|
|
Home-
The following information and reviews are from Amazon.com sources.
Successful Nonfiction: Tips and Inspiration for Getting
Published,
by Dan Poynter
"Successful Nonfiction" is a collection of pointers and
affirmations for those nonfiction writers who view their
books as "products" and their readers as "customers."
Self-publishing guru Dan Poynter weaves together real-life
publishing anecdotes, quotations from writers, and
information from his own research and vast experience to
comment on everything from combating procrastination to
knowing when to call in a ghostwriter. He can tell you where
to place your photograph (not on the cover, please), how
much to invest in illustration, and when it makes sense to
collaborate ("do not collaborate," he warns, "with someone
you would not go camping with"). He explains why autograph
parties are bad and bad reviews are good. Poynter's pagelong
tidbits are short but pithy. If you want to write nonfiction
but are unfamiliar with the publishing business, this is a
good place to start. You'll learn to recognize when it's
time to turn to a book doctor, why proofreading is not to be
skimped on, and that, sometimes, self-publishing is the
preferred path ("since it takes most publishers 18 months to
turn a manuscript into a book, chances are high you will be
first if you publish yourself"). And, just in case you were
debating whether to write a novel or a how-to, remember:
"Fiction writers tend to be creative, interesting people who
are fun at parties. But nonfiction writers drive better
cars."
The Insider's Guide to Getting an Agent,
by Lori Perkins
Very little of "The Insider's Guide to Getting an Agent" is
devoted to getting an agent. A more apt title would have
been "Your Agent: A User's Manual." It's common knowledge
that, as author Lori Perkins states here, "The essential
task of agenting is matchmaking between editors and
authors." We know as well that agents spend all day on the
phone (minus two hours for lunch) and all evening poring
over proposals and manuscripts. But there are questions
about agentdom that beg to be answered: Is an agent a
salesperson, editor, legal advisor, or all of the above?
What goes on during those mysterious agent-editor lunches?
How can you help your agent help you? And what exactly are
all those rights and options that your agent is busy
negotiating for you? Perkins uses her 15 years of experience
as a literary agent to answer these and other ponderables.
At bottom, though, an agent, she quotes author Robert
Weinberg here as saying, should be like "a good Jewish
mother.... Pushy, annoying, constantly questioning, and
wanting the very best for you." And a writer, Perkins
reminds us, should let her writing do the talking. "While I
remember getting a query with a blood-dripping plastic axe,"
she cautions, "I don't remember the book." Finally, in case
you think all those New York agents are just a bunch of
heartless dealmakers, guess again. "There is no bigger
accomplishment," says Perkins, "than seeing one of the books
that I have sold in a bookstore or in the hands of someone
reading it on the subway."
"Depraved English"
by Peter Novobatzky and Ammon Shea
My husband--I am not pleased to say--and a college friend
used to get a lot of mileage out of the fact that they were
the only two people on earth who seemed to know the meaning
of the word "callipygian" ("having nicely shaped buttocks").
If only "Depraved English" had been available to them then,
they would have had a whole lexicon for their agastopia
("the admiration of a part of someone's body"). But this
book isn't just for those who are pygophilous-er, "fond of
buttocks." It's the best source out there when you're
looking for that special word to describe the involuntary
blurting of animal noises (aboiement) or the spit-out juice
from chewing tobacco (ambeer). It's also invaluable when
you're looking for that perfect term to describe someone who
has deep cleavage (bathycolpian), is prone to farting
(bdolotic), or has runaway armpit perspiration
(maschalephidrosis). Just don't let it fall into the hands
of some gambrinous ("full of beer"), college-age gynopipers
(they who "stare lewdly at women").
Stein on Writing,
by Sol Stein
"The best reading experiences," says Sol Stein, "defy
interruption." With Stein's assistance, you can grab your
reader on page 1 and not let go until "The End."
Stein--author of nine novels (including the bestselling "The
Magician") and editor to James Baldwin, W.H. Auden, and
Lionel Trilling--offers "usable solutions" for any writing
problem you may encounter. He is authoritative and
commanding--neither cheerleader nor naysayer. Instead, he
rails against mediocrity and demands that you expunge it
from your work. Perhaps the concept of scrutinizing every
modifier, every metaphor, every character trait sounds like
drudgery. But with Stein's lively guidance, it is a
pleasure. Stein recommends that you brew conflict in your
prose by giving your characters different "scripts." He
challenges you, in an exercise concerning voice, to write
the sentence you want the world to remember you by. He uses
an excerpt from E.L. Doctorow to demonstrate poorly written
monologue and a series of Taster's Choice commercials as an
example of dialogue that works. Stein's bottom line is that
good writing must be suspenseful. Your job, says Stein, "is
to give readers stress, strain, and pressure. The fact is
that readers who hate those things in life love them in
fiction."
Word Court: Wherein Verbal Virtue Is Rewarded, Crimes
Against the Language Are Punished, and Poetic Justice Is Done,
by Barbara Wallraff
Do you find the errors on a menu before the waiter has a
chance to recite the specials? Is "Your call will be
answered in the order in which it was received" as grating
to you as fingernails on a blackboard? Would you cringe if
an advertisement for your child's school promised a "low
teacher-to-student ratio"? If so, Barbara Wallraff's "Word
Court" is a book without which you cannot live. For
seasoned wordsmiths, books about language can entertain; on
occasion they may also enlighten. But rare is the book such
as this that can teach an old pro so many new tricks, and in
such a delightful manner. If you are a reader of Wallraff's
"Word Court" column for The Atlantic Monthly, you will have
already seen much of what is included here. If not, caveat
lector: Though there is an index, this book is arranged in
such a way that one may well find oneself reading the
proverbial "one more page" long into the night.
"What I know about language," says Wallraff, "derives chiefly from my having edited, line by line and word by word, other people's writing over the past two decades." In "Word Court," Wallraff addresses changes in the language, questions of grammar, issues concerning specific words and phrases, and a bunch of other, uncategorizable linguistic concerns. She recommends rewriting in order to avoid problems ("recast, recast"), treading carefully when you don't want controversial word use to obscure your point, and forgiving significant others "for any lapse of grammar committed in a bathrobe, before the coffee is ready." This book is delicious. And I'll bet your first-edition Fowler that Wallraff even introduces a few issues you may never have considered (perhaps the exceptional "which," "picnic's grandmother" constructions, or those rare instances in which a sentence's two grammatically independent clauses should not--I repeat, not--be separated by a comma).
Writing to Win: The Legal Writer,
by Steven D. Stark
In the case of "Steven D. Stark v. members of the American
Bar Association," we'd all come out winners, if Stark
prevailed. For 12 years Stark taught legal writing to
Harvard Law School students; now, he's out to teach the rest
of us. "You don't need a literary critic," says Stark, "to
know how badly most lawyers write." He offers as evidence
most briefs, memos, and law review articles. Using legal
jargon helps lawyers confuse the court, which in some cases
is the best defense they've got, and it also helps convince
impressed clients that exorbitant fees are well earned.
But Stark argues that good legal writing should pass what he calls the McDonald's test. "If you were to read the document you're drafting aloud in McDonald's," Stark asks, "would people understand what you're saying?" He also insists that, like fiction writers and journalists, lawyers need to be good storytellers. "On one level," he says, "a lawsuit is simply a clash of competing stories. If you tell your story better than the lawyer for the other side ... you will have a far better chance of prevailing." "Writing to Win" is an excellent resource for guidance on organization and research, litigation writing, oral argument, and even writing memos and letters. Stark illustrates his lessons with examples written by lawyers--whereas most law schools rely more heavily on the writing of judges. Among his many salient points are his recommendations that you should lead with your conclusions ("legal arguments or explanations," he says, "should not be like an O. Henry short story") and that you should deal with the arguments against your case. The latter is not only best heard from you rather than from your adversary, but it "actually enhances your credibility."
The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide to Staying Out of
the Rejection Pile
by Noah Lukeman
The difference between "The First Five Pages" and most books
on writing is that the others are written by teachers and
writers. This one comes from a literary agent--one whose
clients include Pulitzer Prize nominees, New York Times
bestselling authors, Pushcart Prize recipients, and American
Book Award winners. Noah Lukeman is not trying to impart
the finer points of writing well. He wants to teach you "how
to identify and avoid bad writing," so that your manuscript
doesn't come boomeranging back to you in that self-addressed,
stamped envelope. Surprise: Agents and editors don't read
manuscripts for fun; they are looking for reasons to reject
them. Lukeman has arranged his book "in the order of what I
look for when trying to dismiss a manuscript," starting with
presentation and concluding with pacing and progression.
Each chapter addresses a pitfall of poor writing--overabundance
of adjectives and adverbs, tedious or unrealistic dialogue,
and lack of subtlety to name just a few--by identifying the
problem, presenting solutions, giving examples (one wishes
these weren't quite so obvious), and offering writing
exercises. It's a little bizarre to think about approaching
your work as would an agent, but if you are serious about
getting published, you may as well get used to it. Plus,
Lukeman has plenty of solid advice worth listening
to. Particularly fine are his exercises for removing and
spicing up modifiers and his remedies for all kinds of
faulty dialogue.
Living the Writer's Life: A Complete Self-Help Guide,
by Eric Maisel
Repeated rejection. Writer's block. Isolation. Alcoholism.
Day jobs. Criticism. Low self-esteem. Narcissism. Addictions.
Writing poorly. Poverty. Arrogance. Depression. A writer's
life tends to invite all of the above, and more. In "Living
the Writer's Life," therapist and writer Eric Maisel, who
specializes in counseling writers, sets out to "help you
handle the many obstacles and challenges that come with the
writing life." Books about writing commonly broach these
types of issues as inevitabilities that writers must learn
to deal with. Maisel's book shows you how. Through the use
of role playing, personal anecdotes (one contributor writes
about the value of earning an M.F.A. later in life),
multiple-choice questions, quizzes, topical comments from
renowned writers, and other models, Maisel encourages his
readers to avoid the pitfalls of the writer's life. This is
a serious workbook that can be used by writers (and other
creative types, with little adjustments here and there)
individually, in pairs, or in groups.
Fooling with Words: A Celebration of Poets and Their Craft,
by Bill Moyers
The biennial Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival in Waterloo,
New Jersey, has been called the Woodstock of poetry. Taking
place over the course of several (often hot and sticky)
summer days, the festival comprises readings and workshops
and performances. Audiences under the big top can reach a
couple thousand. It is stunning to see so many lovers of
poetry gathered in one place.
For "Fooling with Words", Moyers interviews 11 of the poets on the festival's 1998 roster. "Talking to poets about their lives," he says, "makes their poetry more accessible to me." And what a variety of poets and lives he has come up with! The youngest is New Yorker senior editor Deborah Garrison ("A Working Girl Can't Win"), then 32; the eldest, Stanley Kunitz, 93 years old and wearing a lime-green jacket. In between are Coleman Barks, Robert Pinsky, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Paul Muldoon, Marge Piercy, Mark Doty, Jane Hirshfield, Kurtis Lamkin, and Shirley Geok-Lin Lim. These conversations are dotted with poems. "I like to know about the experiences that produced the poet," says Moyers, and the intermingling of conversation and poetry is a wonderful, casual way to be introduced to a poet's sensibility. Doty discusses the pain of "writing about the hardest things in the world." Hirshfield talks about her Zen practice and the notion that ideas "can graze inside us like animals who reshape the landscape with their grazing." Throughout, there is the sense of lives that would not be bearable without poetry. "Poetry is what has saved me," says one poet here; "You never know when your poem will come to someone's rescue," chimes another.
100 Things Every Writer Needs to Know,
by Scott Edelstein
Veteran writing-book author Scott Edelstein's "100 Things
Every Writer Needs to Know" is geared decidedly toward the
novice. Should I quit my day job? Pay someone to represent
me? Employ a vanity press? Anyone who's been around the
writer's block knows the answers to these questions (no, no,
and no), but this book is a great place for a rookie to pick
up a lot of knowledge without too much hard work. More
experienced writers will also appreciate Edelstein's
authoritative and reassuring words, and may pick up a few
hints, as well. Edelstein has great advice on determining
whether a writing workshop will be worthwhile, as well as
some clever recommendations for wriggling one's way into a
writing job and a list of 10 foolproof methods for making at
least $50,000 a year as a writer (for instance, "Write a
Broadway show that runs a long time"). He warns against
relying on the Writer's Market books too heavily, as they
list only "35-40 percent" of the markets available; gives
the go-ahead on multiple submissions; and--unless you're
seeking representation--advises against sending query
letters. "Ninety percent of the time," he says, "you'll get
a reading," regardless of whether a publication claims not
to consider unsolicited manuscripts. Oh, and in case you
don't know better, "bribery, toadying, and sucking up not
only are smarmy, but almost never work."
Like Shaking Hands with God: A Conversation About Writing,
by Kurt Vonnegut & Lee Stringer
Kurt Vonnegut ("Breakfast of Champions"): writer of wild,
satiric, outrageous fiction. Lee Stringer ("Grand Central
Winter"): one-time homeless crack addict who discovered that
pencils are not just drug implements. Kurt Vonnegut and Lee
Stringer: a mutual admiration society. "Like Shaking Hands
with God": a transcription of two moderated conversations
between Vonnegut and Stringer--one before a bookstore
audience, one over lunch.
"Shaking Hands" has a slender profile and a pretty cover. But the only thing slight about these conversations is that they leave the reader wanting more. The book is billed as "a conversation about writing," but it is as much about life as about writing. Neither Vonnegut nor Stringer is interested in holing up in a garret to write. Vonnegut makes any excuse to go out and rub elbows with the folks who buy lottery tickets. Stringer wonders, "Can you write anything on Park Avenue, really?" Vonnegut laments his happy childhood as "no way for a writer to begin." Stringer panics--while he wrote his first book as if on a high, the next one may emerge from an awareness of Oprah and marketability.
Vonnegut and Stringer are passionate about one another's work, passionate about life, and passionate about writing. But not so much so that they ever, for a moment, lose their sense of irony or humor. In the age of the sound bite, literature can be deemed, on some level, useless. Stringer praises writing, in that context, as "a struggle to preserve our right to be not so practical." And Vonnegut? "We are here on Earth to fart around," he proclaims in "Timequake." "Don't let anybody tell you any different!"
Escaping into the Open: The Art of Writing True,
by Elizabeth Berg
Elizabeth Berg ("Talk Before Sleep") is a can-do kid. Forget
the common wisdom--that writing is difficult and getting
published nearly impossible without contacts or an
agent. "What you need most," she says, "is a fierce desire
to put things down on paper." And if a gentle nudge will
help you on your way, well, Berg wishes to provide just
that, cheerfully, with "Escaping into the Open." For Berg,
writing--and success--comes easily. In fact, she says, "What
I like doing best is writing.... I feel like a drug addict
with an exceptionally wise drug of choice."
It is refreshing to come across a book so positive and friendly--even if a there is a little too much emphasis on the author's own experience (did she really have to include a five-page essay by an envious friend and three pages of topics about which she herself has successfully written?). Still, how could one not appreciate a writing guide that espouses napping, eating chocolate-covered cherries, and standing by your "man(uscript)," and that likens passionate, risky writing--the only kind that's worth anything--to great sex? Berg encourages her reader to look (and listen and feel) deeply, to learn from children, and not to let life interfere with writing any more than it has to. She addresses--sometimes with help from her friends--writing classes, writing groups, and the writing life. In a chapter called "If you're a man, be a woman," she offers up 30 pages of writing exercises. Berg is personable, whimsical, amazed by her good fortune, and direct. "There's only one person who can stop you," she says gravely at book's end, "and we both know who that is."
Your Novel Proposal: From Creation to Contract: The
Complete Guide to Writing Query Letters, Synopses
and Proposals for Agents and Editors,
by Blythe Camenson and Marshall J. Cook
And you thought writing your novel was difficult! Now you
have to wade your way through query letters, synopses,
outlines, agents, cover letters, proposals, and, with any
luck, editors and publishers. There is an etiquette to
gaining representation for your novel, and you'd be a fool
not to follow it after all the hard work you've put
in. Stellar agents are not exactly twiddling their thumbs
waiting for the phone to ring or the mail to bring in the
next batch of writers' queries; one wrong sentence or
mistimed phone call (but you wouldn't really wake a sleeping
agent, would you?) can foil your chances completely.
Blythe Camenson and Marshall J. Cook, authors and teachers
both, have enlisted published writers (Elmore Leonard, Dick
Francis, Stephen King), agents, and editors to help them
teach us everything there is to know about turning that
manuscript into a published novel. "Getting your novel
published," they warn, "will take the same sort of creative
problem solving, the same determination and persistence, the
same refusal to quit that you brought to writing the book."
True. Except this time, you have their help. What
qualifications should you include in your query letter? How
do you portray a whole novel in a one-page synopsis? How
long should you expect to wait for a response? Camenson and
Cook cover it all. The keyword to success here is
"professionalism," and, if you follow the advice put forth
in this book, you'll learn how to be a professional in this
business, from the very first query to the "firing the agent
who isn't working out" missive.
--Jane Steinberg was a longtime editor at Seattle Weekly and a stringer for Glamour magazine. She now writes from her home in New Jersey.
Words and Rules : The Ingredients of Language
Pinker's enthusiasm for the subject infects the reader, particularly as he emphasizes the relation between how we communicate and how we think. What does it mean that a small child who has never heard the word wug can tell a researcher that when one wug meets another, there are two wugs? Some r!
ule must be telling the child that English plurals end in -s, which also explains mistakes like mouses. Is our communication linked inextricably with our thinking? Pinker says yes, and it's hard to disagree. Words and Rules is an excellent introduction to and overview of current thinking about language, and will greatly reward the careful reader with new ways of thinking about how we think, talk, and write.
--Rob Lightner
Hardcover, Published by Perseus Books
List Price: $26.00 ~ Amazon.Com Price: $18.20 ~ You Save: $7.80 (30%)
Delicious Imaginations: Conversations with Contemporary Writers,
edited by Sarah Griffiths and Kevin J. Kehrwald
"As Samuel Johnson observed," writes Henry Hughes in his
introduction to "Delicious Imaginations," "questioning is
not the most polite mode of conversation. But hot answers
make it worth the risk." Graduate students, typically
interested neither in the cult of celebrity nor in the
posturing of success, seem uniquely qualified to get hot
answers from their subjects. These 15 "conversations"--
between grad students and such contemporary writers as
Gerald Stern, Catherine Bowman, Rick Bass, and Russell
Banks--were culled from the first 10 years of Purdue
University's Sycamore Review. All kinds of fascinating
literary byways are explored here, but perhaps the hottest
answers involve the role of M.F.A. programs, and academia in
general, in the lives of contemporary writers. Michael
Martone laments the fact that writing programs do not
address "the consequences of their existence." Larry Brown
claims that "the only thing an M.F.A. will give you is the
ability to go out and teach creative writing." Denise
Levertov calls M.F.A. programs "disastrous. They've taken
people far from the concept of poetry as a vocation and
turned it so much into poetry as a career." And Charles
Simic advises young poets to "keep away from the Academy as
much as you can."
Spread the Word,
by William Safire
William Safire's "On Language" column, 20 years old with the
publication of this collection, is one of Sunday morning's
great pleasures: Where else can one turn for a timely
linguistic assessment of a president's inaugural speech, a
corporation's annual report, or the use of terms such as
"stud muffin" and "horny"? A still greater pleasure is
reading Safire's language columns in book form, where they
are accompanied by letters from tireless members of the
Nitpickers' League, the Gotcha! Gang, the Squad Squad, the
Board of Octogenarian Mentors, and others. The columns may
be Safire's, but the letters--from Jacques Barzun, Alistair
Cooke, William A. Sabin, even Arthur Schlesinger Jr. and
Benazir Bhutto--are allowed the final word. And imperfect
wordsmiths everywhere may be relieved to know that even
William Safire can make a mistake. "Sometimes," he writes
in his introduction to "Spread the Word," "a kindly copy
editor will call to say, 'Are you deliberately trying to
slip this egregious error into the paper?'"
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Allusions,
by Elizabeth Webber and Mike Feinsilber
New Yorker founding editor Harold Ross, according to this
book's preface, is said to have asked writer James Thurber
once, with bewilderment, "Is Moby Dick the man or the whale?"
Well, even Homer nods (Horace). But, Harold! Thou shouldst
be living at this hour (Wordsworth). "Merriam-Webster's
Dictionary of Allusions" is a Big Rock Candy Mountain
(American folk song) for anyone who feels amid the alien
corn (Keats) when it comes to understanding allusions
everyone else seems to grok (Heinlein). Thanks to the blood,
sweat, and tears (Churchill) of authors Elizabeth Webber and
Mike Feinsilber--compiling this allusional Rosetta stone
must have taken a Herculean, nay Brobdingnagian (Swift),
effort--we can come in from the cold (popularized by le
Carre) of the dark night of the soul (St. John of the Cross)
and dine out on (G. Gordon Liddy and others) these allusions
for years to come.
The Eleventh Draft,
edited by Frank Conroy
For "The Eleventh Draft," Frank Conroy solicited essays
about writing from 23 fiction writers--all of them one-time
Iowa Writers' Workshop students or faculty members. "My
instructions to them," says Conroy, "were deliberately
vague.... Leaving it open seemed to me to heighten the
chances of getting the strongest and least predictable
work." Conroy guessed right. Beyond the shared sentiment
that writing is hard work, there is, blessedly, no common
thread here. For T. Coraghessan Boyle, writing is an
addiction as powerful as "putting a bottle to your lips or a
spike in your arm." James Hynes claims that writing takes
such a toll that "just writing this essay is probably as bad
for me as a pack of cigarettes." And Barry Hannah describes
writers as "not always the most vital people in the room,
but often nearer ghouls sniffing at the trough of other
living blood."
2000 Writer's Market,
edited by Kirsten C. Holm
There's a reason the annual "Writer's Market" is many a
writer's most cherished, and dog-eared, possession. Where
else--besides the prohibitively expensive "Literary Market
Place"--can one find detailed listings for over 1,750
magazines, 1,150 book publishers, and 250 script buyers?
Just for kicks, let's throw in 70 pages worth of contests
and awards; 60 literary agents (and 20 script agents) who
swear they're willing to work with new writers; 35 newspaper
syndicates; and 35 greeting-card companies. With so many
prospective markets gathered between two covers, you're
certain, it seems, to find a loving home for your precious
prose or poesy.
Ernest Hemingway on Writing,
edited by Larry W. Phillips
"Throughout Ernest Hemingway's career as a writer," says
Larry W. Phillips in his introduction to "Ernest Hemingway
on Writing," "he maintained that it was bad luck to talk
about writing." Hemingway seems to have courted bad luck.
Phillips has amassed a slender book's worth of Hemingway's
reflections on writing, culled from letters, books,
interviews, speeches, and an unpublished manuscript. These
musings are arranged into topics such as "Advice to
Writers," "Working Habits," and "Obscenity" (of which there
is plenty here). Sometimes ponderous, other times offhand,
these thoughts form a portrait of a man driven to create not
solely the best writing he could, but the best writing,
period.
"The New York Times Manual of Style & Usage,
by Allan M. Siegal and William G. Connolly
"A foolish consistency," Emerson insisted, "is the hobgoblin
of little minds." That may well be, but editors have enough
reasons to reject your work; don't let sloppy inconsistencies
be one of them. "The New York Times Manual of Style & Usage"
was written for the paper's editors and writers, but it is a
fine, up-to-date resource for anyone's use. Our language is
ever-mutating, and a guide such as this will ensure that you
understand the impact your words might have before they
reach print. Should you use "Native Americans" or "American
Indians"? Did you know that "thermos" is no longer a
trademark, but that "Popsicle" and "Dumpster" are? Writing,
when you get down to it, is nothing more than the careful
choosing of words. This style book will ensure that you
don't choose "carat" when you mean "karat," "jury-rigged"
when you want "jerry-built," or "V-8" when you could have
had a "V8." A naysayer may bridle against the strictures of
such a rule book, but the authors believe "the rules should
encourage thinking, not discourage it." Plus, "a rule," they
say, "can shield against untidiness in detail that might
make readers doubt large facts." We'd call the book
"user-friendly," but that, we've learned, can be downright
"reader-tiresome."
Words Fail Me: What Everyone Who Writes Should Know About
Writing,
by Patricia T. O'Conner
Patricia T. O'Conner's "Words Fail Me" is written in the
same lighthearted tone as her snappy grammar guide, "Woe Is
I." This time out, O'Conner tackles the writer's art. "Good
writing," she says, "is writing that works." This book is
the perfect text for the novice writer who tends to
gravitate toward comedic instructors. "Crummy spelling,"
says O'Conner, "is more noticeable than crummy anything
else." Organizing your material "may be a pain in the butt,
but it's thankless, too!" "Write as though you were
addressing someone whose opinion you value, even if the
reader is ... a stingy insurance company that won't pay for
your tummy tuck." O'Conner's material isn't new--like many
such books, "Words Fail Me" advocates the use of small
words, fresh verbs, and only well-chosen modifiers--but
rarely is a primer so amusing. And the clever titles strewn
throughout--"Taking Leave of Your Tenses," "The It Parade"--
provide added pleasure, particularly for anyone who knows
how hard it can be to put a headline on a piece of writing.
Style: Toward Clarity and Grace,
by Joseph M. Williams
"Telling me to 'Be clear,'" writes Joseph M. Williams in
"Style: Toward Clarity and Grace," "is like telling me to
'Hit the ball squarely.' I know that. What I don't know is
how to do it." If you are ever going to know how to write
clearly, it will be after reading Williams's book, which is
a rigorous examination of--and lesson in--the elements of
fine writing. With any luck, your clear writing will turn
graceful, as well. Though most of us, says Williams, would
be happy just to write "clear, coherent, and appropriately
emphatic prose," he is not content to teach us just that. He
also attempts, by way of example, to determine what
constitutes elegant writing.
Despite the proliferation of books in this genre, rarely does one feel so confident in one's instructor. Williams is meticulous and exacting, yet never pedantic. Though he agrees with most of his grammarian colleagues that, generally speaking, the active voice is better than the passive and that the ordinary word is preferable to the fancy, Williams is also quick to assert that there's no sense learning a rule "if all we can do is obey it." And he is most emphatic about the absurdity of prescriptions concerning usage (such as, "Never begin a sentence with a coordinating conjunction"). Such rules, he says, "are 'violated' so consistently that, unless we are ready to indict for bad grammar just about every serious writer of modern English, we have to reject as misinformed anyone who would attempt to enforce them."
The King's English: A Guide to Modern Usage,
by Kingsley Amis
Kingsley Amis's "The King's English" is as witty and biting
as his novels. Modestly presented as a volume "in which
some modern linguistic problems are discussed and perhaps
settled," Amis's usage guide is a worthy companion to his
revered "Fowler's." "The King's English" is distinctly
British, but never mind: it's sensational. And unlike many
of his countrymen, Amis is decidedly pro-American, even
admitting a "bias towards American modes of expression as
likely to seem the livelier and ... smarter alternative." In
a world populated by usage mavens too willing to waffle,
Amis is refreshingly unequivocal. Of the expression
"meaningful dialogue," he says it "looks and sounds unbearably
pompous. Nevertheless one would not wish to be deprived of
a phrase that so unerringly points out its user as a
humourless ninny." "To cross one's sevens," he says, "is
either gross affectation or, these days, straightforward
ignorance." And the frequently misused word "viable," he
claims, "should be dropped altogether ... simply because it
has taken the fancy of every trendy little twit on the look-
out for a posh word for feasible, practicable." Forget
Amis's protestations of being unfit for the position of
language arbiter; after all, as he says, "the defence of the
language is too large a matter to be left to the properly
qualified."
--Jane Steinberg was a longtime editor at Seattle Weekly and a stringer for Glamour magazine. She now writes from her home in New Jersey.
Writing in Flow: Keys to Enhanced Creativity,
by Susan K. Perry
In "Writing in Flow," Susan K. Perry applies Mihaly
Csikszentmihalyi's theories about the concept of "flow" to
the writing process. A writer's being in flow is comparable
to an athlete's being in a "zone." "You know you've been in
flow," Perry says, "when time seems to have disappeared....
You become so deeply immersed ... that you forget yourself
and your surroundings." For this book, Perry interviewed 76
authors--including T. Coraghessan Boyle, Sue Grafton, Donald
Hall, and Jane Smiley--about their experiences with flow.
How often do they experience it? What does it feel like? How
does one encourage it? How does the writing that occurs
during a flow state differ from that which is achieved in a
more belabored manner? While the book often reads a little
too much like the doctoral thesis it once was, Perry has
culled some fascinating insights into the creative process
from a terrific collection of writers.
The Screenwriter's Bible: A Complete Guide to Writing,
Formatting, and Selling Your Script,
by David Trottier
How does a spec script differ from a shooting script? What
kind of fasteners should one use to bind a script? How did
the term "MOS" come to mean "without sound"? You'll find the
answers to these pressing questions and many more in David
Trottier's eminently usable "Screenwriter's Bible."
Much of Trottier's advice is mere common sense: "Don't write anything that cannot appear on the screen"; to keep casting options open, don't make your physical descriptions too specific; "don't say Ron Howard is looking at the project if he is not." But there are things to know about Hollywood that are, well, quirkier. Don't write the title of your script on the front cover or side binding; present action sequences using the "stacking action" style; in query letters and scripts alike, avoid "big blocks of black ink." Trottier's guidance--from character development and revision to queries and pitches--is invaluable. Getting in the door can seem impossible, but it's not, necessarily. "If you write a script that features a character who has a clear and specific goal," says Trottier, "where there is strong opposition to that goal leading to a crisis and an emotionally satisfying ending, your script will automatically find itself in the upper five percent."
Anybody Can Write: A Playful Approach: Ideas for the
Aspiring Writer, the Beginner, the Blocked Writer,
by Roberta Jean Bryant
This cheerful little book is full of sensible reminders
concerning what its author, Roberta Jean Bryant, calls the
"trial-and-error-and-error-and-error process of writing."
Bryant does not make light of the difficulties of writing;
rather, she believes that if you actually manage to have fun
at it, "you'll be more likely to have a deeper experience."
Bryant's approach may be playful, but she has her own quiet
way of whipping her readers into shape. Toward the beginning
of "Anybody Can Write," she provides a method for assessing
how much of one's writing energy actually goes into writing.
"Dreaming of being a writer," she warns, "...is not writing.
Thinking about writing is not writing. Getting excited by
ideas for stories, plotting out a book in your head, reading
about writing--none of these is writing.... Writing is
putting words on paper."
Bryant guides her readers from first draft ("a time ... to fingerpaint with words") through rewrites and feedback--"you know you've received good advice," she says, "when, after hearing it, you wish you'd thought of it yourself, or you have a spontaneous and genuine desire to try it out." And she discusses how--if you so desire--to get published (the secret, she says, "is to have the right manuscript on the right desk at the right time"). "Anybody Can Write" leans toward the inspirational, but it is not cloying. Bryant may be trying to embrace and encourage all would-be writers, but she does not invite mediocrity. "Aim to go beyond ordinary limits with your writing," she intones. "Remember that a laborer is someone who works with his hands, a craftsperson is someone who works with his hands and head, but an artist is someone who works with his hands, head, and heart." Oh, yes--and "begin now."
--Jane Steinberg was a longtime editor at Seattle Weekly and a stringer for Glamour magazine. She now writes from her home in New Jersey.
Book Reviews Home Page
Hemingway
Mars / Venus plus Dr. Laura . . .
Tom Clancy
Anne Rice
William Diehl
Steve Covey and Tom Peters titles
Selected other titles
Last updated February 23, 2000 . . .