Hamilton-Wenham Public Library

Writing tools, 50 essential strategies for every writer, Roy Peter Clark

eng

index present

non fiction

Writing tools

154694504

Roy Peter Clark

50 essential strategies for every writer

From the Publisher: One of America's most influential writing teachers offers a toolbox from which writers of all kinds can draw practical inspiration. "Writing is a craft you can learn, " says Roy Peter Clark. "You need tools, not rules." His book distills decades of experience into 50 tools that will help any writer become more fluent and effective. WRITING TOOLS covers everything from the most basic ("Tool 5: Watch those adverbs") to the more complex ("Tool 34: Turn your notebook into a camera") and provides more than 200 examples from literature and journalism to illustrate the concepts. For students, aspiring novelists, and writers of memos, e-mails, PowerPoint presentations, and love letters, here are 50 indispensable, memorable, and usable tools

Nuts and bolts: Begin sentences with subjects and verbs ; Order words for emphasis ; Activate your verbs ; Be passive-aggressive ; Watch those adverbs ; Take it easy on the -ings ; Fear not the long sentence ; Establish a pattern, then give it a twist ; Let punctuation control pace and space ; Cut big, then small -- Special effects: Prefer the simple over the technical ; Give key words their space ; Play with words, even in serious stories ; Get the name of the dog ; Pay attention to names ; Seek original images ; Riff on the creative language of others ; Set the pace with sentence length ; Vary the lengths of paragraphs ; Choose the number of elements with a purpose in mind ; Know when to back off and when to show off ; Climb up and down the ladder of abstraction ; Tune your voice -- Blueprints: Work from a plan ; Learn the difference between reports and stories ; Use dialogue as a form of action ; Reveal traits of character ; Put odd and interesting things next to each other ; Foreshadow dramatic events and powerful conclusions ; To generate suspense, use internal cliffhangers ; Build your work around a key question ; Place gold coins along the path ; Repeat, repeat, and repeat ; Write from different cinematic angles ; Report and write for scenes ; Mix narrative modes ; In short works, don't waste a syllable ; Prefer archetypes to stereotypes ; Write toward an ending -- Useful habits: Draft a mission statement for your work ; Turn procrastination into rehearsal ; Do your homework well in advance ; Read for both form and content ; Save string ; Break long projects into parts ; Take an interest in all crafts that support your work ; Recruit your own support group ; Limit self-criticism in early drafts ; Learn from your critics ; Own the tools of your craft

50 essential strategies for every writer