Reading the first 150 pages of Stephen King's "On Writing," part of it was about his childhood, and the last 50 pages were about his style of writing. A few of the things i picked up when he was talking about his style of writing were vocabulary, adverbs, and writing in active verbs.
The biggest thing i learned from the reading has been with the vocabulary. "Using the first word that comes to mind if it is appropriate and colorful." Too many times when i write i tend to try and find big words to use instead of using the word that first comes to my mind. King says "there's always another word-but it probably won't be as good as your first one, or as close to what you really mean."
"The Adverb is not your friend." That statement by King, is another of the key tools that i am putting in my toolbox now. "Words that end in "ly" seem to have been created with the timid writer in mind," said King. I have not thought of my writing to be "timid" but i tend to use adverbs more that i probably should.
The other tool that i am putting in my toolbox now, is to make sure that when ever possible, i am using an active verb instead of a passive verb. King uses "i don't believe that, With a hammer he killed Frank, will ever replace He killed Frank with a hammer." Using strong active verb really helps the reader paint the picture of what happened.
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