Telling Writing [Paperback]

ken macrorie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1970

A manual for critical writing.

Product Details

• Paperback: 270 pages
• Publisher: Hayden Book Co. (1970)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810458659
• ISBN-13: 978-0810458659
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,081,189 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful textbook that is a must for the undergraduate, June 18, 1999

By 

Art Trinidade [e-mail] (Paso) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Telling Writing (Paperback)

This book should be required reading for every college bound highschool senior and college freshman. It is invaluable in developing ideas, and writing discipline. More importantly, when I first came on it as a college freshman, it was the first text book I read that provided a step-by-step method on thought organization and composition, and did so in an amusing and light narrative style. I was impressed and highly recommend it.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book will change your life, July 20, 2006

By 

John Guzlowski (Danville, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Telling Writing (Paperback)

I have taught writing for 33 years, and whenever anybody asks me to suggest a book that will help them become a stronger, better writer, this is the book I recommend. Macrorie has a personal, open teaching style that welcomes you in and makes his lessons about writing easy to take. And this is true whether you're a novice in a freshman writing class or some one who has been writing for 20 years. Macrorie stresses the absolute basics of human communication, the essentials that too often get forgotten or shunted aside in high school or college classrooms. Reading his remarks about writing is tremendously empowering. You sense that he has found out the truth of good writing and he's willing and happy to share it with you.

I can't recommend this book enough.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Telling Writing, June 5, 2007

By 

A. H. Renard - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Telling Writing (Paperback)

There are misconceptions everywhere about everything. Writing is no different. We think we need to outline and plan. The most formal proper language must be used. Oh yes, we think editing is boring and not needed.

Uniquely, through writing, Ken Macrorie exposes the heart and soul inside the act of writing. He does this by offering practical encouragement to any one who thinks they can't write. His encouragement led me to understand that the ideas live in my mind, only to be revealed when I attempt to write freely.

Try this yourself. Write a sentence, making an observation of your surroundings. Write it quickly without regard for spelling, grammar, or punctuation. The instant before you write there is an abstraction some place in your mind. It is a mystery until the words are on the page.

Looking for rules, a mechanical way to be a writer? This book is not for you. Seeking the freedom to communicate thoughts living within? Macrorie opens the door. Yes, there are rules, but he teaches their spirit rather than their letter.

This book steps outside the confines of a text book and beyond the structure of a manual for assembling words. Telling Writing opens the door to a writer's heart. Through it Ken Macrorie becomes a friend.