The Writer's Diet

A Guide to Fit Prose

Helen Sword

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English

Chicago University Press
02 May 2016

Language: reference & general; Writing & editing guides

Series: Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing and Publishing

Do your sentences sag? Could your paragraphs use a pick-me-up? If so, The Writer's Diet is for you! It's a short, sharp introduction to great writing that will help you energize your prose and boost your verbal fitness.

Helen Sword dispenses with excessive explanations and overwrought analysis. Instead, she offers an easy-to-follow set of writing principles: use active verbs whenever possible; favor concrete language over vague abstractions; avoid long strings of prepositional phrases; employ adjectives and adverbs only when they contribute something new to the meaning of a sentence; and reduce your dependence on four pernicious waste words: it, this, that, and there.

Sword then shows the rules in action through examples from William Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, Martin Luther King Jr., John McPhee, A. S. Byatt, Richard Dawkins, Alison Gopnik, and many more. A writing fitness test encourages you to assess your own writing and get immediate advice on addressing problem areas. While The Writer's Diet is as sleek and concise as the writing ideals contained within, this slim volume packs a powerful punch.

With Sword's coaching writers of all levels can strengthen and tone their sentences with the stroke of a pen or the click of a mouse. As with any fitness routine, adhering to the rules requires energy and vigilance. The results, however, will speak for themselves.

By: Helen Sword
Imprint: Chicago University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 20mm, Width: 14mm, Spine: 1mm
Weight: 142g
ISBN: 9780226351988
ISBN 10: 022635198X
Series: Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing and Publishing
Publication Date: 02 May 2016
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Reviews for The Writer's Diet: A Guide to Fit Prose

Who says nutritious material must be bland? This short book is packed with excellent advice on writing, offered with charm and good cheer. --Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and author of The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person s Guide to Writing in the 21st Century