Stephen King’s “On Writing” – A Comprehensive Review and Summary

Stephen King’s “On Writing” – A Comprehensive Review and Summary

There are plenty of books on writing out there, mostly by writers you have never heard of and probably never will.  Stephen King’s On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft is an exception.  I had read many rave ভুল বকা  reviews about this book, so I went and got myself the audio book version for the long train rides on my latest European vacation (but ended up listening to it everywhere I went and finished it in the first couple of days).

The verdict রায়? Extraordinary.  One of the best books about writing I’ve ever come across.  5 out of 5 stars!

Nevertheless, what started off as a short post about the book has turned into the full-blown thesis below, so I apologize in advance.  The lengthy middle section on Part II though is useful for those who want an idea of what King’s views are in relation to the craft of writing.

Overview সংক্ষিপ্ত বিবরণ

The book is not a mechanical guide on how to be a better writer from a technical standpoint দৃষ্টিকোণ, though in the middle section King does discuss the fundamentals of the craft.  Stylistically শৈলীগত, it is similar to Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird, in that it is a very personal book that discusses writing through the author’s personal stories, experiences and anecdotes, চুটকি মিশিয়ে all told with good grace অনুগ্রহ and humor.  You don’t just learn about writing techniques in On Writing – you also get to learn a great deal about Stephen King, his family, the struggles he has সহ্য endured, both pre-fame and post-fame, and what makes him tick as a popular horror novelist that has sold hundreds of millions of books worldwide.

There are essentially 3 parts to this book.  Part I is all about King’s life, and is autobiographical আত্মজীবনীসংক্রান্ত in a sense.  Part II is all about the craft of writing from King’s personal perspective.  Part III talks about King’s life after his tragic মৃতু্যঘটিত car accident that almost ended his life and writing career.  All 3 parts are equally instructive শিক্ষামূলক and compelling বাধ্যকারী.

Parts I & III– All About Stephen King

The book begins like an autobiography on Stephen King, the writer.  It starts off from his childhood and goes all the way to that first big success and then on to superstardom সুপারস্টারডম.  It’s filled with lots of little humorous tales about the outrageous ভয়ানক things he got up to.  After all, it is a memoir.

At first, I was concerned উদ্বিগ্ন – where was he leading with this?  Is the book called On Writing or On Stephen King?  I got the book with the hope of learning more about how to be a better writer, not to learn everything about the author!  That being said, King does tell his story with a lot of skill, keeping it interesting, intriguing, funny and inspiring.

Then you start to realize that it isn’t just a self-indulgent অসংযত story of King’s life.  There is a common theme running through his life, and that theme is writing.  He loves to write and he writes for the love of writing.  Like most other successful writers, King went through years and years of rejections (starting when he was just a kid).  He held দখলী ordinary jobs because he had to support himself and his family.  He struggled.

But he never stopped writing and honing মধুমাখা  his craft, largely thanks to the encouragement অনুপ্রেরণা of his wife Tabitha, who happens to also be his most loyal supporter.

King tells one of the most inspirational and uplifting stories I’ve ever heard – how his breakthrough শত্রুবূহ্যভেদ novel Carrie  আজ earned him an initial $2,500 for the hardcover rights (not much even for those times), and then how he scored a life-changing $400,000 for the paperback rights (split equally with hardcover publisher) when the most he expected was $60,000 (half of which would be his).  Not bad for a guy who would have earned $30,000 over 4 years as a teacher.

However, success manifested উদ্ভাসিত itself in strange ways, and the next section dealt with King’s fall into alcoholism মদ্যাশক্তি and drug abuse.  Amazingly আশ্চর্যজনক, some of his most famous novels were written during the darkest অন্ধতম phase অগ্রগতির পর্ব of his life.

যাই হোক Anyway, don’t be put off বন্ধ করা by the long start – King does eventually অবশেষে get to the apl of writing in Part II.  However, this first part is also very iPPnstructive.  If nothing, you learn that the path of a writer is a long, difficult, and eternal অনন্ত road.

Part III is significantly shorter.  It tells of King’s horrific ভয়ঙ্কর car accident at the hands of a loony উন্মাদগ্রস্ত ব্যক্তি driver – one that not only nearly ended his writing career but just about killed him.  I thought King showed a lot of restraint in this section – he doesn’t hurl abuse at the driver who turned his life upside down and made even simple tasks such as sitting incredibly অবিশ্বাস্যভাবে painful for him.  He merely describes what happened like a good narrator কথক (including the agonizing মানসিক যন্ত্রণাদায়ক pain he সহ্য endured) and leaves it at that.

Part II – The Craft of Writing

The second part is what most people buy the book for – King’s guide to the craft of writing.  It contains a lot of the same advice you might find in other writing books, but King adds his own personal touch and insight সূক্ষ্মদৃষ্টি from his years of experience.

Here’s a summary of some of the most salient points I got out of this section and what I thought of them.  Please note that I cannot guarantee that it is an accurate or complete reflection what is actually in the book because they are merely from scribbles I took down when listening to the audio book.  Of course, you will get much much more out of it by reading (or listening) to the book, which provides a lot of in-depth discussion and useful examples.  This is really just a personal reminder of things I need to look out for in my own writing and a critique of King’s advice.

The Elements of Style শৈলী 

First of all, get yourself a copy of Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style. King raves about this book and mentions it more than a couple of times. In his view, all writers should read this short but essential book.

I need to get myself a copy.

Characters

King’s writing style is based on characters.  In his view, stories and characters are not really created, but are waiting to be uncovered উন্মোচিত like archaeological প্রত্নতাত্ত্বিক artifacts নিদর্শন.  He usually starts his novels with just a premise প্রতিজ্ঞা and goes from there, meaning his characters and plot tend ঝোঁক to শুরু থেকে পরিকল্পিত হওয়ার পরিবর্তে উপন্যাসের উপর ফর্ম। form over the course of the novel rather than get planned out from the beginning.

It may be a viable টেকসই method but I find such an approach ঘনিয়ে আসা to likely lead নেতৃত্ব to dead ends (and I feel King might have the same problem with some of his horror novels, which have a tendency ঝোঁক to crash to a crappy ন্যক্কারজনক finish with unsatisfactory অসন্তোষজনক solutions).

Good Writing

When King talks about good writing, he is not talking about writing masterpieces শ্রেষ্ঠ or literary award winners. He’s simply talking about writing that is above competent উপযুক্ত and readable, and perhaps সম্ভবত, publishable প্রকাশযোগ্য.  In his view, there are two key criteria নির্ণায়ক to ‘good writing’: (1) a good grasp আঁকড়াইয়া ধরিতে চেষ্টা করা of the fundamentals মৌলিক; and (2) having the right instruments যন্ত্র.  These criteria নির্ণায়ক will not make good writers great or bad writers competent উপযুক্ত, but it can make good writers out of merely শুধু competent উপযুক্ত writers.

So what are these fundamentals and tools?  See below.  I should say in advance that these are things you would expect আশা করা to find in most other books on writing লেখার উপর and shouldn’t come as a big surprise.

Adverbs

King hates adverbs (you know, words that mostly end in ‘-ly’).  Loathes them.  Not that they shouldn’t be used at all, but they should only be used when strictly necessary.  On the same point, King brings up the issue of using adverbs for dialogue attribution – for instance, ‘she said slowly’.  Again, the rule is to use it only when necessary.  If the dialogue itself already tells the way in which it is expressed, then there is no need for the adverb.  King’s preference পক্ষপাত is to just use ‘said’.  However, that being said, he also admits to using adverbs more often than he should.

Personally, I admit I have a tendency to resort অবলম্বন to adverbs.  Because it’s easy.  It tempts প্রলোভিত you to use it so you don’t have to think of a better word or come up with better dialogue (in the case of dialogue attribution).  However, cutting out adverbs is something I’ve reserved সংরক্ষিত for the second draft.

Passive Voice

Another thing King frowns বিরাগ দেখান upon is using passive voice.  For example, instead of ‘he rode হয়তো গা ভাসিয়ে the horse’, using ‘the horse was ridden পড়া by the man’.  King attributes the use of passive voice to fear.  People that usually write for business purposes (like me) have a tendency to overuse passive voice.  I think I recall reading somewhere that it comes across as more professional and more objective.  Anyway, it’s another thing I need to cut out come second draft time, but I think I’ve already started to avoid it instinctively প্রবৃত্তিগতভাবে as I’ve progressed অগ্রগতির with my novel.

Grammar

It’s obvious, but grammar is crucial for good writing.  It’s something writers need to get right.  As simple as that.  There are some small exceptions which a lot of writers employ, such as the short fragments টুকরা typically সাধারণত found in writing these days (see previous sentence), but for the most part, it’s advisable যুক্তিযুক্ত to stick to correct grammar.

Don’t apply incorrect grammar and punctuation on purpose, even এমন কি when you know it’s wrong, just to be different and creative and stylish.  That is, of course, unless you are a famous writer already that people consider to be genius so you can do whatever you want (eg Cormac McCarthy).

Cut Useless Words

King believes most writers, especially inexperienced অনভিজ্ঞ writers, have a tendency প্রবণতা to put in too many useless words.  Good writing involves জড়িত cutting কাটা them out and getting to the point.

This is something I’ve struggled with all my life, even with high school and university assignments. I just can’t help myself, and I think it shows, even from this post!  Oh well, better keep moving…

Vocabulary

King has a simple tip with vocabulary – use the most appropriate word, and usually, that is the first word that comes to mind.  The only way to improve your vocabulary is to read more.  When writing, don’t stop so you can think of a better word, and don’t put in words that you don’t really know.  If you don’t know it then there is a good chance that other readers won’t know either.  The aim is to allow readers to read smoothly, and making them wonder what a word means (or having to check up what it means) runs against that objective.

I’ll be the first to admit that my vocabulary is not all that crash hot.  It stems কান্ড from a lack of reading good books throughout my childhood and adolescence.  Consequently, I do find myself struggling to find the right word at times, even if it’s for the first word that comes to mind.  As King says, however, the only way to improve is to read more!

Plot

For King, the 3 elements to a story are গল্পকথন narration, description অঙ্কন and dialogue – meaning plot is not one of them.  As noted সুপরিচিত উপরে above, King’s stories usually start off শুরু করা with not much more than a যে সূত্র হইতে সিদ্ধান্ত গৃহীত হয় premise and the characters, which he allows to let loose অযথাযথ to see where they take him যেখানে তারা তাকে নিতে.

I still have a bit ক্ষুদ্র অংশ of trouble কষ্ট fully appreciating মূল্যবৃদ্ধি করা that approach, but it’s obviously স্পষ্টত one that works for him. I do allow my characters to roam ঘুরিয়া বেড়ান free a little, but it’s usually within the confines অবরোধ of a single scene দৃশ্য as opposed to the entire story.

অঙ্কন Descriptions:

Descriptions make the reader a sensory সংবেদনশীল অংশগ্রাহক participant in the story.  The key is to visualize দৃষ্টিগোচর করা what you want the reader to experience.  However, বর্ণনা করার সময়  একটি সূক্ষ্ম লাইন যথেষ্ট, কারণ খুব বেশি বর্ণনা করার বিপদ রয়েছে there is a fine line when it comes to descriptions, as there is a danger of describing too much, which slows down the গতি ধীর করে pace, kills the imagination কল্পনা শক্তিকে নষ্ট করে and bores একঘেয়েমির দ্বারা বিরক্ত করা the reader.  I have to say I have sometimes found this to be the case with some of King’s writings.

চরিত্রে  দেখতে কেমন তা একটি লাইনে বলতে হবে। এবং চরিত্রে অন্যান্য বৈশিষ্ট্য তার কাজের ও সংলাপের মাধ্যমে ফুটিয়ে তুলতে হবে। প্রধান চরিত্রে দেহের চোখ, কান, চুল ইত্যাদি বননা দিলে যথেষ্ট। অন্যান্য চরিত্রে দেহে বননা দেয়া প্রয়োজন নেই।

King’s advice is to use your descriptions but not do too much – simply say what you see and get on উন্নতিলাভ করা with the story.  It is important to pick the right details that stand for everything else. Particularly useful is the advice to avoid পরিহার করিয়া চলা too much description on individual স্বতন্ত্র attributes গুণ of characters.  There is no need to go into গভীরতা depth on the precise যথাযথ height উচ্চতা, weight ওজন and hair চুল and eye চোখ colour of every character you come across হঠাৎ দেখা হয়ে যাওয়া. বিরক্তিকর It’s boring.  King advises writers to put down the first visualized দৃষ্টিগোচর করা details that come into your mind – the priority is to keep the ball বল ঘূর্ণায়মান rolling.

Dialogue

Dialogue is difficult to get right, and King’s advice is to let the dialogue be honest to the characters and to allow each speaker to speak honestly.

I’m also struggling সংগ্রাম with dialogue for my characters (I’m struggling with a lot of things).  It’s easy to make the mistake of making every piece of dialogue look like it comes from the same character.  I’m really going to have to put in a lot of work on dialogue in my second draft to allow the characters to distinguish পার্থক্য নির্দেশ করা themselves and stand out from each other.

Showing and Telling

Another tenet মতবাদ of good writing is to show, not tell.  This was the subject of one of my earlier posts on writing.  Of course, it’s not always possible to do that, but King believes ‘show’ should always be preferred পদোন্নতি করা to ‘tell’ whenever possible.

Personally, I’m glad খুশি to say I am starting to get the hang নির্ভর করা of this, but sometimes I wonder আশ্চর্য whether দুইয়ের মধ্যে কোনট it is better to just tell it using a simple sentence rather ইহায় অপেক্ষা বরং than showing it through pages of conversation কথোপকথন and action?

Paragraphs

King calls paragraphs the beat অতিরিক্ত পরিশ্রম করা in your head when you read, the fragments টুকরা in the prose গদ্য. It’s easy to overlook পর্যবেক্ষণ করা it, but how you structure the length of your paragraphs can be very important. King’s recommendation is to learn the beat and let nature take its course.

It’s not something I ever চিরকাল gave much thought চিন্তা to, so I found this particular part rather instructive শিক্ষামূলক.

Back Stories, Info Dumps মাল খালাস করা and Flashbacks

King says back stories and info dumps  should be kept in the back of the mind.  Also, try and avoid flashbacks wherever possible.  Of course, there are exceptions – there are plenty প্রচুর of great books with lots of flashbacks and back stories.  But the key is questioning whether it is really necessary and whether there are other more effective ways of getting the information across.  King notes that JK Rowling is particularly good at the info dump and back story retelling অন্যভাবে বলা in the Harry Potter books, so take a look চেহারা at them if you want to see how it is done well.

My own novel has its fair ন্যায্য share of flashbacks, but I’ve tried my best to control the back stories and তথ্য ডাম্প info dumps.  It’s probably সম্ভবত something best to come back to once the first draft has been completed.

Close the Door

King believes it is very important for writers to have their own private space when writing, a place with no distractions.  He recommends a regular place to write, and to close the door  when writing.  It shuts out the rest of the world and the distractions, and lets people know you are working and you are serious.

I don’t always close the door when I write, but I admit I write best when I am totally focused and not being distracted by what’s outside the window or in the next room.

Reading and Writing

Stephen King says that reading and writing is the only way to improve as a writer.  Writing is a craft শিল্পবিদ্যা  that is best learned through doing.  King puts a great deal of emphasis জোর on reading. Writers need to read in order to improve, and it’s not only through reading good literature – you can learn just as much from reading a good book (teaching you what to do) as a bad book (teaching you what NOT to do).

What to do after the First Draft

King’s advice is to complete that first draft within 3 months.  It’s probably not a realistic বাস্তবানুগ deadline for those that have day jobs and other unavoidable অনিবার্য things that consume their time.

Anyway, after completion of the first draft, however long it might take, King advises you to let go of it for 6 weeks before going back to it so you would have forgotten it.  Reading your own work with a pair of fresh eyes is extremely অত্যন্ত important.  Start writing something else in the meantime মধ্যকাল.  This I agree with, but 6 weeks can be a painfully long wait!  I’ve read elsewhere that a week or two might be sufficient, but I suppose it’s up to the individual.

When revising the first draft, King suggests you concentrate একত্র করা on both big things such as inconsistencies অসঙ্গতি, plot holes গর্ত and character motivation প্রেরণা and development problems, as well as small things, such as misspellings ভুল বানান.  Make notes about where problems are, mark up the manuscript and check your notes when revising.  Get rid of adverbs and add in clarifications where necessary.  Ask yourself whether it is coherent, whether there are any recurring elements or themes, and what to do to make those things clear.  You may need to add or delete scenes.  The key is to make the story and characters resonate with readers.

Symbolism প্রতীকীবাদ and Theme মূলভাব

For King, symbolism and themes in your novel are things that come in at the second draft stage.  They should not be things you purposely go out and put into your story.  Rather, you should focus on the story itself and when only explore অন্বেষণ করা symbolism and themes if they become apparent প্রতীয়মান when reading the first draft.

King’s Rule for Second Drafts

King’s personal approach to second drafts of novels is to tighten কসা/ আঁট করা the first draft by 10%.  So if you have a first draft of a story that is 100,000 words, try and tighten it to 90,000 words for the second draft.

In my opinion it’s just his personal approach অভিগমন and a loose আলগা guide গাইড at best because everyone will have their own preference পক্ষপাত.  King does 2 drafts and a polish পালিশ, whereas some writers need 4 or 5 drafts and dramatic নাটকীয় changes every time.  Besides, not everyone can churn মন্থন করা out first drafts that are good enough to be published just after one additional draft and a polish.

What to do after the Second Draft

King does not show anyone his work until he has completed the second draft.  This I wholeheartedly মনপ্রাণ agree with, because (especially for writing novices) it can be daunting কঠিন to ask others to read your work.  King shows his completed second drafts to 4 or 5 people.  Some say that readers should not be your friends, or else you won’t get honest feedback.  King disagrees একমত নন – he says you should be smart enough to gauge হিসাব করার নিয়ম the reactions, প্রতিক্রিয়া even if they are your friends.

I must say I agree.  It is scary ভীতিকর enough showing your work to your friends, let alone people you don’t know.  And if a friend tells me it’s ‘not bad’, I’ll have a pretty good idea that they thought it sucked চুষা.

Agents and Publishers

On agents and publishers, King says that it is not impossible to get an agent/publisher with an unsolicited অযাচিত manuscript these days, and there are ways to get into the industry.  He recommends building a portfolio দফতর, submit to magazines relating to your genre রীতি and to try and get publishing credits to your name.  He encourages writers to research the market – look through Writer’s Market to find an agent that might be interested in your type of book.  He says that it is important to go into it looking like a professional, in that you need to make sure your manuscript and query letter are done right. As he says, you cannot make agents/publishers like your manuscript, but you can make it easier for them to like your story.

Writing Courses

King generally does not find writing courses to be very helpful on the whole as the creative উদ্ভাবনী flow অবাধে বহিয়া চলা tends সহায়ক হত্তয়া to get stopped.  In fact, he’s rather critical সমালোচনামূলক of them, despite সত্ত্বেও understanding অন্তর্দৃষ্টিসম্পন্ন how they may appeal to aspiring উচ্চাকাঙ্ক্ষী writers.

Again, I find this to be a generalization মন্তব্য and not much more than a subjective view.  There are many different types of writing courses and writers – some people might need a course to get them started or give them more confidence.  I suppose what he is trying to say is not to rely নির্ভর করা on them too much or expect them to change your life.  That I agree with.

Writing For the Right Reasons

Lastly, and perhaps সম্ভবত most importantly, King tells you to write for the right reasons – for the joy and rush নলখাগড়া and excitement হুজুগ of writing – not for the money, not for success or fame, not to impress anyone.  Can’t disagree with that.  Does impressing yourself count?

Concluding Thoughts

Before I read On Writing, I considered myself a slight to moderate King fan.  For me, most of what I knew about the author came from the horror movies and mini-series adapted from his novels.  There are too many to count.  The ones that have been stamped deepest into my memory are It (thanks to which I am still not a fan of clowns), The Stand, Pet Cemetery, Sleepwalkers, Misery, Carrie and The Shining, but there are at least a dozen more.

I had only read one of his full length novels – The Dark Half – which I found to be okay.  A bit long and a bit slow.  But I did read it when I was much younger and had a shorter attention span, and the book was probably beyond my comprehension level at that age.

On the other hand, I had read some collections of King’s short stories and novellas. I found Nightmares and Dreamscapes to be reasonable, littered with some good and some bad stories.  However, my favourite King book has to be his non-horror work, Different Seasons, which includes two novellas that were made (pretty faithfully) into two of my favourite movies of all time, Stand By Me (adapted from The Body) and The Shawshank Redemption (adapted from Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption).  I found both novellas (and films) to be incredibly powerful and moving, and was amazed at what a terrific storyteller Stephen King can be, and it doesn’t even have to involve anything supernatural.

As a popular novelist, King has obviously had his critics throughout the years, but there is no denying that he can write.  Maybe not awe-inspiring literature, but he definitely has a firm grasp of the fundamentals of writing, and he can certainly tell a good story.  On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft is an instructive and insightful book, one that is filled with useful information for the aspiring writer and immensely ব্যাপকভাবে enjoyable to read (or in my case, listen to).  I would recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about the craft of writing or just wants a good read. 

On Writing by Stephen King

The Book in Three Sentences

1. Most people have at least some talent as writers and storytellers, and that those talents can be strengthened শক্তিশালী and sharpened শাণিত with practice.

2. The writer’s original আসল perception অনুভব of a character or characters may be as erroneous ভুল করে এমন as the reader’s.

3. Stopping a piece of work কাজ টুকরা just because it’s hard, either emotionally আবেগের or imaginatively কল্পনাপ্রবণ, is a bad idea.

The Five Big Ideas

1. “Write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open.”

2. “Writing is a lonely একাকী job. Having someone who believes in you makes a lot of difference.”

3. “Put your desk in the corner, and every time you sit down there to write, remind yourself why it isn’t in the middle of the room. Life isn’t a support-system for art. It’s the other way around.”

4. “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 লজ্জিত of your short ones.”

5. “Remember that the basic rule of vocabulary is use the first word that comes to your mind, if it is appropriate যথাযথ and রঙিন colorful.”

On Writing Summary

1. Stephan believes most people have at least some talent as writers and storytellers, and that those talents can be strengthened and sharpened with practice.

2. “Write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open. Your stuff কাপড় starts out being just for you, in other words, but then it goes out. Once you know what the story is and get it right—as right as you can, anyway—it belongs to anyone who wants to read it. Or criticize it.”

3. “Writing is a lonely job. Having someone who believes in you makes a lot of difference. They don’t have to make বক্তৃতা speeches. Just believing is usually enough.”

4. The most important Stephen learned from Carrie আজ White is that the writer’s original perception of a character or characters may be as erroneous as the reader’s. Running a close second was the realization that stopping a piece of work just because it’s hard, either emotionally or imaginatively, is a bad idea. Sometimes you have to go on when you don’t feel like it, and sometimes you’re doing good work when it feels like all you’re managing is to shovel বেলচা shit from a sitting position.

5. “[Writing] starts with this: put your desk in the corner, and every time you sit down there to write, remind yourself why it isn’t in the middle of the room. Life isn’t a support-system for art. It’s the other way around.”

6. “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.”

7. “The pet পোষা is embarrassed অপ্রস্তুত and the person who committed this act of premeditated পূর্বকল্পিত cuteness বুদ্ধিসম্পন্নতা should be even more embarrassed.”

8. “Remember that the basic rule of vocabulary is use the first word that comes to your mind, if it is appropriate and colorful.”

9. “If you সঙ্কোচ করা hesitate and গভীরভাবে চিন্তা করা cogitate, you will come up with another word – of course you will, there’s always another word – but it probably won’t be as good as your first one, or as close to what you really mean.”

10. “Nouns and verbs are the two indispensable অপরিহার্য parts of writing. Without one of each, no group of words can be a sentence, since a sentence is, by definition, a group of words containing a subject (noun) and a predicate সত্য বলিয়া দৃঢ়রূপে নির্দেশ করা বা বর্ণনা করা (verb); these strings সূত্র of words begin with a capital letter, end with a কাল period, and combine to make a complete thought চিন্তা which starts in the writer’s head মাথা and then leaps লাফাইয়া অতিক্রম করা  to the reader’s.”

11. “Take any noun, put it with any verb, and you have a sentence. It never fails. Rocks explode. Jane transmits. Mountains float.”

12. “The simplicity সরলতা of noun-verb construction নির্মাণ is দরকারী useful – at the very least অন্তত it can provide a safety নিরাপত্তা জাল বোনা net for your writing.”

13. “Verbs come in two types, active and passive. With an active verb, the subject of the sentence is doing something. With a passive verb, something is being done to the subject of the sentence. The subject is just letting it happen. You should avoid the passive tense.”

14. “The adverb is not your friend.”

15. “Adverbs, you will remember from your own version of Business English, are words that modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.”

16. “I insist জোরাজুরি করা that you use the adverb in dialogue attribution আরোপণ only in the rarest বিরল ঘটনা and most special of ঘটনা occasions … and not even then, if you can avoid it.”

17. “The best form of dialogue attribution বিশেষণ is said, as in he said, she said, Bill said, Monica said.”

18. “You always add ’s, even when the word you’re modifying পরিবর্তন ends in s – always write Thomas’s bike and never Thomas’ bike.”

19. “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware সচেতন of, no শর্টকাট shortcut.”

20. “Every book you pick up has its own lesson or পাঠ lessons, and পুরোপুরি quite often the bad books have more to teach than the good ones.”

21. “Once একদা I start work on a project, I don’t stop and I don’t slow down unless I absolutely একেবারে have to. If I don’t write every day, the characters begin to stale একেঘেয়ে/ বাসী off in my mind – they begin to seem like characters instead পরিবর্তে of real people.”

22. “What you need to remember is that there’s a difference between বক্তৃতা করা lecturing about what you know and using it to সমৃদ্ধ করা enrich the story. The আধুনিক latter is good. The former is not.”

23. “In my view, stories and novels consist of three parts: narration গল্পকথন, which moves the story from point A to point B and finally to point Z; চিত্রালংকরণ description, which creates a sensory সংবেদনশীল reality বাস্তব অস্তিত্ব for the reader; and dialogue, which brings characters to life জীবন্ত বস্তুসমূহ through their speech.”

24. “Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader’s.”

25. “One of the cardinal অত্যাবশ্যক rules of good fiction is never tell us a thing if you can show us.” 

সবচেয়ে ভালো উপন্যাস হলো কিছু না বলে তা দেখার মাধ্যমে চিত্রালংকরণ করে দেখানো।

26. “Everything I’ve said about dialogue applies to building characters in fiction. The job boils ফুটিয়া উঠা down to two things: paying attention to how the real people around you behave and then telling the truth about what you see.”

27. “Good fiction always begins সূত্রপাত হত্তয়া with story and progresses অগ্রসর হত্তয়া to রচনার বিষয়বস্তু  theme; it প্রায় almost never begins with theme and progresses to story.”

28. “The most important things to remember about back story (a history or background created for a fictional character in a motion picture or television program. একটি চলচ্চিত্র বা টেলিভিশন প্রোগ্রামে একটি কাল্পনিক চরিত্রের জন্য তৈরি একটি ইতিহাস বা পটভূমি।) are that (a) everyone has a history ইতিহাস and (b) most of it isn’t very আকর্ষণপূর্ণ interesting. Stick to the parts that are, and don’t get carried away with the rest.” চরিত্রে পূর্বে ইতিহাস আকর্ষণ পূর্ণ নাও হতে পারে কিন্তু চরিত্রে পূর্বে ইতিহাস একটি লাঠি হতে পারে কিন্তু তা শেষ পর্যন্ত নিয়ে যাওয়া উচিত হবে না।

29. “You don’t need writing classes or seminars any more than you need this or any other book on writing.”

30. “You learn best by reading a lot and writing a lot, and the most valuable lessons of all are the ones you teach yourself.” আপনি অনেক পড়া এবং অনেক লেখা দ্বারা ভাল শিখতে পারেন এবং সব থেকে সবচেয়ে মূল্যবান পাঠ আপনি নিজেকে শেখান। "

31. “Writing isn’t about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friends. In the end, it’s about enriching সমৃদ্ধ the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life, as well. It’s about উঠছে getting up, getting well, and getting over. Getting happy, okay? Getting happy.”