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24 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Little, Red, Different, February 11, 2005
This review is from: The Little Red Writing Book (Hardcover)
There are five major parts to this book: structure, style, readability, grammar, and the appendices. All of these sections support one goal: helping people to write with precision and clarity. The examples aren't taken from the Great American Novel or from philosophical treatises; they're taken from resumes, college entrance essays, business memos, and so on.They're meant to help you get through everyday writing needs. They're meant to help you present yourself well in the real world of school and jobs.
Whether you need to learn about the top-down approach or transition words, you'll find handy suggestions in the "Structure" section. Perhaps most interesting and useful is the section on the six basic writing structures, including charts and examples. Two things you'll find in every section are examples and exercises; the examples serve well to straighten out any confusion, and the exercises (to which you'll find the answers in one of the appendices) make the lessons stick with you.
Whether you need to learn to support what you say, personalize examples, use parallel forms, or choose an appropriate tone, you can get a handle on it in the "Style" chapter. The "Readability" section deals with interesting topics such as layout, design, headings, gender, and revision; many of the techniques in this chapter are employed to great effect in this book.
In addition to the 20 rules of writing, this book includes 30 rules of grammar. This chapter serves as excellent reference material for someone who occasionally has trouble keeping "further" and "farther" straight or knowing when to use reflexive pronouns.
This is a remarkably stylish little book. It has a very "old world" feel to it, which is rather nifty considering this came out in 2004. It's a small book with cream-colored pages decorated with old-style borders and images; a formal tone supports its traditional feel. However, the drawback is that it's dry reading.
Also, as befits the tone but not the time period, there is no reference to how any of this relates to things such as writing for new media. In most cases it doesn't matter; elements of structure, for example, don't really change when you write for the web. Elements of readability, however, could have benefited from a discussion of how they relate to web pages or magazine articles as opposed to essays or job applications.
For a truly in-depth work to help you get the most out of your writing, I prefer Wilbers' "Keys to Great Writing." For a simpler reference work that's easier to access at a moment's notice, however, Royal's "Little Red Writing Book" makes a great alternative. Certainly I plan to keep it on hand.
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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
so much in a little book, August 16, 2004
This review is from: The Little Red Writing Book (Hardcover)
The Little Red Writing Book is a must have for individuals seeking to improve their writing skills. The overall quality of writing has lapsed in today's world of email and text messages. Brandon Royal's book is made for those people who are seeking to improve their writing and for those people who want to communicate clearly through the written language. An absolute must have book for people who expect their writing to be taken seriously in educational or professional settings. I think its useful for students who are writing essays, professionals who need to draft clear and conscise memos, and anyone else who may needs to improve their writing style. I've used other products by Brandon Royal and his strong teaching and educational experiences resonate throughout his publications. I loved this powerful little book!
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best Resource Available, December 12, 2010
As a former newspaper reporter/editor who now publishes nonfiction books written by authors in the U.S. and Canada, I recently purchased "The Little Red Writing Book" to add to my professional and personal library. This book immediately reminded me of the classic, "The Elements of Style." I couldn't help noting the similarities and differences between the two.
Here are my insights. "The Elements of Style" is really a grammar book with a dose of style added. "The Little Red Writing Book" is foremost a writing skills book with grammar added. Case in point: "The Elements of Style" devotes half its coverage to "rules of usage" and "words and expressions commonly misused." It doesn't even address structure, whereas "The Little Red Writing Book" wastes no time in discussing the "top-down approach to writing" and the "high school five-paragraph approach to writing." The main take-away from "The Elements of Style" is "cut out unnecessary words," while the gist of "The Little Red Writing Book" is "be specific, give adequate support for what you say."
"The Elements of Style" contains no exercises. "The Little Red Writing Book" does, and this is an indisputable strength of this book, for I know of no other small book that deals with writing and also contains short exercises. I question the usefulness of books about writing that attempt to teach writing without providing exercises. Of course, any handbook of English grammar will contain exercises, but its thickness will prove intimidating for all but the bravest of students.
The introduction of "The Little Red Writing Book" begins with a clear theme: "Writing has four pillars -- structure, style, readability, and grammar -- and each pillar is like the single leg of a sturdy chair. Structure is really about organization and deciding in which order to present your ideas. Style describes how one writes, including how to use specific examples to support what is written. Readability is about presentation, and how to make a document visually pleasing and easy to read. Grammar, including diction, is about expressing language in a correct and acceptable form."
One of my pet peeves with other writing books and writing courses is that they focus primarily on grammar. I believe this has in large part led to the belief that if a person masters grammar, then he or she has mastered writing. I know people who can write technically correct sentences but are still not effective writers. As "The Little Red Writing Book" points out, writing is based on macro elements as well. Grammar, including spelling and punctuation, represents only a single leg.
I also judge a book in terms of its memorable lines, and this book has its share. "An airline pilot never leaves the runway without having a destination and flight pattern." (page 13, writing structure.) "A valued technique, which can be used when writing rough drafts, is to stress the point you wish to make by placing `for example' immediately after what you write." (page 38, support techniques.) "Unpolished writing is like shifting sand in a desert storm. Eventually the storm ceases and the sand sits still." (page 99, readability and the need to let writing "sit" before it's considered finished.) "It is said that 90 percent of writers can use the comma correctly 75 percent of the time, but only 1 percent of writers can use the comma correctly 99 percent of the time." (page 132, punctuation.)
In my assessment, this is the most well-rounded small writing book on the market today. As a bonus, it's also fun to read. I highly recommend it to any high school or college student. When authors contact me with drafts of new manuscripts, I always suggest they pick up a copy of this book so they can review writing fundamentals in a clear yet enjoyable way.
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