From Library Journal
Novelist Abresch (Bloody Bonsai), who has been writing fiction for 30 years, believes that all written texts, whether fiction or nonfiction, should be easy reading. In his own book on writing, he dismisses most writing manuals as being too hard to read, presumably referring to William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White's The Elements of Style and Kate L. Turabian's Manual for Writers, often criticized for their density. Assuming no knowledge of the writing process or the publishing industry, Abresch discusses how new or minimally published novelists get published, usually with small presses, and wisely counsels writers to get reviewed wherever and whenever possible. He also recommends hiring a copy editor citing his own experience and advocates conventions for networking. In general, Abresch's writing is laden with chatty, sometimes self-indulgent humor and some possibly disingenuous remarks which makes for easy reading if you share his sense of humor. Otherwise, it encourages skimming. All things considered, this should not be your library's only title on this topic. Robert Moore, Framingham, MA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Product Description
The problem with books on writing is that they are often difficult to read. Does that sound right? Shouldn't good writing be easy to read? And if we are trying to teach easy reading writing, shouldn't our books on writing be easy reading?
Here's the challenge.
Slap an eye on any page of Easy Reading Writing, or browse the book. If you have trouble reading anything, hey, place it back on the shelf. It means I don’t know what I’m talking about.
Easy Reading Writing is full of examples, humorous and irrelevant, yet explain the fine points of building believable plots, characters that breathe, and effective sentences, paragraphs, chapters that pass through the reader's eye as smoothly as a film strip passes through a movie projector.
Our job is not to tell a story, but to use the words that will trigger the memory and life experiences of our readers, so they will build our world inside their heads.
Our writing must never be just good enough. Either it's the best we can make it or it's not. There is no backdoor to effective writing.
Better to read light Easy Reading Writing than to curse the darkness of rejections.
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
