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    Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer
    Unavailable
    Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer
    Unavailable
    Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer
    Audiobook7 hours

    Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer

    Written by Roy Peter Clark

    Narrated by Gildan Author

    5/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    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. "Pull out a favorite novel or short story, and read it with the guidance of Clark 's ideas. . . . Readers will find new worlds in familiar places. And writers will be inspired to pick up their pens." - Boston Globe "For all the aspiring writers out there-whether you're writing a novel or a technical report-a respected scholar pulls back the curtain on the art." - Atlanta Journal-Constitution "This is a useful tool for writers at all levels of experience, and it's entertainingly written, with plenty of helpful examples." -Booklist
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGildan Audio
    Release dateOct 17, 2011
    ISBN9781596599840
    Unavailable
    Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer

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    Reviews for Writing Tools

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    • 5/5
      Writing in "Reading as a Writer," Francine Prose says she taught creative writing classes using rules until she realized the best writers broke those same rules on their way to creating masterpieces. Anton Chekhov's classic short story "The Lady with the Dog" is famous for breaking rules.Another writing teacher, Roy Peter Clark of the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, puts the focus not on rules but rather on tools. His valuable guidebook for writers of all kinds, amateurs and professionals alike, is "Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer," published in 2006. The word essential in the subtitle is unfortunate, for it implies something mandatory, and thus a rule. A tool, on the other hand, is something that may be useful sometimes, but not always. A handyman doesn't necessarily use both a hammer and a screwdriver on every project.In St. Petersburg I once heard Clark speak on the subject of writing, and he spoke at length on a six-word sentence written by William Shakespeare in "Macbeth" and discussed early in this book: "The Queen, my lord, is dead." He noted that Shakespeare might have ordered the same six words differently, "The Queen is dead, my lord" or "My lord, the Queen is dead." So what makes Shakespeare's order the best one? Because it places the subject of the sentence near the front, where it usually works best in a clear sentence, and saves the key word, dead, for the end, where it will have the most impact."Order words for emphasis" is the second tool in Clark's toolbox. Others include "Activate your verbs" (but notice Shakespeare chose a passive verb for his sentence), "Fear not the long sentence," "Vary the length of paragraphs," "Work from a plan" and "Learn from your critics."Clark advises against reading his book in one sitting, although it may be short enough for some readers to accomplish this. A carpenter in training cannot master all the tools in the toolbox at the same time, and neither can a writer in training, and that includes anyone who opens this book. I took his advice and read one chapter a day, but that still may be too quickly to master many of these tools. Many take time both to digest and to implement, such as that one about learning from one's critics. Even the best writers may never master that one.
    • 5/5
      Roy Peter Clark has been teaching writing to journalists and others (including schoolchildren) for several decades — and now he has taught me. I’ve read a number of writing books over the years and this is one of the better ones. The book consists of 50 tips — with 5 more thrown in the for the latest (2016) edition. My personal favourite is No. 41: “Turn procrastination into rehearsal.” Here’s a sample of what he says: “One writer daydreams, another eats, another walks, another listens to music, another paces … Each act of procrastination can become a time of planning and preparation.” As one who has a tendency to procrastinate myself, I love this idea. A great book.
    • 5/5
      So-called essential strategies that honestly are essential. Remarkable.
    • 4/5
      Excellent book on writing for two simple reasons: Clark keeps his points short and concise, and he makes the point applicable and usable for the writer. Highly recommended.
    • 5/5
      The best thing about this book is that you can listen to the author's succinct podcasts online (via iTunes). That's why I read the book. Fantastic pointers for creative writing and journalistic writing alike. Unlike many writing books, this one feels contemporary and contains fresh viewpoints. Which is hard, when writing about writing. Definitely one of my favourite books on writing.
    • 5/5
      Lots of useful information, from the basics, to the abstract, to the business side of writing.
    • 5/5
      Roy Peter Clark argues that writing is more a craft than an art. He introduces 50 writing tools with examples from his experience and from many other sources. The 50 tool chapters are well constructed, but some will benefit from discussion and practice. I might use the four parts of this book to structure a preparatory three-unit series on becoming a professional writer. The first unit would follow Part 1, Nuts and Bolts; the second unit would use selections from Part 2, Special Effects and Part 3, Blueprints; and the third unit would follow Part 4, Useful Habits. I would throw in related material from other texts, and I would add frequent short writing and critical-reading assignments. Recommended
    • 5/5
      Very useful tips on writing; common sense presentation; beautifully written to boot
    • 5/5
      An entertaining and instructive read.
    • 4/5
      Writers are born, not made. Wrong! Wrong!!! You are imaginative and know basic grammar so get writing. How to allow yourself to be imaginative is a whole different subject. Look at my Random short stories blog to show what you can do with a single word. The key is to brainstorm the word to see what pops up. But back to Writing Tools which looks at fifty tools divided into:Nuts and bolts-grammar, punctuation, sentence and paragraph construction etc;Special Effects-be concrete and simple and know how to make the writing guide the response of the reader etc;Blue prints-tricks of structuring; andUseful habits-reflections of how to start and keep writing.Each of the tools are 3-4 pages long with examples drawn from journalism and fiction to illustrate the points raised. There is summary page of the 50 tools on his blog site. Talking about how to write is as about useful as cooking advice, you need to see and taste it to see if its worth taking. So this is a piece of my writing with a makeover using the tools. So which version do you prefer? Strongly recommended book for you bloggers, budding reporters and secret scribblers.Original versionSo why ,if you are still with me, would you bother to read what appears to be such a distasteful book? The clue is in the structure and descriptions of the book repetitive phraseology of medical sexual teams and the descriptions of the car and body parts. It means that you the reader experience the alienation and emptiness that is the heart of the story. The story is not erotic in any sense as it point to the emptiness of lives that depend on more and more extreme highs and drugs to keep the sexual tension going. Death then becomes the ultimate sexual act. Nowhere does love and community figure in a world of motorways, airports, roundabouts and technological emptiness. What ever the feelings and motives of the writer, the story serves as a warning of a society that obsesses objects and appearances over personal relationships and social community-who cares for the children in this vision of our lives?The tools used1 Begin sentences with subjects and verbs3 Use active and not passive verbs9 Let punctuation control pace and space10 Prefer the simple over the technical16 Seek original imagery23 Read to tune your voice31 build around a key questionThe revised versionSo why, bother to read such a distasteful book? The recurring use of clinical sexual terms and the similar descriptions of car and body parts is a clue. The act of reading makes us emotionally distanced observers of a world running on empty. Sex means ever more extreme risks until Death becomes the ultimate high. In a world of motorways, airports, roundabouts and technology where is love and community? We need to read, whatever the feelings and motives of the writer, to avoid making a society that obsesses objects and appearances leaving no place for a simple kiss or the love of parent
    • 5/5
      A handy book that is geared towards fiction writers, but which has a wide variety of tools that can be used to improve the writing of almost anyone. Highly recommended.