

A Classic 'Nontextbook' on Writing - JoelMcCracken
http://chronicle.com/article/A-Classic-Nontextbook-on/126034/

======
samdk
This sentence in particular stuck out to me:

    
    
        The novice writer, he argues, has a "natural tendency ... to think primarily of
        himself—hence to write primarily for himself."
    

One of my writing professors had us write a description of our target audience
as part of the heading of each essay we wrote to try to help prevent us from
doing this.

It's a danger not just when you're writing, but when you're doing any kind of
design. I think it's very hard to be a good designer without being able to
understand how different audiences are going to see and interact with your
work.

It's especially an issue in web/web application design when you're designing
for people that aren't at all tech savvy. Besides being very important if
you're trying to reach a broader market, it's amazingly gratifying to hear
someone who self-describes as "terrified of computers" tell you about how they
learned to use your webapp in 5 minutes.

~~~
sruffell
When I think about how self-conscious amateur writers can be I always think of
the "Professional vs Amateur" section in
<http://www.alistapart.com/articles/writebetter/>.

I'm an amateur writer.

------
gte910h
I love "Clear and Simple as the Truth" for a very authoritative voice which
can present complex things without dumbing down: (Non-aff)
[http://www.amazon.com/Clear-Simple-As-Truth-
Writing/dp/06910...](http://www.amazon.com/Clear-Simple-As-Truth-
Writing/dp/0691029172)

And "Style: Towards Clarity and Grace" for a more humble, direct, simple style
for non-complex presentation: (Non-aff) [http://www.amazon.com/Style-Clarity-
Chicago-Writing-Publishi...](http://www.amazon.com/Style-Clarity-Chicago-
Writing-Publishing/dp/0226899152)

~~~
tptacek
Every time I've reread _Style:_, I'm struck by how agreeable its mindset is to
hackers. It's no wonder Richard Gabriel liked it so much. It's practically a
hacker's guide to better writing. Highly recommended.

------
chalst
Roger Hart (Historian at U. Texas, wrote something on the history of linear
algebra I liked) has a lean summary of the book at
[http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~rhart/courses/materials/papers/tri...](http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~rhart/courses/materials/papers/trimble.html)

Hart misses my favourite list, the Seven Nevers:

1\. Never begin a sentence with But or And.

2\. Never use contractions.

3\. Never refer to the reader as you.

4\. Never use the first person pronoun I.

5\. Never end a sentence with a preposition.

6\. Never split infinitives.

7\. Never write a paragraph containing only a single sentence.

each of which Trimble delights in breaking.

~~~
tzs
> 5\. Never end a sentence with a preposition. > 6\. Never split infinitives.

There is no good reason to strictly follow either of those. The rule against
split infinitives was invented in the mid 19th century, and was not accepted
by the majority of leading grammarians. It did become popular with journalists
and the general public, though.

Most modern authorities say there is nothing inherently wrong with splitting
infinitives, although it is often a sign of a weak sentence. Sometimes,
though, any rewrite to remove the split infinitive would make the sentence
awkward of ambiguous in which case splitting the infinitive would be the
preferred form.

The rule against ending a sentence with a preposition is even weaker. It is
often described by grammarians as "spurious" or a "myth".

Both of these are covered well here:

[http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/page/grammartips/grammar-t...](http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/page/grammartips/grammar-
tips)

~~~
chalst
There's no good reason to follow any of these, and as Trimble argues, good
reason to break each of them if you care more about effective writing than
wagging fingers.

------
pigbucket
> _The chapter on revising is a seven-line excerpt of an interview with Ernest
> Hemingway_

The underlying advice of that chapter is: rewrite 'till you've got the words
right. The advice lying under the underlying advice is: don't ruin a simple
message with a long water-filled chapter.

 _Interviewer: How much rewriting do you do?

Hemingway: It depends. I rewrote the ending of Farewell to Arms, the last page
of it, thirty-nine times before I was satisfied.

Interviewer: Was there some technical problem there? What was it that had
stumped you?

Hemingway: Getting the words right._

~~~
billswift
That depends partly on what you are writing. For academic writing I agree,
take the time to get it right. But for writing for the market, especially as
advice to amateurs, I like Heinlein's advice, "Never rewrite except to
editorial direction." Market writers need to get their work out there where
editors can see it, or they can't sell it. And amateurs have a notoriously
hard time bringing themselves to stop tweaking and start trying to sell it.

------
topherjaynes
I'd recommend Stephen King's "On Writing", Ray Bradbury "Zen and the Art of
Writing", and "Ernest Hemingway on Writing". All have great insights into the
joy and struggles of writing. I really appreciate how their musings focus on
the struggles of writing well since everyone tries to romanticize writers.
It's hard no matter what.

~~~
jseliger
I've been asked the "how do I write better" question often enough to write a
post with pointers to useful books: [http://jseliger.com/2009/08/19/the-very-
very-beginning-write...](http://jseliger.com/2009/08/19/the-very-very-
beginning-writer) . It's oriented toward people who want to write fiction, but
I think anyone who wants to write better would find its comments helpful.

------
niels_olson
There are some fist editions floating around out there, you can find them here
for about the same price as the current 3rd edition.

[http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?author=John+R.+Trimble&...](http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?author=John+R.+Trimble&title=Writing+With+Style%3A+Conversations+on+the+Art+of+Writing&lang=en&st=xl&ac=qr)

I just got "as new" 1974 copy. You guys can have the rest ;-)

~~~
lazyjeff
Maybe I misunderstand... but why would you get the first edition (which I
assume has more errors) for the same price of the third edition? Is it for
collecting, or is there something particularly good about a first edition?

------
wingo
This article is wonderful press. I want the book!

------
anguslong
Amazon is sending me a copy.

I hope it's as helpful as the classic "If You Want to Write" by Brenda Euland
-- which was written in 1938, but has aged very-very well. Originally found
this book via Guy Kawasaki on his list of great books for entrepreneurs &
creative types.

~~~
discipline
If You Want To Write is _way_ underrated, I agree.

If you're a fiction writer, you do NOT want to miss The Art of Fiction, by
John Gardner. The last chapter, Exercises, is a seminar all by itself on what
to practice writing, and why.

Here are some [writing
exercises]([http://www.scottwrobel.com/ADD%20Course/trigger_exercises.ht...](http://www.scottwrobel.com/ADD%20Course/trigger_exercises.htm))

------
peapicker
Sounds good. I just requested it from my library.

