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How to Write Short: Word Craft for Fast Times by [Clark, Roy Peter]

How to Write Short: Word Craft for Fast Times Kindle Edition

by Roy Peter Clark (Author)

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America's most influential writing teacher offers an engaging and practical guide to effective short-form writing.

In HOW TO WRITE SHORT, Roy Peter Clark turns his attention to the art of painting a thousand pictures with just a few words. Short forms of writing have always existed-from ship logs and telegrams to prayers and haikus. But in this ever-changing Internet age, short-form writing has become an essential skill. Clark covers how to write effective and powerful titles, headlines, essays, sales pitches, Tweets, letters, and even self-descriptions for online dating services. With examples from the long tradition of short-form writing in Western culture, HOW TO WRITE SHORT guides writers to crafting brilliant prose, even in 140 characters.

Length: 250 pages	Word Wise: Enabled	Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
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Product details

File Size: 975 KB
Print Length: 250 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (August 27, 2013)
Publication Date: August 27, 2013
Language: English
ASIN: B00A4H25MU
Text-to-Speech: Enabled

X-Ray:

Enabled

Word Wise: Enabled
Lending: Not Enabled
Screen Reader: Supported

Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #138,296 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #51 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Reference > Words, Language & Grammar > Rhetoric
- #272 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Reference > Writing, Research & Publishing Guides > Writing Skills
- #416 in Books > Reference > Words, Language & Grammar > Rhetoric

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4.2 out of 5 stars

5 star		66%
4 star		15%
3 star		10%
2 star		3%
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Top Customer Reviews

But it read to me more like the author pointing out what he likes about short ...

BySC23on July 17, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I didn't really find it that educational or delightful as described on the front. It's a series of short chapters making points about writing short. But it read to me more like the author pointing out what he likes about short writing, with no real instruction. Just chapter after chapter of often repetitive examples. Some of the examples were fun/funny and some of the points good, but.....I didn't really learn much from it and it was a pretty boring read with the repetition. Each chapter also ends with grace notes to summarize the chapter - since each chapter was only 2-3 pages long and you had literally read the point seconds before....huh. You could just read the grace notes over to get what is in this book.

0Comment 9 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Amazing Book and Author

ByAmazon Customeron January 31, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I ordered this for my quarterly book club at work, and it was such a fun read! Awesomely enough, the author Roy Peter Clark is a local in my city and actually attended our book club meeting! He's such a nice and informative guy. This book is helpful for writers looking to hone their craft, and also enjoy a bit of humor while they're doing it. My favorite part was probably how, at the end of each chapter, he includes a few things you can do in your daily life to utilize the lessons he discusses in each chapter. You can really use the many tools in this book to craft your writing. a

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

A book to help writers be clear and concise.

ByVaughnon October 24, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

How to Write Short: Word Craft for Fast Times by Roy Peter Clark is another one of his great books. I recommend it for anyone wanting to improve on clarity and conciseness in writing. Clark writes with humor which makes this book (and his others, too) enjoyable and easy to read. His examples of short writing (conciseness) are many, including epitaphs, mottoes, slogans, famous speeches, and tweets. Clark shows what effective short writing is and isn't. At the end of every chapter, exercises are given to challenge the reader. Many of the exercises are about being observant of short writing in everyday life. Here are some quotes from How to Write Short which I hope are convincing enough for someone to want to buy this wonderful book.
-- "But here is the key: whether the writing is formal or informal, whether it appears as a tome or a paragraph, the writer has the duty to perfect, polish, and revise, even if that work needs to be done in a minute or less."
-- "In studying thousands of examples of short writing, old and new, I've been amazed at how many of the most memorable depend on parallelism (with variation) to work their magic."
-- "There is no right answer, except for this: A good short writer must be a disciplined cutter, not just of clutter, but of language that would be useful if she had more space. How, what, and when to cut in the interest of brevity, focus, and precision must preoccupy the mind of every good short writer."

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RPC Sharpens Shorts; Gets Buy

ByStephen W. Hiemstra ﻦon September 30, 2013

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

So. You are a boomer with a manuscript in hand terrified of having to promote a book in a new world of blogs and tweets. What do you do? Start by reading Roy Peter Clark's new book, How to Write Short.

Clark writes his advice in 35 short reflections organized into two sections: "How to Write Short" and "How to Write Short with a Purpose". He caps these sections off with an epilog: "A Few Final Words--441 to Be Exact".

Clark's first reflection focuses on getting you to open your eyes. In a world inundated with data in the form of writing, images, and sounds, what catches your attention? Coyly, Clark paraphrases the line from Sixth Sense. Not, "I see dead people", but "I see short writing"(15). Clark collects shorts like other people collect sidewalk pennies. In reviewing the sparse style of these shorts, he draws attention to the backstory that makes them interesting. Shorts sparkle because they remind you of something. A "grace note", Clark adds, increases the sparkle by reframing the sparkle in a new, interesting way. Or it may just offer a jolt (17-21).

I did not expect a writing book to be a page turner. I did not expect How to Write Short would get me to look at my long writing differently. I do expect that I will be referring back to this book in my book's next edit. Yeah!

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This book was recommended reading in a job posting!

Bytlkwriteon February 9, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

You really can't go wrong with Roy Peter Clark. I bought this book because it was suggested reading in a job posting that caught my eye. That's a pretty good reference! As a life-long writer, writing short is much harder than just spilling your guts on the page. In this book, Clark gives his usual great advice about how to do it well.

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Write Less and Achieve More

ByGeorge Rodriguez - Nonfiction Authoron October 20, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

You use to have 12 seconds to catch someone’s attention online. Now it is down to 8.

If you put written content on the internet, or do so for a company or even if you send emails - which probably includes all of us - do yourself a favor and read this book.

Roy Peter Clark has done it again. You have to be a gifted writer to make writing about writing interesting and Clark doesn’t disappoint.

How to Write Short highlights 35 tools to improve your short-form writing. Along with helpful exercises and examples, Clark shows mastery of his craft by including useful references from Shakespeare to online dating profiles.

Clark is instructive while at the same time funny. He is both observational and motivational.

His ultimate accomplishment is getting us to believe that writing short has basic rules to follow and when learned and practiced can make anyone a wordsmith from 140 characters and up.

0Comment 2 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Distills the spirit of short writing into smooth sips

ByJarie Bolanderon December 25, 2013

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I really enjoyed How to Write Short. The way it’s organized allows for an easy grasp of the importance of short, tight writing. I’m fond of the Grace Notes that end each section because it allows you to apply each lesson right away. If you are a fan of Writing Tools, then you will really enjoy this book as well.

The exciting concept in How to Write Short is the “When words are worth a thousand pictures” thesis. This bold spin on the popular saying really captures what good writing (both long and short) needs to accomplish — paint a vivid narrative quickly so you don’t lose your reader.

Each chapter is short (3-6 pages) but delivers the goods. From “Read for focus” to “Summarize and define”, How to Write Short delivers tantalizing tidbits of wit and wisdom that any writer can use right away.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

Short Read Provides Second POV

Very easy read. A little didactic with the list of "to do" points at the end of each chapter. And the author has a real thing for baseball.Read more

Published 10 days ago by gabriel eberhardt

Self-Defeating

The book "How to Write Short" is 264 pages long.Read more

Published 23 days ago by Bloggerista

terrific exploration of very short texts

Author Roy Peter Clark offers a fascinating tour of 'short' writing, and the book is jam-packed with examples of headlines, epitaphs, lyrics, t-shirts, jokes, slogans, marginalia,...Read more

Published 2 months ago by audrey frances

Five Stars

Concise and to the point.Read more

Published 3 months ago by Amazon Customer

Still, worth it.

The first section of the book is excellent. The second half seems superfluous. (Which is ironic.) But the pointers in the first part are immediately useful, so I think it's still...Read more

Published 5 months ago by Amazon Customer

Must have for every writer!

A great resource for aspiring writers! Very well written and something that everyone should have in their libary!Read more

Published 8 months ago by That Girl Aly

Helpful book, well written

Well written. The lessons in each chapter are easy to put into practice, either in the suggested exercises or in my current writing projects. I feel like my writing has improved.Read more

Published 9 months ago by Jonathan C. Wedge

Five Stars

Perfect, helpful, and brilliant!Read more

Published 9 months ago by DustyFish

Great book.

Very useful tips as well as action steps for practicing the techniques and working them in to your writing.Read more

Published 10 months ago by Amazon Customer

Not what I thought

This book is not about what I thought it would be. Instead of dissecting what is known as "flash fiction" and describing what that is, it discusses other types of short...Read more

Published 10 months ago by Richard New

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