How to improve my writing?
April 15, 2011 8:52 PM Subscribe
Do you know of a free website, or good book, that will help me write better?
I find that in written form (and orally) my thoughts/words sometimes confuse people. In fact, I confuse myself half the time. ;)
I enjoy communicating. And I enjoy writing. Yet, I know I need to improve.
It doesn't help that I never learned the basics of writing, ie I need help learning the basics of SENTENCE CREATION.
Suggestions for books or websites?
THANK YOU!
And yes, English is my first language.
I find that in written form (and orally) my thoughts/words sometimes confuse people. In fact, I confuse myself half the time. ;)
I enjoy communicating. And I enjoy writing. Yet, I know I need to improve.
It doesn't help that I never learned the basics of writing, ie I need help learning the basics of SENTENCE CREATION.
Suggestions for books or websites?
THANK YOU!
And yes, English is my first language.
I got really obsessed with this kind of thing (grammar?) when I started being interested in writing. But I ended up sort of achieving some limited success by doing what is always advised: just write. Oh...and read.
Seriously.
But you should also probably read On Writing by Stephen King.
Being your own harshest critic can help, but only after you've actually written something. That's in the book!
posted by sully75 at 9:39 PM on April 15, 2011
Seriously.
But you should also probably read On Writing by Stephen King.
Being your own harshest critic can help, but only after you've actually written something. That's in the book!
posted by sully75 at 9:39 PM on April 15, 2011
Response by poster: Thank you sully. I agree, I should also start READING.
Can you recommend ANY good writers you think you should read? I have an interest in autobiographies, but at this point, I think it may be important for me to read ANYTHING that is written well.
posted by learninguntilidie at 9:48 PM on April 15, 2011
Can you recommend ANY good writers you think you should read? I have an interest in autobiographies, but at this point, I think it may be important for me to read ANYTHING that is written well.
posted by learninguntilidie at 9:48 PM on April 15, 2011
Purdue University's Online Writing Lab is a pretty great free resource for academic writing. It has some really in-depth articles on things like mechanics, grammar, sentence clarity, etc. Reading tons will help more than anything, but if you're looking for basic rules and tips this is one of the best places on the web.
posted by Atalanta at 9:50 PM on April 15, 2011
posted by Atalanta at 9:50 PM on April 15, 2011
Stephen King's book "On Writing" is a great read, and an excellent place to start.
posted by ErikaB at 10:32 PM on April 15, 2011
posted by ErikaB at 10:32 PM on April 15, 2011
Seconding the Purdue site. Also, Peter Elbow's Writing with Power.
posted by mecran01 at 10:41 PM on April 15, 2011
posted by mecran01 at 10:41 PM on April 15, 2011
It's also worth looking at some coaching either by joining a course (check it's reputable, though!) or an individual.
posted by LyzzyBee at 1:01 AM on April 16, 2011
posted by LyzzyBee at 1:01 AM on April 16, 2011
On Writing Well by Howard Zinsser is excellent. Another book that you can probably find in a used bookstore for fifty cents is The Elements of Style, the Strunk & White versions. The second is a little more contentious among a number of people, but it's highly available, memorizable, and will improve your day-to-day writing.
I think King's book is excellent as well, but if you're asking for help on sentence construction, it's overkill.
Regarding authors to read and model, you can't go wrong with Hemingway as a guide in sentence construction. His writing is simple, clear, and purposeful.
As for practical advice on structuring what you want to say, try using an outliner, organizing your thoughts, and then fleshing out the text. It's one of my secret weapons in quickly creating policy documents that end up being implemented.
Good luck!
posted by reeses at 2:04 AM on April 16, 2011
I think King's book is excellent as well, but if you're asking for help on sentence construction, it's overkill.
Regarding authors to read and model, you can't go wrong with Hemingway as a guide in sentence construction. His writing is simple, clear, and purposeful.
As for practical advice on structuring what you want to say, try using an outliner, organizing your thoughts, and then fleshing out the text. It's one of my secret weapons in quickly creating policy documents that end up being implemented.
Good luck!
posted by reeses at 2:04 AM on April 16, 2011
Stephen King's book is good for fiction writing, and for the art of fiction, but it doesn't really go into the nuts and bolts of writing nice sentences. Stephen King, himself, is quite anti that kinda thing.
I heartily recommend The Little Red Writing Book by Mark Tredinnick. It is a little hard to find, but it is an outstanding book on sentence creation and effective communication.
posted by TheOtherGuy at 3:04 AM on April 16, 2011 [1 favorite]
I heartily recommend The Little Red Writing Book by Mark Tredinnick. It is a little hard to find, but it is an outstanding book on sentence creation and effective communication.
posted by TheOtherGuy at 3:04 AM on April 16, 2011 [1 favorite]
Taking you literally on the "sentence creation" bit...
Each chapter of Artful Sentences by Virginia Tufte–yes, that guy's wife–examines a particular structure or technique(noun phrases, dependent clauses, parallelism) and its sub-forms, with a crapload of quotes from literature interspersed with analysis on them. It's reasonably-priced in paperback. Even if you don't want to drop money on it, you might see if your library has a copy; it's neat to just flip through and see a sort of cross-section of how various writers did a certain thing. Tufte's site has a more detailed description than Amazon and a scan of one of the page spreads so you can see how it works. One nice thing is that there's no "introductory" material to wade through. You presumably already have a grasp of basic grammar; this book is more concerned with looking at and polishing technique, and goes straight into it.
posted by Su at 3:28 AM on April 16, 2011
Each chapter of Artful Sentences by Virginia Tufte–yes, that guy's wife–examines a particular structure or technique(noun phrases, dependent clauses, parallelism) and its sub-forms, with a crapload of quotes from literature interspersed with analysis on them. It's reasonably-priced in paperback. Even if you don't want to drop money on it, you might see if your library has a copy; it's neat to just flip through and see a sort of cross-section of how various writers did a certain thing. Tufte's site has a more detailed description than Amazon and a scan of one of the page spreads so you can see how it works. One nice thing is that there's no "introductory" material to wade through. You presumably already have a grasp of basic grammar; this book is more concerned with looking at and polishing technique, and goes straight into it.
posted by Su at 3:28 AM on April 16, 2011
Seconding Zinsser and E.B. White, and also suggesting Anne LaMott's "Bird by Bird"
I found the King a bit loose and baggy and self-indulgent, but fun to read.
posted by fivesavagepalms at 9:26 AM on April 16, 2011
I found the King a bit loose and baggy and self-indulgent, but fun to read.
posted by fivesavagepalms at 9:26 AM on April 16, 2011
I'd also recommend the Online Writing Lab (OWL) but I'd suggest that you begin with Lanham's Paramedic Method, which is also summarized on the site.
I use it when I teach writing, and it provides a step-by-step method of clarifying sentences for modern readers. I find that technical people (who comprise many of my classes) enjoy this prescriptive approach.
posted by answergrape at 9:43 AM on April 16, 2011
I use it when I teach writing, and it provides a step-by-step method of clarifying sentences for modern readers. I find that technical people (who comprise many of my classes) enjoy this prescriptive approach.
posted by answergrape at 9:43 AM on April 16, 2011
Lots of good advice in the blog, A Brain Scientist's Take on Writing.
posted by Corvid at 12:56 PM on April 16, 2011
posted by Corvid at 12:56 PM on April 16, 2011
Lots of good advice here. Also, reading what you've just written OUT LOUD will help, a lot. You'll feel silly doing it, but I promise that it will improve your writing.
posted by cyndigo at 3:56 PM on April 17, 2011
posted by cyndigo at 3:56 PM on April 17, 2011
I know writers who claim that style is contagious, and they therefore avoid obvious crap, however enjoyable, in favor of recognized good. At least while composing.
For you purposes then, contemporary writers of good clear non-selfindulgent prose include:
Joseph Epstein
Truman Capote
Michael Lewis
Orwell, of course.
Then there's this.
Do you have any other languages? One writer I know swears that reading French while composing focuses the writing of English.
that guy's wife
posted by IndigoJones at 4:12 PM on April 17, 2011
For you purposes then, contemporary writers of good clear non-selfindulgent prose include:
Joseph Epstein
Truman Capote
Michael Lewis
Orwell, of course.
Then there's this.
Do you have any other languages? One writer I know swears that reading French while composing focuses the writing of English.
that guy's wife
posted by IndigoJones at 4:12 PM on April 17, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by milkrate at 9:00 PM on April 15, 2011