Customer Reviews

A Journalistic Approach to Good Writing: The Craft of Clarity

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Knight can write. He also can teach his readers how to write clearly, effectively and convincingly. The first two chapters are the most interesting. In the first, he explains the difference between good and bad writing. The second chapter shows how to get started, which often is the hardest part. His main advice is to make it interesting and to get to the point early. He shows how with explanations and examples. The third chapter might be the most useful. It shows how to avoid all those traps that make writing dull. Knight specifically takes aim at misplaced modifiers, dangling participles, redundancies, wordiness and weasel words. They make readers feel as if they were walking through mashed potatoes. Read this chapter and you'll never make those mistakes again. His antidote is to write with precision -- to say what you mean. He shows how to right the wrongs of bad writing. My favorite chapter is the one on originality and how to achieve it without falling into traps like cliches and jargon. I would position this book somewhere between a textbook and a self-help book. It's more fun to read than a textbook and more professional than a self-help book. It's really an updated version of Strunk and White's classic "The Elements of Style" and in some ways better because of all its examples and exercises. Don't be put off by the reference to "journalistic" in the Knight book's title. It's about good writing -- by which he means clear, supple and precise writing. If you'd like the sharpen your prose, this book is for you.

As an editor/publisher of books for journalists, I read a lot of books about writing. Bob Knight's excellent book focuses directly on the key issue most writers need to work on - clarity. Knight emphasizes that journalistic writing means writing clearly and concisely, and he shows the reader how to do that. If more writers -- journalists, business writers and even amateurs -- read this book, life would be a lot easier for readers everywhere!

More than anything else, Robert Knight's "The Craft of
Clarity" jogs the writer's memory: "Oh, yes. That's
what I set out to do - communicate, tell a story, get
another human being to read, understand and be
affected by something I've written."
It's an easy goal to lose sight of, especially when pitted
against the goal of getting the facts out there. Author Bob Knight argues that the two need not be in competition
and reminds writers that getting the facts "out there"
is futile if the "out there" fails to tempt the
reader. With humor, examples and exercises, Knight gives writers ways to avoid those murky writing swamps that are so easy to get bogged down in and so effective in keeping readers away.
Written for all writers, "The Craft of Clarity" shows how using the tools of good journalism can help in all communication. It covers everything - from how to shape a story and write
a lede, to how to avoid the passive voice,
jargon and cliché. It also addresses some often overlooked but essential aspects of writing powerfully, including how to not only write honestly but appear to be writing honestly.
Knight's enthusiasm for clear writing and love of the English language come through each page of the book, and cannot help but infect and inspire.
A University of Colorado, Boulder, J-School graduate, Knight currently teaches journalism and English composition at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania. He is a veteran reporter who worked in Denver and Albuquerque, and served as senior editor and broadcast editor of the City News Bureau of Chicago.
- Review by Yasmin Hahn, reporter, Sangre de Cristo Chronicle, Angel Fire, NM USA
- NOTE: Marcia and Guy Wood are co-publishers of the Sangre de Cristo Chronicle in Angel Fire, NM and are so impressed with Knight's book that we've purchased 3 copies to give to our reporters, including Hahn. A great tool for working journlaists, whether greenhorns or grouchy with green eyesahdes.

Well, I'm not ready to throw away my 1972 printing of Strunk & White's Elements of Style, but I've got the Craft of Clarity right next to it on my desk. So often style and grammar gurus are pedantic and painfully dull. Not Knight. Easy to read; clear and precise. The best primer available that I know of -- after Strunk and White.

Knight sets forth not just principles for clearly expressing what you say, he offers proven guidelines for first determining what you want to say. It's all about writing, yes; but more importantly, it's about getting read. The author gets all the proven basics right, plus he offers fresh insights into what this discipline called communications is all about. It's also a great read, full of illuminating stories and expamples. Even battle-hardened journalists will get a little something from this book. The rest of us will get much more.

This book is not just for students of journalism; it's for everyone who writes! As a practicing attorney, this book helped me clean up my prose for clearer, more persuasive briefs. Plus, for those of us who love words and the English language, it's a highly entertaining read. It will be in the Christmas stockings this year of both my college student sons.

Journalistic Writing should be required reading for aspiring journalists. Bob Knight touches all the bases--newspapers, magazines, radio TV and the Internet. Not only is Knight's book the ideal basic training manual, it's also an invaluable resource for those who have been working in the field as reporters, writers and editors.

If I were the editor of a newspaper I'd make it mandatory that all of my fellow editors and all of my writers and copyreaders spent one hour every month dwelling on one of the chapters. That would entail having sessions a couple of times a week and maybe some makeup sessions for those on vacation or out of town during a given month. But this "advanced placement refresher course" would certainly be worth the investment in hours.

Neil Milbert

Chicago Tribune Sportswriter 1968 - 2010

Journalistic Writing: Building the Skills and Honing the Craft" is an essential guide for journalists or for anyone interested in a journalism career. Robert M. Knight's book is a treasure of helpful information garnered during his long and diverse career as a journalistic writer, editor, and teacher.

Correct use of language lets readers "get it." Radio listeners and TV watchers, too. Knight wins the case with compelling arguments and examples in his new book, "Journalistic Writing." It is more than a primer for students. It can teach veteran journalists how to write more readable copy. Knight also discusses what makes something newsworthy and the ethics of it all.

Robert Knight's annual presentations on writing were ranked at the top of the list for every Leadership Adams Hanover class. The information is pertinent to professionals in fields from accounting and fire-fighting to management and teaching. Journalistic Writing sits before me on my desk beside Roget's Thesaurus and Webster's Collegite Dictionary.

I am fortunate to have Bob Knight as an advisor on the development of my first book: Evolution of the Boomer Babe.