This 18 page e-book contains what I can easily call the most important guidelines for anyone wanting to become a writer or copywriter. It is a compilation of my learning from the book called ‘On Writing’ by author Stephen King. I would suggest you buy King’s book. But till then, you can soak in the learning that I’ve had from reading the literary genius’s work.

1. Notes on Good Writing
Thoughts from ‘On Writing’ by Stephen King
Brought to you by:
Vishal Khandelwal
Founder & Copywriter
Copywriter In India | www.copywriterinindia.com
© Copywriter In India

2. Writing Is Magic…
Writing isn’t about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting
laid, or making friends. In the end, it’s about enriching the lives of those
who will read your work, and enriching your own life, as well.
Writing is magic, as much the water of life as any other creative art. The
water is free. So drink.
Drink and be filled up.
www.copywriterinindia.com | 2011

3. The Writer’s Toolbox
Tool #1 – Vocabulary
•The most common of all writing tools...the bread of writing
• Put vocabulary on the top shelf of your toolbox, and don’t make any
conscious effort to improve it.
• One of the really bad things you can do to your writing –
Dressing up the vocabulary…looking for long words
•The most basic rule of vocabulary – Use the first word that comes to
your mind, if it is appropriate and colourful…
Never use “emolument” when you can use “tip”
“It ain’t how much you’ve got, it’s how you use it.”
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4. The Writer’s Toolbox
Tool #2 – Grammar
• If you don’t know grammar, it’s too late!
• Bad grammar produces bad sentences.
• The most basic rule of vocabulary – Write with nouns and verbs, not
with adjectives and adverbs.
A sentence is, by definition, a group of words containing a subject
(noun) and a predicate (verb); these strings of words begin with a
capital letter, end with a period, and combine to make a complete
thought which starts in the writer’s head and then leaps to the
reader’s.
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5. Noun and Verb
Take any noun, put it with any verb, and you have a sentence.
• Rocks explode.
• Mountains float.
…these are perfect sentences.
Grammar is the pole you grab to get your thoughts up on their
feet and walking.
www.copywriterinindia.com | 2011

6. Verb
Verbs come in two types, active and passive.
1. With an active verb, the subject of the sentence is doing something.
“My first visit to the US will always be remembered by me.”
2. With a passive verb, something is being done to the subject of the
sentence.
“I shall always remember my first visit to the US.”
Avoid the passive verb/tense/voice. Use the active voice – More direct and
vigorous than the passive.
An active voice makes the sentence shorter, and stronger.
Remember – “Brevity is the by-product of vigour.”
www.copywriterinindia.com | 2011

7. Adverb
Adverbs are words that modify verbs. They’re the ones that usually end in
‘-ly’. As in…
• Firmly
• Totally
• Completely
Like with the passive voice through which the writer usually expresses fear
of not being taken seriously, with adverb, the writer usually tells us he
or she is afraid he/she isn’t expressing himself/herself clearly.
“Firmly”, an adverb, is an extra word in – “He closed the door firmly.”
The adverb is not your friend.
www.copywriterinindia.com | 2011

8. The Writer’s Toolbox (Contd.)
Lift out the top layer of your toolbox – your vocabulary and all the grammar
stuff.
On the layer beneath is….
‘The Elements of Style’ – by Strunk & White
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9. The Writer’s Toolbox (Contd.)
Vocabulary
+
Grammar
+
Elements of Style
www.copywriterinindia.com | 2011

10. If you want to be a good writer…
…you must do three things above all others –
1. Read a lot
2. Think a lot
3. Write a lot
There’s no way around these three things, no shortcut. Remember, the
scariest moment is always just before you start. After that, things can
only get better.
“Most men would rather die then think. Many do.”
– Bertrand Russell
www.copywriterinindia.com | 2011

11. Read
We read to…
1. Experience the mediocre and the outstanding rotten. Such experience
helps us to recognize those things when they begin to creep up in our
own work, and to steer clear of them.
2. Measure ourselves against the good and the great, to get a sense of all
that can be done. And we read in order to experience different styles.
Being swept away by a combination of great story and great writing is part of
every writer’s necessary formation. You cannot hope to sweep someone
else away by the force of your writing until it has been done to you.
If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to
write.
www.copywriterinindia.com | 2011

12. Read (Contd.)
The real importance of reading is that it creates an ease and intimacy with
the process of writing.
Constant reading will pull you into a place where you can write eagerly and
without self-consciousness. It also offers you a constantly growing
knowledge of…
• What has been done and what hasn’t
• What is trite and what is fresh
• What works and what just lies there dying (or dead) on the page
The more you read, the less apt you are to make a fool of yourself with
your pen or word processor.
www.copywriterinindia.com | 2011

13. Writing…is like sleeping
In both writing and sleeping, we learn to be physically still at the same time
we are encouraging our minds to unlock from the humdrum rational
thinking of our daytime lives. And as your body grow accustomed to a
certain amount of sleep each night, so can you train your waking mind
to sleep creatively and work out the vividly imagined waking thoughts
into successful writing.
www.copywriterinindia.com | 2011

14. Good Writing = Good Description
Good writing is good description, which begins with visualization of what it
is you want the reader to experience. It ends with your translating what
you see in your mind into words on the page.
If you want to be a good writer, you must be able to able to describe it, and
in a way that will cause your reader to prickle with recognition.
The key to good description begins with clear seeing and ends with clear
writing.
Description begins in the writer’s imagination,
but should finish in the reader’s.
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15. “You must not come lightly to the blank page.”
– Stephen King
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16. Happy Writing!
If you believe reading this e-book and the learning contained
in it have been worth your time and energy, kindly forward this
to your friends and colleagues who might also benefit from it.
You can share your feedback and comments on this e-book by
writing to me at: vishal@copywriterinindia.com
www.copywriterinindia.com | 2011

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18. About ‘Copywriter In India’
Copywriter In India is a web copywriting company, with expertise in:
1. Direct Response Copywriting
2. Content Writing
3. Copywriting & Writing Coaching
In short, if you want…
1. Effective communication with your prospective and existing clients
2. Best quality content for your website or newsletter
3. Better writers
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