Editorial Review

Whether you write an occasional professional letter or a daily newspaper column, William Zinsser's Read more

Reviews (107)

Excellent for teachers of writing and writers...
This is a keeper.Although I purchased it for a grad class I am taking, I will use it for my teaching and my own writing.
Written very well
Zinsser has certainly mastered the art of writing well, and therefore can speak on the topic authoritatively.This book is not only written with humor, but with empathy for people who are struggling with the ability to write well.The book certainly demonstrates that this ability is not inherent, but rather it is moreso the ability to work hard, understanding that writing is a process and a very messy one at that.This work can inspire the worst among us to really try at being the very best writer that we potentially can be.

Talk about verbose
I am not a fan of this book. He begins by saying Do not use complicated words when a simple one will do. Then he continues by using complicated words throughout the entire book. He proceeds by telling the reader to do everything they were told not to do: use "I" and start sentences with "but." He is the only person I have heard of that is pro "I" and I refuse to do poorly on future essays because he likes it whereas no one else does. Much of his style is completely subjective--he doesn't explain well why he likes some phrases and dislikes others. One thing I'm sure of, no matter what I'd write, he'd hate it, including this review. In my opinion, the author can be described by words he uses frequently in the book: pompous and utterly (he'd say that word is unecessary but oh, I think it is) pretentious. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Authorship    2. Composition & Creative Writing - General    3. Creative Writing    4. English language    5. Exposition (Rhetoric)    6. Language    7. Language Arts & Disciplines    8. Reference    9. Report writing    10. Rhetoric    11. Writing Skills    12. Reference / Writing Skills   

Reviews (30)

Great, helpful book, very expensive
I had to get this book for a fiction workshop so the price was what it was, no negotiating textbooks.
Writing Fiction (6th Edition)
Excellent and varied compilation of short stories. Clear explanations, great examples, fun-and helpful-quotes, and fresh instruction of both classic and original methods of writing. Full of challenging exercises.

Too expensive and too general
I used this book twice in two different classes, and it simply repeats everything one can find in a $20 creative writing book.The readings selected are lackluster or horribly common in creative writing books already.
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Subjects:  1. Authorship    2. Composition & Creative Writing - Fiction    3. Creative writing    4. Fiction    5. General    6. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    7. Literary Criticism    8. Narration (Rhetoric)    9. Technique    10. Creative writing guides    11. Literary Criticism & Collections / General   

Reviews (2)

YOUR GUIDE TO GETTING PUBLISHED
Back in 1991, I was studying creative writing under a published author. The one thing we learned was to expect an average 70 rejections no matter if were beginners or seasoned pros. So if you write something, and you send it to be published, and it is rejected...DON'T GIVE UP!!!
More Than A Reference - It Inspires
You are a writer, and that's why you are reading this review. The same old question, "Can I justify purchasing this book?" I just received the deluxe version of this book, which is the regular book with a year of online access.
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Subjects:  1. Authorship    2. Canada    3. Computer network resources    4. Directories    5. Language    6. Language Arts & Disciplines    7. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    8. Publishers and publishing    9. Publishing    10. Publishing (General)    11. United States    12. Writing & editing guides   

Reviews (7)

Good for 1st year english...
This book is laid out and designed to be used for quick reference regarding grammar, citations, etc. with information in well organized sections. This book is similar to many other writing `handbooks', it is important to know which one your professor would like you to use. It had plenty of information for MLA, but it glosses over other styles rather quickly.
Awesome!
Great delivery time!Very good book to help with all of those term papers whether you need APA or MLA writing styles.Up to date information on online resources, ect.

Key for Writers, Fourth edition, 1994
It is a great book for assisting in one's writing. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Composition & Creative Writing - General    2. English language    3. Grammar    4. Handbooks, manuals, etc    5. Language    6. Language Arts & Disciplines    7. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    8. Report writing    9. Rhetoric    10. ELT: writing skills    11. English    12. Writing skills   

Reviews (2)

Approach and Selections Make this a Winner
Using poetry, fiction, photos, and essays, the book offers a colorful tour of the subtle and not-so-subtle influences Americans deal with every day, and it guides the reader through the process of 'reading' these 'texts' that make up our world. The texts include not just the written variety but also television, movies, popular music, and public space. Excellent!!!
This is an excellent book!!! This book provides an intelligent, engaging and enjoyable perspective of reading, writing and understanding literature. What makes this book captivating is the personal tone of the book, it really has a unique approach to teaching literature and it's very lively copy. Captivating literature choices!!! I really enjoy this book, it not only teaches about literature, it also touches on the life around us and how we interact with that world. This book comes in handy for any stage of your writing and it is an enjoyable read. Intelligent writers, whose strongest asset is their own fresh thoughts they share with the reader!!! Highly recommend this book!! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Books & Reading    2. Composition & Creative Writing - General    3. Culture    4. English Composition    5. English language    6. Language    7. Language Arts & Disciplines    8. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    9. Problems, exercises, etc    10. Readers    11. Rhetoric    12. Language Arts & Disciplines / Composition & Creative Writing    13. Sociology, Social Studies   

Reviews (1)

Much ado about nothing
I have been required to use this text at one school where I teach, and it is a dismal experience.Most of the other instructors feel the same way, but we are overruled by a minority opinion.
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Subjects:  1. Composition & Creative Writing - General    2. English language    3. Grammar    4. Handbooks, manuals, etc    5. Language    6. Language Arts & Disciplines    7. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    8. Report writing    9. Rhetoric    10. English    11. Language Arts & Disciplines / Composition & Creative Writing    12. Writing skills   

Reviews (7)

Very Helpful
I found this book to be very helpful in a number of areas. From developing a well written paper to using correct grammar, this book is it! It is easy to understand and uses a well thoughtout formula which is great for the novice. This book will be within easy reach for years to come.

merely adequate
every english major and writer should have a freshman comp handbook. this one is okay. it covers everything well enough.and if it weren't for the Little, Brown Handbook, i might suggest the Scott, Foresman Handbook. But the little brown handbook is by far superior, and i suggest that anyone interested in the scott foresman, or any other freshman comp handbook, check out the little brown before making a purchase.

Straightforward and Comprehensive
This book is aimed mostly at students and inexperienced writers.The subjects covered range from commonly-confused words to punctuation to creative inspiration to revision to research papers and business letters --basically, everything.For students, there are sections on how to writefor particular academic subjects.Read more

Subjects:  1. Composition & Creative Writing - General    2. Language    3. Language Arts & Disciplines    4. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    5. Rhetoric    6. Language Arts & Disciplines / Composition & Creative Writing    7. Teaching of a specific subject   

Reviews (5)

Excellent!Wish I had bought it months ago.
I wish I had this book when I was doing my final core class preparing my prospectus.I had it on my 'wish list'.It would have made things much easier if I had obtained it earlier.I read it one sitting.Written in layman's terms.The best book out of several that I have bought to prepare for my dissertation.Highly recommend this as the one to obtain!You will find it valuable.

Handy Guide
This book is providing me with excellent guidance throughout my dissertation process. Honestly, it has even been more helpful than my advisor. As many doctoral students do, I keep odd hours while writing, often getting my best ideas in the middle of the night. It is great to be able to access my handy advisor 24/7, meaning that my ideas have been easily acted upon no matter what time of day or night I think of them. A bit pricey, but well worth it for me.

Comprehensive and Clear
This is an outstanding guide for the dissertation process. I have consulted several other similar works on how to write a dissertation but this is the one I have relied on the most because it is comprehensive and very easy to follow.The entire text can be read in a few hours for a very good over view of the process.Then it becomes a very handy "survival" life line when problems come up. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Composition & Creative Writing - Academic    2. Dissertations, Academic    3. Education    4. Education & Training    5. Higher    6. Psychology    7. Report writing    8. Research    9. Research & Methodology    10. Study Skills    11. United States    12. Education / Study Skills    13. Writing & editing guides   

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business Communication - General    4. Business Writing    5. Business/Economics    6. Leadership   

Reviews (34)

Wish there was a six
Unlike most reviewers, I won't take time to tell you what this book is about. Read the book. It does a far better job than I can.
Bell is a great teacher!You will learn how to structure your novel
Plot and Structure is a Writers Digest Book by James Scott Bell.While he touches on many topics, the focus of the book is how to structure your novel to hook your readers and how you can create a riveting plot by giving it structure.Bell peppers this book with examples from literary greats Stephen King and Dean Koontz and many other popular authors.
JSB Dispels The Lie!
There are a lot of books out there whose author claims they'll teach you how to write a novel. It's been my experience that most of them are full of fluff.
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Subjects:  1. Authorship    2. Composition & Creative Writing - Fiction    3. Composition & Creative Writing - General    4. Fiction    5. Language    6. Language Arts & Disciplines    7. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    8. Plots (Drama, novel, etc.)    9. Creative writing guides   

Reviews (8)

THE BEST!!! This one is the best out there
you can skip to any chapter and read that topic without having to read the first chapters. Go to what you inquire and the author will present it as standalone material. THis is like the bible of Magazine How-to books...

A Tough Read
I found How to Start a Magazine by James Kobak difficult to read and somewhat depressing.The promises on the cover, in my humble opinion, we never fulfilled and the textbook-style format was flat.I felt as if, rather than a telling me "how to" he was telling me all the reasons "not to."He also came from only one perspective--that of a large scale, national publication.My goal is to build a local business-builder magazine.Therefore, much of the information was irrelevant for me.Based on the cover promises, I thought I'd found the ideal book for my needs.It didn't deliver.

A wealth of information
So you want to start a magazine? It won't be easy..it won't be fast--and it definitely won't be cheap! Read more

Subjects:  1. Business / Economics / Finance    2. Entrepreneurship    3. Journalism    4. Language    5. Language Arts & Disciplines    6. Magazine Management    7. Media Studies - Print Media    8. Periodicals    9. Publishing    10. Publishing Guides    11. United States    12. Business & Management    13. Press & journalism    14. Publishing industry   

Editorial Review

It's meant for high schoolers, but adults who haven't inhaled chalk dust for years might appreciate it even more. The process of organizing, researching and writing a paper is laid is out in easy-to-understand normal-speak. The chapters on grammar and usage are very user-friendly, and lots of extras (suffixes, parliamentary procedure, periodic table, metric system, the U.S. Constitution, world maps, etc.) make this an extraordinarily popular and useful household item. If you're feeling generous, you might even let the kid take it to school on occasion. ... Read more

Reviews (32)

very usefull!!!
it's very helpful while writing a report, convincing letter, or any formal document.....

A Must Have Book for All Students
When my daughter entered high school, her English teacher recommended this book and informed the parents that it would become the "bible" for writing papers.How correct she was!!! This book was used extensively by my daughter in high school. Now that she is away at college and took it with her, I purchased another one for my son.I believe it is the most used book in our house, besides the dictionary.No one can write a paper correctly without owning this resource.

A must have!
This book is a very informative and easy to understand resource for students and non-students as well. You will receive the answers to all your writing questions!You won't be disappointed with this purchase! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 10-12)    2. Juvenile Nonfiction    3. Language Arts - Composition & Creative Writing    4. Reference    5. Writing Skills   

Reviews (1)

Nice collection of Literature
I'm using this for a Lit. class.There's a good collection of works here. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Collections    2. General    3. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    4. Literary Criticism    5. Literature    6. Rhetoric    7. Literary Criticism & Collections / General    8. Literary studies: general   

Reviews (22)

Handy little guide
Pretty niftyactually if a bit pricey for the size. Spiral bound, nicely presented, small enough to fit in a computer bag or purse. It has a section on clarity (tightening sentences, etc.), grammar, punctuation, and mechanics (capitalizing, abbreviating, etc.). There is also a big section on research paper styles, including MLA, APA, and Chicago. Nice layout, clear type, color coded page edges so you can find your section easier. (I've added some sample pictures I scanned of the pages.)
A Quick, Reliable resource!Two Thumbs Up!
This is a wonderful little resource book that is a must-have addition to any student's backpack.As a graduate student who, in my undergrad days, studied journalism and mass communication as a minor, I have been exposed to a good number of writing styles and their respect style books.What is nice about this volume is the concise nature.
A great book to have
My first college class required this and it is the only book that I have kept. I use it in every class that I have to write a paper in. My wife also uses it for her classes. I recommend this for any student. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. English language    2. Grammar    3. Handbooks & Manuals    4. Handbooks, manuals, etc    5. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    6. Reference    7. Rhetoric    8. Language Arts & Disciplines / Composition & Creative Writing   

Reviews (25)

A major contribution to technical analysis
Mr. Bollinger's book is unusual as books on technical analysis go. No promises of instant wealth here: rather, at the outset, Bollinger tells the reader that the marketplace is an uncertain arena. His view is that the old dictum "Buy low, sell high," is best viewed in relative terms, and he draws our attention to others who have seen the world somewhat similarly, such as Albert Einstein and Oliver Wendell Holmes. The author's stated "other view" is that "Rational Analysis" is the most (dare I say it?) rational way to approach investing. Rational Analysis, in this context, is the blending of fundamental analysis - balance sheets, product lines and such for stocks or carry-over stocks and acres planted for grains, for instance - with technical analysis. Mr. Bollinger has promised us another book dealing with Rational Analysis, and in this book he focuses entirely on the technical side.
Measuring Volatility
It is interesting how things all of a sudden things come together in a Martin Gardner ah-hah! sort of moment.(I wish I had those more often).Anyway, I was developing a trading strategy and was being stymied with coming up with a method for filtering side-ways movements from trending movements.It suddenly dawned on me that this is what volatility is all about.I've been reading much on options and how volatility is an integral part of option trading.There was just so much to assimilate in analyzing options that the simple truth escaped me.High volatility begats low volatility and low volatility begats high volatility. (Among other things)Low volatility leading to high volatility forms the basis for Bollinger's Squeeze Play, otherwise known as the Volatility Breakout Trade.The Squeeze Play is one of three methods Bollinger has cooked up to show the benefits of Bollinger Band utilization.
Good bk about BB, but nothing extra wrt other TA books
It's nearly impossible for any technical analyst to neglect BB with its assessibility, and it's so logical to learn the tool or expect to get the most of it from the inventor himself. With regard to this book, the good things are: The author did not promote his tool as something invincible. He talked about the limitations of and warned readers of the need for continuous revision. Very smooth writing and an easy read. The bad things are: BB is not really a sophisticated tool at all. So the author had "filled" it up with some stuff that seemed light or marginally helpful to readers who had read over five trading books. I am afraid that comprises of most of the potential buyers coz I think it's hard for novices to spend over thirty bucks for a book that talks only of one single TA tool. Furthermore, I really cant acquire extra knowledge of BB from this book that distinguishes it from other TA books I read before.
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business Writing    4. Business/Economics    5. Investment analysis    6. Investments & Securities - General    7. Personal Finance - Investing    8. Prices    9. Securities    10. Stock price forecasting    11. Trading bands (Securities)    12. Business & Economics / Investments & Securities    13. Investment & securities   

Reviews (1)

"Happy Customer"
The item I purchased was on time.I was able to use the textbook in time for college. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Authorship    2. Composition & Creative Writing - General    3. English language    4. Essay    5. Grammar    6. Handbooks, manuals, etc    7. Language    8. Language Arts & Disciplines    9. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    10. Report writing    11. Rhetoric    12. Creative writing guides    13. Language Arts & Disciplines / Composition & Creative Writing    14. Literary studies: general    15. Writing & editing guides   

Editorial Review

At the beginning of Read more

Reviews (75)

terrific book
This is a terrific book - I read the original memo years ago thatVogler then went on to base the book on. I require my beginning writing students to read it!
Fantastic summary
I loved this book!
Telling a story
I learn over and over that writing fiction is mostly about telling a story. Fortunately for us, some really smart people have put a lot of thought into what makes a story "good." I highly recommend this book. It's worth the time and money you will put into it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Composition & Creative Writing - General    2. Composition & Creative Writing - Play/Scriptwriting    3. Creative writing    4. Film & Video - Screenwriting    5. Language    6. Language Arts & Disciplines    7. Motion picture authorship    8. Myth in literature    9. Mythology in literature    10. Narration (Rhetoric)    11. Reference    12. Writing Skills    13. Approved List/Classroom Adoption    14. Language Arts & Disciplines / Composition & Creative Writing    15. Performing Arts/Film & Video - Screenwriting    16. Reference / Writing Skills    17. Reference/Writing Skills    18. Writing & editing guides   

Reviews (6)

Classical rhetoric was spoken, never written
I came to this book through my Classical Rhetoric class as an undergrad.As someone with a pre-existing background in formal logic and rhetorical reasoning, there was little that was new, but most of it was recast from the mathematical model to the oratorical model.This si the penultimate text on classical rhetoric, and the inclusion of the progymnasmata exercises is an interesting option for structuring class assignments.Sometimes the text is a little dense, but it is also authoritative and generally a good resource for an introduction to argumentative logic and classical rhetoric.

Rhetoric is Required
This book should be required reading for all college graduates.

Principles of Powerful Persuasion
Rhetoric has come to be seen as a discipline for frauds and charlatans.It has the connotation of artful trickery and deception.No matter what you may think of rhetoric, you engage in it each and every time you try to prevail upon someone to see things your way.Rhetoric is the art of persuasion.Any artform practiced by mortals can be (and is) misused by unscrupulous villains.Those who decry rhetoric for its susceptibility to misuse overlook this point:Rhetoric, properly understood and applied, is the best defense against misused rhetoric.Read more

Subjects:  1. Composition & Creative Writing - General    2. English language    3. Language    4. Language Arts & Disciplines    5. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    6. Rhetoric    7. Rhetoric (General)    8. Rhetoric, Ancient    9. Study & Teaching    10. Language Arts & Disciplines / Rhetoric    11. Literature/English | Writing | Composition   

Subjects:  1. Assessment, Testing & Measurement    2. Authorship    3. Clinical psychology    4. Composition & Creative Writing - General    5. Psychodiagnostics    6. Psychological Research    7. Psychology    8. Report writing    9. Research And Report Writing    10. Psychology & Psychiatry / Testing & Measurement    11. Writing & editing guides   

Reviews (67)

dangerous
the author insists, so far as I can tell, that the only way to write a decent novel is based on some Aristotelean idea of the 'premise' which cannot be violated.'Love leads to death' is an example for a character who dies as a result of being in love.This is nothing but an obscene simplification of the plot.It's absurdly reductionist.
One side of the story
Let's be clear what we're buying here: an authoritative text on how to deploy character, crescendo, climax and theme in the idiom of the dramatic novel. Frey is covering the big picture, how skilled writers nurture the evolution of tensions through the work as a whole. His references to the classic canon of American fiction reinforce the message that these techniques are the essence of drama, and not just the stock in trade of pulp fiction.
A How-to-Write Classic
How to Write a Damn Good Novel is billed as "a step-by-step no nonsense guide to dramatic storytelling." I don't know about the step-by-step part, but Frey's advice is definately no-nonsense and will help you create dynamic stories.
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Subjects:  1. Composition & Creative Writing - Fiction    2. Fiction    3. General    4. Reference    5. Technique    6. Language Arts & Disciplines / Authorship