Summary Of Stephen King's On Writing: A Memoir Of The Craft
AP English
August 30, 2013
Stephen King: On Writing- A Memoir of the Craft
Stephen King wrote his book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft to explain that there’s more to writing than words on a paper. He gives a new perspective to the reader on the process that goes into writing and what he goes through when writing a novel. For example, he mentions that after writing a first draft he’ll put the draft away for six weeks until he starts to edit because it is important to have a break before going back and adding/taking things out. One argument that King discusses in his book is the use of adverbs and how it can ruin the writers thought. According to King, adverbs are “words that modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.” (King; page 124) Throughout his argument of adverbs he says they can overpower a sentence and can show if the author is scared. When writing anything intended for others to read there are many thoughts going through your head. The main thing is whether or not the reader will understand what you’re trying to portray. “With adverbs, the writer usually tells us he or she is afraid he/she isn’t expressing himself/herself clearly, that he or she is not …show more content…
“While to write adverbs is human, to write he said or she said is divine.” (King; page 128) Rather than using adverbs in a conversation between characters, the word said allows the reader to picture the conversation and the emotions that come with it. It also is one less useless word taken out of the sentence. Such as the sentence on page 128, “Don’t be such a fool, Jekyll,” Utterson said contemptuously, is only a cliché according to King. The word contemptuously makes the sentence tiresome and has no real meaning to be there. Although King is guilty of his own advice, it is only humane that we all make this mistake. Just remember to think to yourself if the adverb you’re about to write is
August 30, 2013
Stephen King: On Writing- A Memoir of the Craft
Stephen King wrote his book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft to explain that there’s more to writing than words on a paper. He gives a new perspective to the reader on the process that goes into writing and what he goes through when writing a novel. For example, he mentions that after writing a first draft he’ll put the draft away for six weeks until he starts to edit because it is important to have a break before going back and adding/taking things out. One argument that King discusses in his book is the use of adverbs and how it can ruin the writers thought. According to King, adverbs are “words that modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.” (King; page 124) Throughout his argument of adverbs he says they can overpower a sentence and can show if the author is scared. When writing anything intended for others to read there are many thoughts going through your head. The main thing is whether or not the reader will understand what you’re trying to portray. “With adverbs, the writer usually tells us he or she is afraid he/she isn’t expressing himself/herself clearly, that he or she is not …show more content…
“While to write adverbs is human, to write he said or she said is divine.” (King; page 128) Rather than using adverbs in a conversation between characters, the word said allows the reader to picture the conversation and the emotions that come with it. It also is one less useless word taken out of the sentence. Such as the sentence on page 128, “Don’t be such a fool, Jekyll,” Utterson said contemptuously, is only a cliché according to King. The word contemptuously makes the sentence tiresome and has no real meaning to be there. Although King is guilty of his own advice, it is only humane that we all make this mistake. Just remember to think to yourself if the adverb you’re about to write is