I stopped by Border's Books on the way home from work yesterday, and they had a book on the discount rack for $8 by the name of "On Writing Well" by William Zinsser. It's only about 300 pages long, and it's a somewhat small book. In my opinion (and I think you'll agree), it's a great primer for writers—specifically non-fiction writers (like me). It's well worth the $8. The author says it is intended to complement the book "The Elements of Style", a book that he holds in high esteem. I've just read the first two chapters, and I can tell you, this is a very practical book. The author has been around long enough to know what it takes to write well and how modern tools, like the computer, make it possible to spew out a lot of writing that is often too verbose, and therefore, not good writing. In the introduction of the book, he says "Nobody told all the computer writers that the essence of writing is rewriting. Just because they're writing fluently doesn't mean they're writing well." It's a good book to help us budding writers get into the right frame of mind. Put it on your bookshelf, right next to "The Elements of Style".
hear, hear!... and a big 'amen' to that!!... zinsser is a consummate master wordsmith and well worth paying attention to... that book, along with kilpatrick's 'the writer's art' are the only books about writing basics i'd ever recommend to wannabes... thanks for the reminder... i think i'll add them to my 'tools of the trade' list... probably shoulda done, from the get-go... grateful hugs, m
