The Writer's Digest Guide to Good Writing - Softcover

On the occasion of the 75th birthday of Writer's Digest, its editors have collected 49 columns from the magazine that best exemplify "fine writing about the art and craft of writing." Included are essays from writers famed (Isaac Asimov, Allen Ginsberg, Stephen King) and forgotten (Morry Hull, Allis McKay) on such subjects as setting the pace of a story, writing science fiction ("think like an alien, write like an angel"), and getting inside your characters. Irving Wallace ponders "that most important of all gifts--an eye for the unusual" (December 1938), while David X. Manners divulges his "Ten Deadly Sins" of story writing (August 1946) and Carl E. Johnson explores ways of bringing "sharpness of sensory detail to our writing efforts" (May 1972). From Gary Provost we have "Seven Beacons of Excellent Writing"--brevity, clarity, precision, harmony, humanity, honesty, and poetry (March 1984); from Linton Weeks, "Eight Ingredients of Powerful Nonfiction" (September 1989). Toward book's end, appropriately, Don McKinney addresses the question of what makes a good ending (February 1992). --Jane Steinberg

To mark the 75th anniversary of Writer's Digest magazine, the editors have culled 50 of the more instructive pieces from their previous issues. You've heard it all before, but these writing tips are from authors (Irving Wallace, Joyce Carol Oates, Isaac Asimov, Stephen King--the list goes on) who have proven repeatedly that their methods work. Not surprisingly, the advice (know your audience, write what you know, read back issues of magazines) given is still applicable regardless of its age yet sounds remarkably fresh, proving that elements of good writing are classic. Articles include pointers on crafting fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and plays as well as some career advice. The index was not seen, but with its addition this compilation should be a helpful tool in any library's writing collection.
- Cathy Sabol, Northern Virginia Community Coll., Manassas
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.