HN Books @HNBooksMonth

I've learned quite a lot about editing from "Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace." It presents some tricks to restructure and improve the flow of sentences, and through that process, to generate the momentum to really think about what you want to say.

[1]: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0134080416?tag=duckduckgo-d-20&lin...

⬐ OliverJones

At your local library too. https://www.worldcat.org/title/style-lessons-in-clarity-and-...

⬐ mapgrep

This was a key textbook in an incredibly useful rhetoric class I took as an undergraduate that influences my writing to this day.

⬐ AlexCoventry

I agree, that book is much more useful than the advice in the posted article.

⬐ adelHBN

Thanks for sharing that.

⬐ Tomte

I second that.

It has two things that stood out for me:

* It clearly discusses "grammar rules" and "personal style", which helped me locate myself in all this.

* It doesn't just say "avoid the passive voice", but explains when the passive is needed (it has nothing to do with "when we don't want to say who acts", but a lot with "the sentence is easier to understand when X appears at the beginning of the sentence, the easiest way to achieve that is to use passive voice").

Oh, and a third: it has wonderful exercises.

There are many editions of the book (actually there are even three titles, all with "Clarity" and "Style" in them) – it doesn't really matter which one you choose.

I am reading "Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace", have you read this?

EDIT: link to the book: https://www.amazon.com/Style-Lessons-Clarity-Grace-12th/dp/0...

⬐ StriverGuy

I have not. I'll have to check it out.

⬐ itamarst

It's much more useful then Strunk & White in my opinion.

I've learned a lot from:

* Reading lots of books on writing. Probably this (https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Web-Creating-Compelling-Pictu...), definitely this (https://www.amazon.com/Style-Lessons-Clarity-Grace-12th/dp/0...). Got both from local library.

* Reading lots of other books I got from library (on writing and marketing).

* Practice, coupled with observing results on google analytics.

* https://practicaltypography.com/typography-in-ten-minutes.ht... for basic design.

* Free content on https://stackingthebricks.com/ (there's a lot, although it's mostly lead-in to paid content).

The last one in particular motivated me to write based on research, which resulted in massively improved results.

"Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace" is better than "The Elements of Style".

https://www.amazon.com/Style-Lessons-Clarity-Grace-12th/dp/0...