4 ms·

I would add "The Elements of Style" by Strunk. I think it is a classic in that area. Edit: Also "On Writing Well" by Zinsser, another classic.

• jseliger 13y ago
  A writing book is a good idea, but not Strunk and White: http://chronicle.com/article/50-Years-of-Stupid-Grammar/25497 http://chronicle.com/article/50-Years-of-Stupid-Grammar/2549... I prefer "Write Right!", although the most recent edition is needlessly long.
  • aet 13y ago
    Interesting criticism, but not sure I'm convinced.
• igravious 13y ago
  I have that (Strunk-meister) but never really consult it. Stephen King's (let's put aside what we think of his works for the moment) On Writing is a great style guide even though it concerns writing short stories and novels. Read the technical (non-biographical) part of that book a couple of times and you'll see the words, sentences, and paragraphs that you're cranking out a whole lot differently, I guarantee you. Plus, it's an easy read.
  • phaus 13y ago
    I dislike Stephen King's fiction, but this title is regarded by many as the single greatest book on writing of all time.
    • igravious 13y ago
      If you are starting off writing, and you're not a freak of nature like David Foster Wallace or James Joyce, and you can get over any revulsions you have about Mr. King, and you'd like to be shown the tools of the craft by a friendly craftsman, for what it is worth I can recommend it. And I want to say thank you (not) to that girl who borrowed my copy and promised to call me and return it and didn't - you suck just a little bit.
    • dandrews 13y ago
      I find his fiction enjoyable; it reads easily and his sense of humor is similar to my own. (It is possible to overdose on his style, as I did on Vonnegut after a few volumes.) "Single greatest book on writing of all time?" We'll part company here too. I read On Writing shortly after it came out, and was entertained through the front half, but can't for the life of me remember a shred of advice from it. I do recall the striking discontinuity in the last part, where he writes about the auto accident that nearly killed him. The writing was obviously different from that in the front of the book, and I felt the topic was out of place, and even self-indulgent. But he gets a bye, 'cause he's Stephen King.
• cschmidt 13y ago
  If you're going to read "The Elements of Style", you might as well get the "The Elements of Style Illustrated", with very pretty illustrations. http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Style-Illustrated-William-Strunk/dp/0143112724 http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Style-Illustrated-William-Str...