On Writing: Some Shining Bits of Advice

Right now I am seated on my billowy, purple couch reading On Writing, by Stephen King, courtesy of my newly re-floored,  public library. (I had to squeeze in the comment about the new floors in the library because:


a) the previous red carpet was killin' me!
b) I really don't have a life outside of my kids, Target and the library.;))

I thought I would take a break to share my two favorite excerpts from the reading so far.

On where ideas come from, King says:

 "There is no Idea Dump, no Story Central, no Island of the Buried Bestsellers; good story ideas seem to come quite literally from nowhere, sailing at you right out of the empty sky: two previously unrelated ideas come together and make something new under the sun. Your job isn't to find these ideas but to recognize them when they show up."

And on  the overuse of passive voice, which according to the King is due to the timidity of the writer:

"Two pages of the passive voice- just about any business document ever written, in other words, not to mention reams of bad fiction- make me want to scream. It's weak, it's circuitous, and it's frequently tortuous, as well. How about this: My first kiss will always be recalled by me as how my romance with Shayna was begun.  Oh, man- who farted, right?"

Now don't you just feel enlightened? :)