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Do I Make Myself Clear? : Why Writing Well Matters.

By: Publisher: New York : Little, Brown and Company, 2017Copyright date: 2017Edition: First editionDescription: vi, 408 pages : illustrations ; 22 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 0316277177
  • 9780316277174
Subject(s): Genre/Form: DDC classification:
  • 808/.042 23
LOC classification:
  • PE1408 .E84 2017
Other classification:
  • LAN005000 | REF026000 | LAN022000 | LAN006000
Contents:
I: Tools of the trade. A noble thing ; Use and abuse of writing formulas ; The sentence clinic ; Ten shortcuts to making yourself clear ; Please don't feed the zombies, flesh-eaters, and pleonasms -- Interlude: Give the Bard a break -- II: Finishing the job. Every word counts ; Care for meanings ; Storytelling : the long and short of it -- III: Consequences. Steps were taken : explaining the Underwear Bomber ; Money and words ; Buried treasure : it's yours, but words get in the way ; Home runs for writers.
Summary: "This wise and entertaining guide by one of the great editors of our time offers timeless tools for making meaning clear. Refresh your writing. Unravel convoluted sales talk written to deceive. See through political campaigns erected on a tower of falsehoods. Fake news is but one of the pimples of a literate civilization under siege. Slovenly English! Billions of words come at us every day with unimaginable velocity and shriveled meaning, in social media posts, bloated marketing, incomprehensible contracts, and political language 'designed to make lies sound truthful.' Orwell, of course. The digital era he never glimpsed has had unfortunate effects on understanding. Ugly words and phrases are picked up by the unwary and passed on like a virus. Cryptic assertion supplants explanation and reasoned argument. Muddle and contradiction suffocate meaning. You will write better--and have fun--with the original approaches of an editor experienced in ridding prose of corrupting predators: learn to recognize the infiltrators, the flesh-eaters. and the zombies. But watch, too, as Harry Evans identifies the magic potions mixed by the best of prose writers. He has spent his life clarifying complexities, from the tragic poisoning of thalidomide babies to the urgent files from battlefield reporters and his political histories. Make yourself clear with a trustworthy editor at your side."--Jacket.
List(s) this item appears in: 2020 - 2021 New Titles
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number Copy number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
BOOK BOOK NCAR Library Mesa Lab PE1408 .E84 2017 1 Checked out 01/01/2025 50583020008631
Total holds: 0

Includes bibliographical references (pages 391-404).

I: Tools of the trade. A noble thing ; Use and abuse of writing formulas ; The sentence clinic ; Ten shortcuts to making yourself clear ; Please don't feed the zombies, flesh-eaters, and pleonasms -- Interlude: Give the Bard a break -- II: Finishing the job. Every word counts ; Care for meanings ; Storytelling : the long and short of it -- III: Consequences. Steps were taken : explaining the Underwear Bomber ; Money and words ; Buried treasure : it's yours, but words get in the way ; Home runs for writers.

"This wise and entertaining guide by one of the great editors of our time offers timeless tools for making meaning clear. Refresh your writing. Unravel convoluted sales talk written to deceive. See through political campaigns erected on a tower of falsehoods. Fake news is but one of the pimples of a literate civilization under siege. Slovenly English! Billions of words come at us every day with unimaginable velocity and shriveled meaning, in social media posts, bloated marketing, incomprehensible contracts, and political language 'designed to make lies sound truthful.' Orwell, of course. The digital era he never glimpsed has had unfortunate effects on understanding. Ugly words and phrases are picked up by the unwary and passed on like a virus. Cryptic assertion supplants explanation and reasoned argument. Muddle and contradiction suffocate meaning. You will write better--and have fun--with the original approaches of an editor experienced in ridding prose of corrupting predators: learn to recognize the infiltrators, the flesh-eaters. and the zombies. But watch, too, as Harry Evans identifies the magic potions mixed by the best of prose writers. He has spent his life clarifying complexities, from the tragic poisoning of thalidomide babies to the urgent files from battlefield reporters and his political histories. Make yourself clear with a trustworthy editor at your side."--Jacket.

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