Rewrite Right! : Your Guide to Perfectly Polished Prose: 2nd Edition - Softcover

Venolia, Jan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1580082394 ISBN 13: 9781580082396

Publisher: Ten Speed Press, 2000

Synopsis

Everyone knows that writing can be improved by the simple process of reviewing, editing, and rewriting, but many struggle with how to go about critiquing their own work—be it a letter to a friend, an important business document, or an academic essay. Fortunately, help is at hand in REWRITE RIGHT!, the definitive guide to polishing your prose. According to writing authority Jan Venolia, the skills needed to revise your work are surprisingly easy to learn and a cinch to incorporate into everyday writing routines. This practical guide describes in clear, direct language how to effectively rewrite a report, letter, essay, or article, so that writers of all levels can improve the quality of their work and harness the power of language.

About this title

Review:

Good, clear writing appears effortless. But chances are, the more effective the communication, the more work that went into making it so. Rare is the individual whose professional or personal life doesn't call for some written communication. Jan Venolia's Rewrite Right! is small enough to slip into a laptop carrying case, yet it offers, as the author says, "a solid foundation in the principles of revising." Venolia recommends editing on two levels--first to improve the writing, then to correct the language--and lays out her lesson plan with a four-page editing checklist. Most professional writers (though, believe me, certainly not all) understand the importance of writing to an audience, avoiding jargon and hackneyed expressions, and getting the words right. But anyone else who writes could benefit from a no-nonsense guide such as this. Venolia peppers her text with lists (e.g., of stuffy words, biased language, clichés), humor, and examples from the likes of Mark Twain and Isaac Bashevis Singer. Entertaining quotations strewn throughout are fresh and to the point. ("Writing a first paragraph," quips Lynn Z. Bloom, "is like raising a first child. It's better if you start out on the second.") "Good writing gets things done," says Venolia. Her Rewrite Right! offers valuable tips on "how to tug on words and adjust them until they say what you want them to say." --Jane Steinberg

About the Author:

JAN VENOLIA has been helping people improve their writing for more than 30 years. A veteran writer and editor, Jan lends her expertise to workshops and conferences. She lives in Gualala, California.

About this edition

• Publisher: Ten Speed Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 1580082394
• ISBN 13: 9781580082396
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 144
• Illustrator: Sasaki Ellen