Good Writing
36 Ways to Improve Your Sentences
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3.7 • 3 Ratings
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
36 ways to improve your writing
Two writers show you how to turn a worthy sentence into a memorable one. Starting where The Elements of Style leaves off, Good Writing can improve your book, your essay, your memo, your blog post, speech, or script. These essential rules for persuasive language work on any type of writing, and anyone can learn them quickly.
Each rule is accompanied by examples and a lively pair of essays, the first by Neal Allen, who developed the list of tips over the course of his journalism and corporate careers; the second by his wife, Anne Lamott, acclaimed author of Bird by Bird and nineteen other nonfiction works and novels. The authors don’t always agree on the specifics, but they are passionate about making better sentences.
As Neal writes, “These rules economize, favor the plainspoken and the specific, keep the reader’s attention sharp, and in other ways show respect for the audience’s time and desire for novelty.”
Some rules are fundamental: Use strong verbs. Remove the boring stuff. Twist clichés. Some are more subtle: Draw on all five senses. Give your sentence a finale. Along the way, Good Writing addresses practicalities such as finishing projects despite challenges, trusting editors, and knowing when to break the rules to serve your story.
Whether you're a novice writer or a seasoned author, this entertaining guide will revolutionize your approach to crafting sentences.
Customer Reviews
Great book!
Highly recommended for all writer, experienced and inexperienced.
Nothing new
It feels like the author is trying to reinvent the wheel by calling the wheel something else.
It starts well with the suggestion to use stronger verbs, following that up with the second suggestion which is exactly the same followed by the third suggestion which is… exactly the same, except then they’ve finally gotten to the point: use an active voice, except when it makes more sense to use a passive voice. This advice can be found almost anywhere else on the internet for free.
It skims the surface of dialogue by suggesting to use “said” and follows that up with four rules that all tell you to use simple language.
A couple of the rules are about sentence variation, but they broke it up to stretch the rules out, I think.
Rule 27 is essentially “Save the Cat.”
The writer meanders as well without providing much clarity. They eventually say to worship your editor, though, if I were the editor here I’d have told them to stay on point.
The follow up provided by Lamott for every single rule is annoying. She’s got some decent advice but she spends the entire book roasting her husband. Maybe it’s their strange fetish.
Not as fun or useful as I hoped it would be. Save yourself the time.