yours; and 3) comments on the actual craft of writing.

In this post, I will be discussing the toolbox and what King deems worthy in including in his own writer's tool box. He compares writing to a craft, a trade, like carpentry. Writing requires skill, but for every skill, tools are required. Imagine you have a toolbox, one of those red ones with six drawers that is kept in the garage. But your toolbox is for your writing only. Here are the 6 most essential tools that King keeps in his toolbox, which help him with this writing:

1. Vocabulary: The top drawer should include your vocabulary as it is. Don't add any GRE style words or write above your level of diction. Don't write fancy; use plain and direct language. King says that a writer should always use the first word that comes up -- no other word will mean exactly what you wanted it to mean. Write so people can understand and don't feel alienated. Don't dumb your writing down, but don't try to dress it up either. Write as you are. If you read this book, you'll find that King follows this advice all the way. His writing is crisp, clear, and direct.

2. Grammar: According to King, "Bad grammar is bad writing" (120). Grammar is obviously an important part of writing, but he also says that if you haven't got a grasp on grammar by now, then you may never get it. The best way to acquire grammar rules without thinking about it, is to read. And as long as you have a noun and a verb, then you can't go wrong. Simple sentence constructions worked for Ernest Hemingway and other great writers -- they can work for you. But of course, if you expect more from your writing than just a noun and a verb to make a sentence, he does recommend Warriner's English Grammar and Composition: First Course.

3. Passive vs. Active Voice: King and every other writer in the world will tell you to rid your writing of passive voice constructions. King says that when writers use passive verbs, it's usually because they are timid or passive writers/people. If you're not sure of what is meant by passive/active verbs, here is an adapted example from King himself (123).
                        Passive example: The body was carried out of the kitchen.
                       Active example: Freddy and Myra carried the body out of the kitchen.

Freddy and Myra are your subjects, not the dead body (which is already passive since it's dead). When you write, look over your sentences one by one and see if you write with a passive voice. If this is your pattern, then you should make a conscious effort in changing it. As I tell my students, writers must assert themselves as authorities in their writing; otherwise, why would anyone want to read your work?

4. Adverbs: "Adverbs are not your friends," King most ardently states. Usually ending in  -ly, adverbs are used to modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. But as he points out, they're unnecessary. We don't need words like firmly, sadly, ardently to be placed in the prose because the prose that comes before these extra words should be telling us this stuff to begin with. Adverbs are basically redundant, extra, and unnecessary. And whatever you do, omit them from your dialogue attribution. These are phrases that tell us who said what and how ( he shouted, she pleaded, he said). Adding adverbs to these verbs weakens the dialogue and your writing.

5. Paragraphs: King says that paragraphs are "maps of intent" (130). They tell your reader if your book is heavy and a hard read or easy and a breeze to read. Make your work easy to read by crafting paragraphs that are light, airy, and loose. Make them short and not packed tightly with verbiage. Include short paragraphs and lots of white space and dialogue. The easier it looks, the more a reader will want to buy and read it -- He won't feel overwhelmed by the heaviness of the language or the content.

On paragraphs, King also reveals that they are not the melody of your work, but the beat, and in order to find the beat that will rock your writing, you must practice. Don't think about where paragraphs should begin and end; just sit down and keep writing until the beat finds you. To help with this, he also suggests that you read a lot of fiction: "The more fiction you read and write, the more you'll find the paragraphs forming on their own" (131).

6. Commitment: The last drawer of you toolbox should contain your commitment to your craft. Don't let fear  or your insecurities drag you down and away from what you want. Don't let bad reviews or rejection slips deter you from writing or trying to get published. Don't give up. Start small and take one paragraph at a time -- one beat at a time. Keep writing whether you write short stories, poems, novels, or non-fiction. Commit to your craft -- and stay committed.

How about you? What's in your writer's toolbox?