Customer Reviews

Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace

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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.

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.

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

Although I was never a bad writer, the basis of clear, concise writing had always eluded me. Thanks to this book, I was able to learn the mechanics behind good writing im my last year of high school.

Dr. William's book was used in my Advanced Placement Literature class. The little tome showed us that clear writing was not an abstract, metaphysical talent that was divinely bestowed upon only the lucky few. It was, in some ways, an equalizer...

I would recommend this book without reservation. I only wish someone had introduced it to me at the beginning of high school.

This book is to me nothing short of a marvel. It systematically and clearly teaches the principles of technical writing. These same principles can be applied often to other writing as well. It gives examples of the problems in this type of writing and has exercises with which the reader can work. I particularly like the summaries at the ends of each chapter. My job requires technical writing, and I am still learning ways from this book to improve my ability in this area. Mr. Williams has produced a real tool of enlightenment. My opinion is based on the third edition while the book is currently in its fifth edition