Getting the Words Right: How to Rewrite, Edit and Revise (Paperback)

~ Theodore A. Rees Cheney (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Theodore Cheney shows readers how to improve everything they write--from a novel to a formal report to a love letter--by putting into practice his three basic revision techniques: reduction, rearranging, and rewording. Find out how to be clear, concise, and careful with your words to revise your way to better writing.

Product Details

• Paperback: 218 pages
• Publisher: Writer's Digest Books (July 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 089879420X
• ISBN-13: 978-0898794205
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,124,523 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book on editing your own work I have ever read., September 1, 1999

By A Customer

Cheney doesn't mince words. His techniques will cut, clarify and polish your writing like no other book. This book replaces a couple of writing classes, at least. It should be on every aspiring, and experienced, writer's book shelf.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 5 STARS, August 21, 2005

By	James B. Johnson (HUDSON, FL United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is one of the best writer's books I've come across. It's certainly as good as Jon Franklin's book, and Franklin's book is excellent. I can't agree more; too much of what gets written is too wordy and has no unity of anything. But Cheney clearly shows you how to whittle and pare things down, plus get things moving in the right direction.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good book but not the best I've seen, February 7, 2001

By	"lori_in_berkeley" (Redmond, WA USA) - See all my reviews

The author doesn't mince words when it comes to what he thinks is important. Not an especially long book, it is loaded with examples and references all the way through that give you some concrete materials to work with to apply to your own work. Mostly intended for fiction writers, he does bend it some to try and simplify bureacratise and other business writing but more to help *you* figure out what they are really saying that truly simplfying someone's advertising copy. One thing I found slightly annoying was his constant use of percentages to show how by cutting these three words then the sentence was X% shorter. That can be misleading because while a sentence may be shorter, you haven't necessarily clarified it, or you might have cut it too short and lost the point. Use with caution.