Customer Reviews

Getting the Words Right: How to Rewrite, Edit, and Revise

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Cheney doesn't mince words. His techniques will cut, clarify and polish your writing like no other book. This book replaces a couple of writing classes, at least. It should be on every aspiring, and experienced, writer's book shelf.

This is one of the best writer's books I've come across. It's certainly as good as Jon Franklin's book, and Franklin's book is excellent. I can't agree more; too much of what gets written is too wordy and has no unity of anything. But Cheney clearly shows you how to whittle and pare things down, plus get things moving in the right direction.

How is this different from any other writing book out there, you ask? Well, here's how to evaluate what you've written, how to recognize and fix awkward transitions and wordy or clumsy sentences, how to find hidden flaws all through your writing and what to do about them.

Rewriting is the crux of communication through words on paper. "Books aren't written, they are re-written" is so very true. School children aren't taught to get it down on paper, then go back and revise once...and again...and again...and again. They are taught to look for spelling and punctuation errors and encouraged (by default) to leave their work as close to the first draft as possible. Professional writers learn quickly the importance of revision.

Cheney clarifies the issue and leads the reader down the thorny path of pruning, clarifying and restructuring for the best possible prose.

Getting the Words Right is among the best books available to authors looking to improve writing ability and technique. Cheney is as comprehensive as he is eloquent and provides an abundance of examples to support his instruction. If you are an aspiring writer of any genre, you do not want to be without this book.

This is not an easy book to complete as it requires several readings to comprehend all the content. Cheney sums up such a conquest best when he closes with this enjoyable quip: "If you've read this entire book, you probably have the perseverance to write a book." I have no doubt in the truth of that statement, and if I could add anything, I would suggest if you have the perseverance to apply the education Cheney has bestowed, you indubitably also have the skill set to write a very qualified book.

The author doesn't mince words when it comes to what he thinks is important. Not an especially long book, it is loaded with examples and references all the way through that give you some concrete materials to work with to apply to your own work. Mostly intended for fiction writers, he does bend it some to try and simplify bureacratise and other business writing but more to help *you* figure out what they are really saying that truly simplfying someone's advertising copy. One thing I found slightly annoying was his constant use of percentages to show how by cutting these three words then the sentence was X% shorter. That can be misleading because while a sentence may be shorter, you haven't necessarily clarified it, or you might have cut it too short and lost the point. Use with caution.

Those who have suffered through many of my reviews probably wonder why I never read this book. I hate to admit I have, twice. Be glad. It is not an easy book to read because you keep finding things that make you want to quit reading and go to re-writing. If you at least review the book vefore you review what you've written, you eill find it much more meaningful the second time you read it. Believe it or not I've tried to apply the lessons of this work to all my writing: e-mail, old fashoned letters, business letters (which I taught), travel writing, scholarly writing, and even reviews. This book has been a great help. It may not be what you want to read in a comfortable chair unless you want to go to sleep, but it is well worth the effort and the time.

Ii grew up on Strunk and White, and fortunately found this wonderful replacement. Try it. Even if you don't like it, your readers will.

Cheney's book offers advice that will make a beginning writer more mature as well more technically able. I'd recommend it to anyone who writes fiction.