Skip to content

Stephen King on Writing

If you have never read a book by Stephen King, the bestselling author of horror, fantasy, and suspense fiction, we had that in common–until now. Over the past two days, while waiting as a potential juror at the King County Courthouse, I read Stephen King’s On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

If you want to write fiction, you must read this book. A gem of story-telling advice shines on every page. Mr. King’s enthusiasm and love of his craft almost made me want to quit teaching business writing and start trying to tell the stories all around me.

But I read On Writing in search of treasures to apply to business writing. I quote a few of Mr. King’s beauties for you below.

On Vocabulary
“Don’t make any conscious effort to improve it. . . . One of the really bad things you can do to your writing is to dress up the vocabulary, looking for long words because you’re maybe a little bit ashamed of your short ones. This is like dressing up a household pet in evening clothes. The pet is embarrassed and the person who committed this act of premeditated cuteness should be even more embarrassed. Make yourself a solemn promise right now that you’ll never use emolument when you mean tip.”

When you are tempted to write concordance instead of agreement, or utilize instead of usethink of Mr. King’s household pet in evening clothes.

On Paragraphs
“You can tell without even reading if the book you’ve chosen is apt to be easy or hard, right? Easy books contain lots of short paragraphs–including dialogue paragraphs which may only be a word or two long–and lots of white space. They’re as airy as Dairy Queen ice cream cones. Hard books, ones full of ideas, narration, or description, have a stouter look. A packed look. Paragraphs are almost as important for how they look as for what they say; they are maps of intent.”

Do you want your business writing to look stout and packed? Or would short chunks of text and bullet points make your writing easier and more appealing to read? Whenever I receive an email or a report with long paragraphs, I look for something else to read.

On Passive Voice
“The timid fellow writes The meeting will be held at seven o’clock because that somehow says to him, ‘Put it this way and people will believe you really know.’ Purge this quisling thought! Don’t be a muggle! Throw back your shoulders, stick out your chin, and put that meeting in charge! Write The meeting’s at seven. There, by God! Don’t you feel better?”

Mr. King offers another illustration of numbing passive verbs: “My first kiss will always be recalled by me as how my romance with Shayna was begun.”

Here is his revision: “My romance with Shayna began with our first kiss. I’ll never forget it.”

The passive memory of the kiss doesn’t get or keep your attention. The revision communicates energy and excitement. Think of that kiss when you write your next policy or procedure.

In On Writing Stephen King comes across as a passionate, clear-headed fiction writing champion. The book inspired me to finally read a Stephen King novel. Do you have one to recommend?

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft came out in the year 2000, published by Scribner, who released an anniversary edition in 2010. If you want to have Stephen King’s reading list, the things in his writer’s toolbox, and lots of comparisons between powerful and puny writing, I recommend it.

 

Posted by Avatar photo
By Lynn Gaertner-Johnston

Lynn Gaertner-Johnston has helped thousands of employees and managers improve their business writing skills and confidence through her company, Syntax Training. In her corporate training career of more than 20 years, she has worked with executives, engineers, scientists, sales staff, and many other professionals, helping them get their messages across with clarity and tact.

A gifted teacher, Lynn has led writing classes at more than 100 companies and organizations such as MasterCard, Microsoft, Boeing, Nintendo, REI, AARP, Ledcor, and Kaiser Permanente. Near her home in Seattle, Washington, she has taught managerial communications in the MBA programs of the University of Washington and UW Bothell. She has created a communications course, Business Writing That Builds Relationships, and provides the curriculum at no cost to college instructors.

A recognized expert in business writing etiquette, Lynn has been quoted in "The Wall Street Journal," "The Atlantic," "Vanity Fair," and other media.

Lynn sharpened her business writing skills at the University of Notre Dame, where she earned a master's degree in communication, and at Bradley University, with a bachelor's degree in English.

10 comments on “Stephen King on Writing”

  • I have read everything Stephen King has written because I think he is a great writer. I would suggest one of his newer books like 11/22/63 or Mr. Mercedes. They are not horror (many are not).

  • This is one of my favorite writing books. If you’ve never read his fiction, Hearts in Atlantis is a good start. There aren’t many supernatural elements in it, if that’s not your thing.

  • I always look forward to your writing tips and share them often with friends and co-workers. I have read lots of Stephen King and will be checking out this book on writing soon. I suggest “Cujo” as a good start to his writing.

  • Thank you, Sherrey, Betsy, Joni, April, and Jodi, for stopping by with a comment.

    Sherrey, I also recommend to you Brenda Ueland’s “If You Want to Write.” It taught me about writing from the heart and mind.

    Betsy, I appreciate your recommendations. Those are titles I had not heard about.

    Joni, for your legal writing students, I recommend any of Bryan Garner’s books. You probably already use his “Legal Writing in Plain English.” I also like his “HBR Guide to Better Business Writing.”

    April, thanks for the recommendation. Although I have never read one of Stephen King’s books, as I mentioned, I loved the movies “The Green Mile” and “Shawshank Redemption.” “Shawshank” has no supernatural elements.

    “Cujo”– as a dog lover, I don’t know whether I would enjoy it. But I appreciate the recommendation. Thanks, Jodi!

    Lynn

  • Lynn, I love your blog/column and the kindness that comes through your words and writing. I teach writing on the college level (adjunct professor at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh) and have given writing seminars to businesses (which I would like to do more of, although I’m not sure how best to proceed). Anyways, I checked out your recommendation here of Brenda Ueland’s “If You Want to Write.” Thanks, Lynn.

  • Hi Jim,

    I removed the link to a free copy of Ms. Ueland’s book in PDF. Frequently such availability denies authors and their families the payments they deserve. I am always disappointed to see my own publications offered free, typically from websites based in other countries. Each download denies me the fee I should earn as the author.

    I hope you like “If you Want to Write.” Its first chapter heading is “Everybody Is Talented, Original and Has Something Important to Say.” That makes beautiful sense to me.

    Lynn

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *