A Writer's Toolbox

By Louisa C. 

It’s pretty safe to say that Stephen King, renowned American author of a plethora of best-selling suspense novels, knows a thing or two about writing. That being said, I decided to read his memoir, On Writing, in the hopes of learning some of King’s tricks of the trade that I could incorporate into my own pieces. Luckily, this task was made abundantly simple for me, as King dedicates an entire section of the book to what he calls the writing “toolbox”, or his personal collection of rules that guide him on every one of his writing endeavors. 

According to King, these “tools” are extremely important for a writer to develop for their own use when crafting a literary piece, as they provide a consistent, solid base upon which one’s work can always begin. These handy mechanisms can be anything from simple grammar reminders to complex sentence structures and are unique to every author’s individual style and voice. To illustrate what this “toolbox” should look like, I’ll give you a second-hand peek at the contents inside a few drawers of King’s own. From the many examples of “tools” provided, I selected five that are especially compelling and important and elaborated on what they really mean to King when applied to his writing.

Rule #1- Do not consciously attempt to “dress up” the vocabulary featured in your writing: In my opinion, this rule is just another way of suggesting that one should throw away his or her thesaurus. What King is trying to convey is that upon a reexamining of your writing, you should never attempt to change a word you previously selected just for the sake of finding a longer or more impressive term to replace it. Though it may seem like an intelligent choice at the moment, altering your naturally chosen vocabulary will completely interrupt the flow of the work.  In doing this, the piece of writing is no longer your own craft, but also the work of a co-author known as Merriam-Webster.

Rule #2- Every time you go to write a sentence, it does not always have to be complete: Bang! Crash! Splash! These common onomatopoeia terms provide just a few examples of an instance when the creation of a complete sentence is not always necessary. In this rule, King is actually suggesting it is okay for a writer to break the age-old statute: in its true form, a sentence must consist of a noun, verb, and complete thought. In his opinion, if a specific stylistic effect can only be achieved through the use of fragments or incomplete clauses, it is acceptable to leave your sentences hanging. Boom. Stephen King has spoken.

Rule #3- Taking any noun and placing it with any verb will form a complete sentence: As stated in the explanation of the second rule, the true form of a sentence must include a noun, verb, and complete thought. That being said, no matter how abstract the thought may be, according to King and every English professor that has ever lived, adding any verb to a noun will constitute a complete sentence. Grapefruits sing. Rocks rejoice. Pigs fly. Rationally, these sentences may not make sense, but all is fair in the game of grammar.

Rule #4- You should avoid using the passive tense: In describing this personal pet peeve of his, King explains how the use of the more “safe” passive tense makes timid writers feel their work has gained some sort of authority. This, however, is not the case. In order for a writer to achieve success, they must rid their work of this weak and torturous practice. Timmy will be pelted with rocks by the children on the playground. Not only does Timmy need to gain some strength, but so does this pitiful passive sentence. Timmy throws rocks back at the children on the playground. Now that’s more like it.

Rule #5- The best form of dialogue attribution to use is “said”: This practice may actually feel wrong because of the familiar and safe feelings it evokes, much like using the passive tense, but according to King, it is the proper way to address characters who have spoken. While adding intense detail and imagery to your writing is a very positive practice, using dialogue attribution as your channel for doing so is not the best choice. Simply stated, using the word “said” should be your go-to when attributing dialogue. “If you want to see this put stringently into practice, I urge you to read or reread a novel by Larry McMurtry,” King said.

After taking a look inside Stephen King’s toolbox, I began to wonder what types of rules would be stored in mine. The following five tools I created are comprised of guidelines I have been taught in school, tips I have stumbled upon myself, and lessons that I have had to learn the hard way.

Rule #1- Use exclamation points sparingly and only when truly needed: The first time I cried in school was the fourth grade. Upon recovering an essay back from my teacher, I was horrified to have discovered a big red sixty percent circled at the top of the page. Through teary eyes, I was able to read the single note scrawled next to the unsatisfactory grade: “Too many exclamation points-- no research paper is that exciting.” Though it may seem cruel to dock a nine year old forty whole points on a paper about the history of dogs because of exclamation point overuse, Ms. Robinson’s note has surely stuck with me when crafting any piece of writing ever since.

Rule #2- Use italics, underlines, or quotes to distinguish certain words within a piece of writing, but never use more than one of these features at once: These three forms of editing have the same effect, so using any combination of them is unnecessary. Additionally, there are guidelines for the specific situations when these certain features should be utilized, such as the rule that states chapter titles should be put in quotation marks. Especially for academic works, the importance of this rule truly cannot be “stressed ” enough.

Rule #3- If writing on a computer, do so on one that is disconnected from the internet: This tip comes straight from the mouth of an amateur procrastinator. If you ever expect to make a good amount of progress on your work, I would recommend cutting yourself off from the worldwide web. Succumbing to the temptation of the Internet Explorer icon on the bottom of the computer screen is a lot easier than even the most disciplined writer believes. If you expect to get any sleep the night before an unfinished piece of writing is due, your best bet is to either stick to pen and paper or unplug your Internet router.

Rule #4- Never rely on built-in spell or grammar checks to catch all of your mistakes: This tip is another one I have had to learn the hard way. After landing the most difficult English teacher in the seventh grade, I learned the practice of rereading every work of writing at least three times before turning it in. Mr. Brown would deduct a whopping five points for every spelling or grammar mistake made, so after receiving subpar grades on my first few papers of the school year, I quickly learned that the autocorrect supplied by Microsoft Word could not be trusted. If you want to receive a grade that rewards all your hard work, one must utilize the old-fashioned grammar and spell checker known as your own two eyes.  

Rule #5- When making a list, use the Oxford comma: This rule may be one of the most controversial topics among grammar geeks. Many consider placing the additional comma before the word “and” at the end of a list an incorrect stylistic guideline. However, to a vast amount of prestigious organizations, such as the Oxford University Press, and in my own opinion, the use of this comma is the only correct way to format a list.

In summary, creating a special “toolbox” when writing can help anyone, from a budding author to a Pulitzer Prize winner, craft a compelling piece of work that presents their unique voice and stays true to their respective style. If you’re looking to take a shot at designing your own now, feel free to use the rules above as some inspiration. So, that being said, there’s only one question left to explore: what can be found in your toolbox?