The Book on Writing: The Ultimate Guide to Writing Well

Great information about writing to improve your creativity

This author has impeccable credentials, having worked in journalism all her professional life. She has been a newspaper editor, corporate seminar leader (in writing and communication), college professor, and author of many books. She puts a lifetime of writing, editing, and the teaching of writing into this book. No wonder it is so good.She divides it into three parts:Part I - a dozen guidelines in 80 pages: Keep sentences short, and keep to one main idea per sentence; avoid pretensions, gobbledygook, and euphemisms; change long and difficult words to short and simple words; be wary of jargon, fad, and cliche; use the right word; avoid beginning with long dependent phrases; prefer active verbs and the active voice; cut wordiness; avoid vague qualifiers; prune prepositions; limit number and symbol; get right to the point. And stay there.Part II - Chapters 13 - 22, 10 points in 80 pages: This part is the meat, is the hardest to achieve, and is about telling your story. She fills it with examples from famous and not-so-famous authors, good writing and bad: LaRocque: Creative writers can strengthen their work with allusions or quotations without explaining or attributing them. This is especially true of quotations, if they're well known. Sometimes both writer and characters can have fun with allusions or quotations, or otherwise find them useful in clarifying the action. In Ruth Rendel's "Shake Hands Forever," her sleuth Inspector Wexford says on the phone to one of his investigators: "Howard, you are my only ally." Howard responds: "Well, you know what Chesterton said about that. I'll be at that bus stop from five-thirty onwards tonight and then we'll see." Wexford put on his dressing gown and went downstairs to find what Chesterton had said. "There are no word to express the abyss between isolation and having one ally. It may be conceded to the mathematicians that four is twice two. But two is not twice one; two is two thousand times one...." He felt considerably cheered. Maybe he had no force of men at his disposal but he had Howard, the resolute, the infinitely reliable, the invincible, and together they were two thousand. Pertinent as Chesterfield's words are to Wexford's situation, it would be awkward for Rendel herself to use them. By giving the allusion to a character instead, she maintains her invisibility as a narrator while telling the reader something about the characters, their interests, and relationships as well. The allusion, and Wexford's reaction, also help the reader understand Wexford's state of mind.Part III - Language and writing mechanics in 35 pages. Dispelling the myths, the middle chapter of three, tells you that: You can and should split infinitives or verb phrases when the results flow better; you can end a sentence with a preposition if it is not clumsy; starting sentences with "and" or "but" is frequently attractive; you can use contractions in formal writing when the result sounds better; you should retain the serial comma in all cases; you shouldn't hesitate to use "that" when it makes the sentence more clear; finally, you should use the article "a" rather than "an" before "historic" because it sounds better. LaRocque suggests there is literary and grammatical agreement amongst the authorities and graciously names about 10 competing books that any professional would recognize. That must mean that when looking for the right book - they're all going to give you the same advice - you should choose one readable enough and comprehensive enough to suit your taste. This is definitely one to consider - a top notch choice.

It's risky to critique a book about how to improve your writing. Everybody will be watching. Best to say it's great and quickly move on to other work. But if you're paying attention, this book will definitely improve your writing.The book is divided into three parts. The first is devoted to making sentences more powerful and descriptive. The second demonstrates ways to do the same to narrative prose. The third, after a brief quiz (perhaps to see if you've been paying attention), refutes some questionable rules and ends with a "style guide", an alphabetical list of certain best practices, and of points likely to cause confusion to some writers.Ms. LaRocque has so many quotations from so many sources it makes me wonder if she can ever just relax and read for pleasure--or is she always ready to note and quote some useful example of either good or bad writing. Nevertheless, her examples are well-chosen and make the book entertaining as well as useful. I wish I had discovered this book my senior year in high school and carefully integrated one chapter a month intro my writing skills every month thereafter. The lessons are well presented and one could easily re-read this book from time to time without being bored. Most likely it will remind you of something you had forgotten and your writing will be the better for it.Alas, she did not address the issue of the apostrophe s ('s) after nouns and names ending in s. A small omission, and something to make the next edition even better.

This book is a gem. Originally published in 2003, I didn't run into anything outdated.It's an excellent resource for learning to write well and for unlearning common grammar myths. I work in both fiction and nonfiction and I would highly recommend it to all writers, no matter what your genre is. Even for people who aren't writers, but have to write as part of their jobs.The chapters cover many topics: sentence structure, use of metaphors, clarity in writing, trusting your readers, and sections on mechanics (i.e. grammar quiz with explanations, a style guide). Truly an invaluable resource, but also written in a style that is both engaging and direct.I couldn't possibly remember all the mechanics that I was embarrassed to be ignorant of. (It's okay, by the way, to end sentences with prepositions and to use adverbs when needed. Isn't that liberating?) But I know where to look for them when I get jammed up.I had many of those WHAT?! moments, for example:--Did you know "decimate" means to destroy a fraction (1/10), rather than to destroy? Apparently, once upon a time when there were uprisings and such, punishment was some times doled out against 1 person in every 10.--The word is "minuscule" not "miniscule"? (I don't think I've ever written it, but I have definitely pronounced it incorrectly. Many times.)(Oh, also, you should really never use parentheses. I'm looking for a support group, no worries.)--The phrase is "spit and image" not "spitting image." Again, not one I've used, but I'm fascinated.Buy this book. Keep it handy.

LaRocque's book is generally fine, but the text is riddled with odd little errors and strange peeves. For example, there's a grammar quiz in the book, and LaRocque corrects "You've been here longer than me" to "You've been here longer than I." Well, I'm a native English speaker, and I've never seen anyone write such a thing in the last sixty years, and I've only heard it spoken once. I've been an editor for fifteen years, and I'd lose my job if I tried making such "corrections" to idiomatic English.A much more extensive book is  Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace  (various editions), so maybe that's the ultimate guide to writing well. I'd recommend it over LaRocque's book. Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace

This has definitely improved my writing. IF only I could remember everything I read.

Really enjoyed this book, lots of helpful tips to improve your style and skills. A definite purchase for anyone interested in writing.

I have studied several instructional texts on writing. This book is the best, thus far: very organized and imformative.

Es un libro muy interesante, por que la autora da muchos ejemplos. De esa forma puedes ver por ti mismo, textos mal escritos, junto con textos bien redactados.Es un libro que debes de leer más de una vez, para no olvidar todos los tips y recomendaciones que encuentras en cada uno de los capitulos del libro.