Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace [Paperback]

Joseph M. Williams (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0673982432 | ISBN-13: 978-0673982438 | Publication Date: August 1996 | Edition: 5th

There is more to writing than simply obeying a list of rules. In this extensively revised fifth edition of "Style," Joseph Williams presents principles of writing in a new format designed to help writers diagnose problems with their prose quickly and revise it effectively. Divided into three parts-- "Style as Choice, Clarity, and Grace" --the text includes new principles of effective prose, boxed summaries for quick and easy review, and group exercises that encourage students to work and learn together. Williams encourages writers to use their writing not only as a tool to identify and solve problems but also as a method to explore their own thinking. In particular, writers learn how to use the revision process both to anticipate their readers' reactions and to understand better their own intended meaning.

Product Details

• Paperback: 286 pages
• Publisher: Longman Pub Group; 5th edition (August 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0673982432
• ISBN-13: 978-0673982438
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #911,158 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Book on Writing I've Found, May 2, 1999

By 

P. O'Rourke "Patrick T. O'Rourke" (Highlands Ranch, CO United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace (Paperback)

Most guides to writing speak in maxims and platitudes - "Be succinct" or "Write clearly". Williams accomplishes a unique feat in actually demonstrating techniques that allow writers to write succinctly and clearly. Unlike most writing guides, this book cannot be consumed in a single sitting. It requires the reader to work at the techniques, not simply to read Williams' ideas and magically hope that they will appear in the reader's future written works. If you spend the time with it, you will not be disappointed.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How to write on complex subjects -- the best book out there, November 3, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace (Paperback)

It's not easy to write about or explain complex subjects. To do so requires being able to focus, write concisely, and make the text flow for the reader. Not a trivial task. I know, I am a technical magazine editor and work with about 10 contributed technical articles a month. I just wish contributing writers would read this book. It lays out how to clearly write about very complex topics. And it does so in a very logical and structured manner. It even provides block diagrams to show how to put things together (for you engineers out there). Dr Williams did a fine job. This is not a simple book, nor a quick read. But it is the best book out there for serious non-fiction writers. It works.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you read only one book on writing, make it this one!, August 15, 1997

By 

[e-mail] (Scottsdale, Arizona) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace (Paperback)

Oftentimes I've admired writers whose succint style and laser-beam like precision gave their writings an impressive and expressive edge. I only wish some wise soul had exposed me to a book such as this 30 years earlier. Please plant the intellectual seeds of sequoias in any young writers you know, and buy a copy of this book as a gift. Professor Williams extraordinary lessons in style, cohesion and use of the English language make this book an absolute joy to read