It is fun on many levels:
1. It is a memoir
2. It contains good writing pearls, including:
Never use a passive verb and never (or nearly never) use adverbs.
Also never use many words when one will do, but avoid pretentious stilted words merely to show your erudition (see what I mean?).
3. It also mentions my next door neighbor Dr. David Brown by name. Dave's the orthopedic surgeon who reconstructing Mr. King's pelvis when he was hit by a van a decade ago. I still chuckle when Dave was over the house and shared that the night he was in the ER and OR with Mr. King, Stephen jokingly asked if Dave was a fan or a critic. Dave, who is a great surgeon and his hobbies, and side interests, are surgery and surgery, had to admit he had never read a single novel, short story, or even a single word written by Mr. King. Later, he received a signed galley proof of "Bag of Bones" and asked me what he should do with it. I told him it's junk and I'd take it off his hands.....no, wait, that was the voice of my yetzer hara (evil inclination) inside my head. I actually said it would be very valuable to collectors and he could sell it or keep it safe.
I recommend "On Writing" to Forum members, particularly if you're a fan or have interest in Mr. King's experience becoming a published author. I met him many years ago and he is (or was) as unpretentious as this memoir depicts.
Respectfully,
Dr. Bob
quote:
"Also never use many words when one will do, but avoid pretentious stilted words merely to show your erudition"
I thought the same thing when reading the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. Despite needing a thesaurus that is one of my favorite series.
quote:
Never use a passive verb and never (or nearly never) use adverbs.
Also never use many words when one will do, but avoid pretentious stilted words merely to show your erudition (see what I mean?).
I have heard that from other source; obviously I'm having problems with all three, even though I haven't done much with adverbs yet. I have tried to cut down on passive verbs but evidently not nearly enough.
However, as a reader I don't see much difference between passive and active lines.
He was reading while she yelled and vented
Is to me as a reader not that much different from
He read as she yelled and vented.
Of course those are very short examples but I've been gotten after for even short passive sentences.
[This message has been edited by LDWriter2 (edited May 06, 2011).]
I personally found some of his memoir a bit much for me (I'm a speculative fiction reader, don't much care for the grit of real life, lol) so I skimmed and moved to the writing topics. Very very very very interesting, many bits worth taking note of and trying out in your own works. Definitely one of the most hands-on, least pretentious writing books out there.
I found it had some of the best advice on the craft, especially about the editing process. Specifically, King says what he does is, he writes his story (usually dedicates himself to writing 2000 words a day no matter what), sets the story aside for a few weeks, continues to write something else, then goes back to the first story and edits it. When he edits it, he's able to look at it from a different perspective (the ideas aren't fresh anymore and he has more or less forgotten the details of what he's written, so it feels like he's reading it for the first time). He edits it, then sends it out to his trusted beta-readers, who give him the necessary feedback, which he uses to revise a third time. After that, he's done, and he sends it out. He's done it this way for decades now, and it really sounds like one of the better ways to revise.
There's also a lot of advice on various other areas of the craft. King hates adverbs and believes "the road to hell is paved with adverbs". I find it to be true in most fiction, although first person narratives seem to accept them a little easier than third, which makes sense.
Personally, I skipped the parts about his childhood and focused more on his techniques and adult experiences, which included getting Carrie (his first novel) published and the trouble he had with writing it; the way he dealt with all the rejection letters and how he thought he'd never make it; and of course the car accident he was in which has since become a landmark incident in his life (he writes it very entertainingly). He also discusses the drugs!
Pretty cool read if you want great advice from a seasoned pro whose name has essentially become its own franchise. Highly recommended.
I need to buy the darn thing and read it again. i am sure that there are little nuggets of wisdom that I have forgotten. King is such a visual writer. I can always 'see' the action. I absolutely loved "The Green Mile."
even though it may surprise some here I've read the whole book once, and the writing section once more totally and certain sections a third time. Not bad at all. Some of his advice is echoed by other pros so I would assume he is partially right.
Seriously, some of his advice may not work with every writer-each writer is different after all- but it is still something to study.
"The fools were devoured by the aliens."
That's passive because the verb (devoured) is being performed by the object (aliens) and not the subject (fools). Another way of looking at it is the subject of the sentence is being acted upon instead of acting. To make it an active verb, you need to rearrange things so the subject of the sentence is performing the action:
"The aliens devoured the fools."
I think those two sentences do have a different flavor to them.
I may be misunderstanding something. But I have been told -ing words and was-s had-s etc. make a sentence passive. You used were in the first sentence. From what I have understood that is what makes the sentence passive.
Rats, can't find the right link. But it was page from a certain university's grammar instructions. It listed all types of passive and active verbs. I'll look again later.
But to me even though your two sentences have a different flavor, they say the same thing and I wouldn't care which one was used. I would barely notice if at all.
"To be" verbs make a sentence STATIC as opposed to DYNAMIC.
As wetwilly has pointed out, static and dynamic are not the same thing as PASSIVE and ACTIVE.
"-ing words," among other things, can imply what is known as "simultaneity" or "happening at the same time." But they are neither passive nor static in and of themselves.
"-ing words" can also be a way to turn verbs into adjectives: as in "the gathering darkness" or "the threatening clouds" and those examples are neither passive nor static.
"Had" and its variations can indicate possession, but they can also indicate past forms of verbs, and are neither passive nor static in and of themselves either.
If you want to read a whole series of discussions on passive voice, please look at the topics linked to in this topic:
http://www.hatrack.com/forums/writers/forum/Forum3/HTML/000016.html
And you will see why I get a little frustrated when people use "passive" incorrectly. It happens over and over and over again, no matter how many times someone explains what it really means.
One problem with passive verbs in fiction writing is that they can remove the performer of the verb from the sentence completely.
"He got axed in the face." (Passive construction)
Now, that's an interesting action that perks me right up, but this sneaky writer didn't tell me who is swinging the axe. That's what I'm really interested in.
"Demarco axed him in the face." (Active construction)
Now I'm right in the action watching this happen in my mind's eye. Not so with the passive verb example.
I think this is the effect King was probably warning us about in his book (which I also found interesting, educational, and inspiring).
Hmm, as I said I can't find the link now so they either changed the page on me or I lost it. But as to what Kathleen said, It is possible that a university's english deportment could be wrong but that is what I was going by. As I said up above they listed passive verbs and were, was, had, etc. were all included. I might have missed something even though I read it three or four times but that is what I got from the list.
I forget if they mentioned -ing words but I know at least three different people have stated editors do not like -ing words. I might have gotten things mixed up and thought that was because it made the sentence too passive.
quote:
ne problem with passive verbs in fiction writing is that they can remove the performer of the verb from the sentence completely."He got axed in the face." (Passive construction)
Now, that's an interesting action that perks me right up, but this sneaky writer didn't tell me who is swinging the axe. That's what I'm really interested in.
"Demarco axed him in the face." (Active construction)
Now I'm right in the action watching this happen in my mind's eye. Not so with the passive verb example.
wetwilly, for me it depends if Demarco is in the story or not. But in either case I would not notice if I am "removed" from the action. I might be a different reader than most but that is my experience. Of coursed while writing we need to do what editors like.
And going back to if Demarco is in the story, if he is then more than likely he will be mentioned even if not in that sentence.
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while writing we need to do what editors like.
Nah, I disagree. While I might submit a short here and there to a traditional market, I'm heading indie with my publishing goals. When writing, we need to write what readers want to read.
And the feedback on passive forms is very good feedback, because readers don't know if a story is written in third person past participle future tense gerund form. They don't give a hoot, but they know good stories. Most good stories keep the pace moving, keep the actors acting, and keep the readers caring about what happens next. Avoiding passive forms, over-reliance on adverbs, and other linguistic shortcuts (it's often shorter/faster to use an adverb than to rethink the structure of the sentence and figure out if a stronger verb would convey the same thought) can strengthen one's writing.
But then again, some writers write compelling stuff even with all that in their stories. There are so many tom swifties ("Hush", she said quietly.) in at least the first 1-2 Harry Potters, but who gives a darn? I've read each of them at least 3-4 times and I don't care!
So, write what you love to read yourself, as you'll be the best judge of whether this form or that form will work best for what you're trying to accomplish.
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They don't give a hoot, but they know good stories.
How true it is. I couldn't agree more.
Is always good to know how to write, but is best to know how to tell a good story.
quote:
And you will see why I get a little frustrated when people use "passive" incorrectly. It happens over and over and over again, no matter how many times someone explains what it really means.
There is also the concept of a passive character, which confuses the issue. Its one that KDW (she who must be impressed, not kdw or she who must be obeyed) often talks about. This is a character that has things happen to them, rather than them making things happen. As these characters are often written using static forms, I sometimes hear (or say) that it has a passive feel.