Do your sentences sag? Could your paragraphs use a pick-me-up? If so,
The Writer's Diet is for you! It's a short, sharp introduction to
great writing that will help you energize your prose and boost your
verbal fitness.
Helen Sword dispenses with excessive explanations and overwrought
analysis. Instead, she offers an easy-to-follow set of writing
principles: use active verbs whenever possible; favor concrete language
over vague abstractions; avoid long strings of prepositional phrases;
employ adjectives and adverbs only when they contribute something new to
the meaning of a sentence; and reduce your dependence on four pernicious
"waste words" it, this, that, and there.
Sword then shows the rules in action through examples from William
Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, Martin Luther King Jr., John McPhee, A. S.
Byatt, Richard Dawkins, Alison Gopnik, and many more. A writing fitness
test encourages you to assess your own writing and get immediate advice
on addressing problem areas. While The Writer's Diet is as sleek and
concise as the writing ideals contained within, this slim volume packs a
powerful punch.
With Sword's coaching writers of all levels can strengthen and tone
their sentences with the stroke of a pen or the click of a mouse. As
with any fitness routine, adhering to the rules requires energy and
vigilance. The results, however, will speak for themselves.
