The Writer’s Toolbox
Have you ever read On Writing by Stephen King? I have, though it’s been long ago enough I’m eyeing it for a re-read this summer. It, as you can glean from the title, offers insight about the craft of writing. If you’re a creative writer, I can’t recommend it enough.
One chapter of the book, in particular, addresses the concept of writers having and developing a toolbox. This idea seems like a no-brainer, right? And it could really apply to anyone pouring time and energy into a craft or art. You’ve got skills you bring to your first attempts, and then, if you stick with it, you grow those skills and acquire new ones.
The toolbox imagery, as King paints it, has a few layers, at least three levels—just like actual toolboxes are often multi-level. He says “commonest tools go on top,” such as vocabulary, grammar, and grasp on active tense, when it comes to your verbs. He also, at this level, wants to bash the adverb, but I don’t feel as strongly as he does about it. I certainly wouldn’t say the road to hell is paved with adverbs, but do you know what? We’re all allowed hills to die on.
Moving on to the next level. Getting a bit deeper.
This is where we get into considering form and style. Some of style is addressed by the voice you use (again, active is always better over passive) and the structure of sentences. Fragments can be okay. Your personal brand of wordsmithing is what helps you make your writing yours. How you shape and use paragraphs can be the difference between fine writing and refined writing.
We come to the third level now, which is where writing fiction really happens. You’ve gathered all these basic pieces, all these tools, and can get going on your story idea. At this point, he’s changing the imagery a bit to a carpenter beginning to build a house. A full toolbox…the rendering of a house…We, at this level, just need to be thinking about possibility and confidence in knowing that you’re equipped to do the thing, to write your story.
Sometimes the narrative, as we interact with the general world, is that you must have x, y, and z before you’re ready—and those variables are either constantly changing or significantly different depending upon the person. In this time of “influencer culture,” the perception of needing more or else risking falling behind is too prevalent. One of my favorite things on social media is when a reel crosses my feed with someone saying, “Let me de-influence you for a second” and proceeds to offer reminders such as It’s okay to make coffee at home or Not everyone goes out for regular manicures at the nail salon. I love stuff like that.
Maybe hobbies or crafts don’t seem to fall into that trap, but maybe they do. Maybe it just looks different, and, instead of receiving messaging about things we need to be consuming or buying, it looks like seeing someone land an agent so quickly after you’ve been trying for years and the implication being that the process is supposedly so easy. It could look like seeing someone’s progress report from the week and feeling bad that you didn’t write nearly as many words as they did, that you should have written at the same pace they did. There’s a thousand iterations of feeling like we’re in a place of lack or sub-optimal performance.
Yet, you have your toolbox. You also have whatever else is going on in your life, and it’s okay (and normal) to be juggling priorities. I’m fortunate that, in this season of life, I get to prioritize my writing projects. It’s such a gift. If I sound like a broken record mentioning that again, it’s because I’m still astounded I get to have this.
The more I’m writing and in this mode of thinking the more I believe that a critical tool to keep sharp is your ability to be flexible. When you find unexpected time in your day to write, take advantage of it. When something pops up and prevents you from sitting down for your scheduled writing, breathe and go with it. Run into a plot hole? Lean into the backtracking and re-working. Feeling stuck about how to write the next scene? See what else in your story needs attention or give yourself time to think it through.
You can plan and schedule and work toward a routine, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But you must be an adaptive writer. You must keep honing your skills while also keeping an eye out for how else you can develop your craft.
I won’t tell you what to fill your toolbox with, though I will suggest going to your favorite authors (and On Writing) if you need guidance. Then put your tools into practice. The things you know, the skills, are meant to be used and applied. What you have is enough to get going. And, if you’re ever in need of more encouragement as you go about it, well, you know where to find me.