20 Rules of Writing from Stephen King

I don't want to brag, but, I'm really good at procrastination. Most writers are, but I think I take it to the next level.

And there’s nothing like reading about the craft of writing to make you feel like you’re procrastinating efficiently. Reading tips on writing–in the aptly titled, On Writing–from the prolific and wildly successful Stephen King is the inspirational kick-in-the pants we all need occasionally. If he's got rules, I'm taking notes.

Stephen King’s books have sold over 350 million copies in 40 different languages worldwide and he has a net worth of $500 million. So, I think he might know what he’s talking about.

Without further ado, I present you with Stephen King's 20 rules of writing, with some commentary from yours truly.

Stephen King's 20 Rules of Writing

1.        Write for yourself first, then for your audience.

The first draft is you telling yourself the story. Trimming the fat (anything that doesn’t serve the narrative itself) comes at the rewrite stage.

2.        Avoid passive voice.

Don’t shy away from the active voice. Use it to ensure everyone knows the one steering the ship is no passive pushover.

3.        Steer clear of adverbs.

The reader should glean from context and your brilliant prose exactly how the characters conduct themselves around verbs. Adverbs are unnecessary.

4.        Skip the adverbs after “he said” and “she said”.

As above. Why complicate things when “he said” and “she said” do the job admirably. But you’d already guessed that from my context.

5.        Don’t sweat the grammar too much.

Be still my English language teacher heart. But seriously, don’t let grammar get in the way of telling a good story. The only rule worth keeping: make the reader forget they’re reading.

6.        Believe in yourself.

Trust your instincts because fear only leads to bad writing (with adverbs). “The magic is in you,” he said.

7.        Read. A lot.

Reading widely helps to sharpen your writing. If you don’t, you won’t have the right tools to write.

8.        You’re not here to please others.

Writing with truth means ditching polite society and its expectations. Decide for yourself if this is deeply terrifying or deeply liberating.

9.        Switch off the TV (updated to mean the internet)

Seriously. Turn off. Mute. Unplug all the devices that take your time and attention. Put the phone in another room. Writing requires A LOT of ruminating. With technological advances, that has only become increasingly difficult to do since On Writing was published in 2000.

10.  Three months

It shouldn’t take longer than three months to write the first draft of a book.

Ouch. Harsh.

I would like to add that for many people who have a day job as well as carer responsibilities, this time frame is most probably not realistic. Deadlines are helpful but shaming is not!

11.  What is the secret to Stephen King’s success?

King says his secret is that he’s stayed healthy and married. He calls this a silly question in any case but admits there’s a grain of truth to it. Stability is key and a two-way street as far as personal and professional success goes.

12.   One word at a time.

We shouldn’t forget that writing, no matter how daunting and what the word length, is essentially done by stringing words together one at a time.

Every journey begins with a single step, as they say.

13.  Ditch the distractions.

Your writing space should be the most boring spot imaginable. No TV. No phone. No view. And we’ll just update this line of thought by adding: no internet. Which certainly makes research difficult. But the message is, writing time should be just that. Words on a page.  

14.  Stay true to your style.

Don’t try to imitate other successful authors or approaches to genre. You do you because no one else can.

I would add that mining your own experience, your take on things, your feelings, will produce the work that no one else can. At the end of the day, in a saturated market where everyone is competing for eyeballs, it’s the unique that will stand out rather than the carbon copies.

15.  Dig.

King once described stories as being like things that are found in the earth, like fossils. “Stories are relics,” he said, “Part of an undiscovered pre-existing world.” A writer’s job is to dig up however much is possible.

I think King was referring to the way stories come to us, sometimes in the barest of snippets, occasionally fully formed. It reminds me of Jung’s theory of the collective unconscious. He theorized that it's a thread of instincts and archetypes; a collection of knowledge and imagery that every person is born with due to our common ancestral experience.

16.  Take breaks away from your work.

Rewriting can be hard, but it’s so much easier with distance. King suggests putting your work away for six weeks.  Coming back to it after all that time will feel like reading someone else’s work, making it easier to kill your darlings–mostly because they don’t even feel like yours anymore.

17.  Kill your darlings – and the boring bits.

I’m not sure I'm totally on board with killing all your darlings. Sometimes they are the good bits, so don’t go too crazy with the pruning. But remove anything that slows the story down. Easier to see what’s boring when you’ve done as advised at tip 16 and let the work have some breathing space.

18.  Don’t let research overshadow your story.

King advises to keep your focus on the characters and story rather than overwhelming readers with facts and figures about obscure topics. Keep your research to the background and back story.

It’s a delicate balance for sure, but a certain amount of detail concerning unfamiliar arenas does authentically anchor a story. There’s also audience appetite for learning about a world we’ve not seen before. But the lesson here is to not overdo it.

19.  Learn by doing.

The best way to improve your writing is through consistent practice and voracious reading. You don’t really need writing classes, or seminars or even books about writing. They’re motivating of course, but King asserts that the most important lessons you’ll learn are the ones you’ll teach yourself simply by doing. Can’t argue with that.

Although, there is nothing like the accountability of a structured course to force you to finally get that idea written!

20.  Write for joy.

This is by far my favourite piece of advice.  Don’t write for fame or fortune. Write for the act of writing which will enrich your own life as well as the lives of others who read your work.

Writing can be a magical, meditative experience. It's a great antidote to our frazzled experience. So, use these tips, go write something and get in the zone!

Story Inkubator was founded by writer, scriptwriter and teacher, Kristina Jilly, an Australian living in Central Europe who's written for HBO Europe and RTL Television. A teacher at the University of Applied Sciences in Upper Austria, Kristina also writes online content about the art of storytelling and topics that inspire creativity. 

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