Much of “On Writing” is a touching memoir that has given hope and encouragement to young and inexperienced writers, and King’s rules of writing seem to me to play to that young and inexperienced audience, as well as to the older writer who has been discouraged by rejections.

“On Writing,” offered by an uncommonly successful and popular writer, has advice that is both helpful and original. But as Lord Macaulay wrote in another context, what is helpful is not original, and what is original is not helpful. After enjoying “On Writing” for its emotional boost, I would move on to the more serious and detailed manuals that are available.

http://grammar.about.com/od/advicefromthepros/a/fpathesaurus.htm

“To a Thesaurus”
by Franklin P. Adams

“O precious codex, volume, tome,
Book, writing, compilation, work
Attend the while I pen a pome,
A jest, a jape, a quip, a quirk.

“For I would pen, engross, indite,
Transcribe, set forth, compose, address,
Record, submit–yea, even write
An ode, an elegy to bless–

“To bless, set store by, celebrate,
Approve, esteem, endow with soul,
Commend, acclaim, appreciate,
Immortalize, laud, praise, extol.

“Thy merit, goodness, value, worth,
Expedience, utility–
O manna, honey, salt of earth,
I sing, I chant, I worship thee!

“How could I manage, live, exist,
Obtain, produce, be real, prevail,
Be present in the flesh, subsist,
Have place, become, breathe or inhale,

“Without thy help, recruit, support,
Opitulation, furtherance,
Assistance, rescue, aid, resort,
Favor, sustention, and advance?

“Alas! Alack! and well-a-day!
My case would then be dour and sad,
Likewise distressing, dismal, gray,
Pathetic, mournful, dreary, bad.

* * *

“Though I could keep this up all day,
This lyric, elegiac, song,
Meseems hath come the time to say
Farewell! Adieu! Good-by! So long!”

Words need to fit; context and appropriateness; scale and scope; baggage and history.

There is no one size fits all – different writing tasks call for different styles and approaches.

There is the directness of Ernest Hemingway.

Then – as an alternative approach – there is the ever-rolling, half page sprawling edifices of sesquipedalian locquacious splendour, replete with clause upon ornamented sub-clause, flowered and bedecked with all the beautiful phrases and faceted byzantine conjunctions of Mervyn Peake’s towering works of fantastic allegorical fiction.

All in all, though, I agree with the central lessons – with the addition that “Whatever words you know right now, you use” needs to take into account that ‘right now’ is a moving target. If your vocabulary grows organically through reading broadly, it has a strong foundation – and does not grow in isolation.

If your vocabulary grows through reading a thesaurus, the foundation is shaky, and you’ll be found out.