am’s greatest value to the writer of imaginative fiction is his willingness to explain in detail what the rules of writing mean, including many of the very same rules Strunk & White discussed. He will illustrate with examples why the rules exist; he will even go so far as to argue that some of them are unnecessary. Perhaps one of the most valuable chapters in Style is the last, dedicated to Usage. Here he examines a number of the “rules” promoted by various grammar authoritarians and demonstrates how the clarity of the message may be adversely affected by actually following the rule. His argument is that while the rules may be set in place as a guardian to comprehensive writing, the rule does not necessarily ensure good writing. “A writer who observes every rule can still write wretched prose.” (Williams, 197.)On Writing will act even more closely as a companion to The Elements of Style. Not only does King give enormous insight in the makings of a writer, but he will discuss many of the rules Strunk insists on, and he will use examples from his own writing as well as the works of others to illustrate how the rules can be used to strengthen your writing. His tone will be more in the nature of friendly, personal advice to a friend than a clinical study of the mechanics of language, and this may appeal to a number of readers who have been overwhelmed by the other books. He will even present the rough draft of one of his short stories and demonstrate how it might be edited to improve it, listing in the following pages detailed explanations for each of the changes that were made. Finally, he will touch on certain elements of writing fiction left entirely untouched by the other two books: Dialogue, symbolism, and some discussion on the importance of plotting your novel as opposed to letting the story tell itself.Together, each of these books will provide the beginning or struggling writer with not only ...
