I liked the rules Stephen King came up with. Some of them I have heard before, like “show don’t tell”. Even though I heard of that one before I still like it a lot. The reason I like it is similar to the rule “don’t over-describe”. When writing, it is hard not to explain every little detail. You really want to make sure the audience is thinking what you want them to. You want to be in control of the journey you take them on. However, sometimes you have to remember less is more. That having some mystery in there is okay. It is better to let them fill in the blanks than overwhelm them with information. You want them to keep reading and not get bored of all the information you dump on them. Which is why you could show instead of tell. Take them on a different more interesting journey.
Some rules were really good in the way Stephen King knows the writer’s struggle. “Know the end” and “know when to stop” are really important rules to remember. If you don’t know the end, you can go on and on. It is also really important to remember to stop. If you overdo it, the work might go down in quality. I have watched many shows that had way too many seasons. After a certain season or episode, it got really bad quality of writing. It just didn’t feel like the same show. While it is understandable to want to write more of your creation, to really expand this universe, it is so important not to overdo it. Everything has to end at some point. It is better to end leaving the audience wanting more than to have the audience wanting it to end. Overall, Stephen King gave great rules that get you thinking about writing.
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