Style: Toward Clarity and Grace (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing & Publishing)

Am only 2/3 of the way through this book, bought while looking for works for science postgraduates, to help them with their writing. This one deals perceptively with the intangibles - concision, clarity, cohesiveness - that many scientific writing books mention but never quite get to the bottom of. Its focus is on what readers need from text, and this is of course what drives what the writer has to put there. The ideas have been around for a while, but what is new is that Williams is able to articulate them as clear principles, which a writer could follow in revising his/her own work. They work, too. Thus this book suffers less from the fate of others, which is to drown in a series of hundreds of illustrative examples. There are also very perceptive examples of how writers go about writing. Well worth a read. For scientists and postgraduate science students: this book is excellent, and will probably clear up a lot of your uncertainty about how to write well.I would think it would take you well beyond the standard of writing required in a thesis. For others - if you ever send email, this is for you! Email is perhaps the easiest form of text toget down on paper. Email offers you several opportunities each day to exercise your skills at revising first drafts. With this book, you too can produce messages which pack an information-loaded punch, and are also enjoyable to read.

Go to any bookstore (cyber or otherwise) - see writing books arrayed row upon row. Now, take down a copy of "Style" by Joseph Williams, and leave Zinsser and Strunk & White collecting dust on the shelf, because William's is the only one you'll ever need. Williams describes the actual writing process better than anyone, and presents a method which an aspiring writer may employ to accomplish his or her writing goals - whatever they are! And he does it without recourse to the usual grammatical rules and "mechanics of writing" approach. That approach [resumptive modifier!] never helped anyone become a better writer - and it sure discouraged a lot of us!

Make no mistake! This is not beach reading, as Williams himself would tell you. Williams develops an entire system of writing over the course of the book, adding to it chapter by chapter. If you're not used to sustained intellectual effort, or if you have a short attention span, this book will definitely be a stretch. It requires prolonged concentration. But if you put forth the effort, it will be rewarded! I've read this book through at least eight times cover to cover, and while I'm not a great writer, I've improved immeasurably.

My compliments to Professor Williams - a great book!

By itself, this book is helpful. But its not nearly as helpful as Williams other book "Style - Ten Lessons Towards Clarity & Grace," which is also available through Amazon.com. This version of Style simply presents Williams' theories about writing, but it does not provide the reader with the "workbook" drills that are contained in "Ten Lessons." A reader will only understand the value of Williams' techniques after he's had a chance to apply them. I recommend this book without reservation, but believe that most readers will benefit more from the "Ten Lessons" version.

For people who are serious about improving their writing skills, this is an excellent how-to book. Prof. Williams does not dispense facile advice ("use the active voice") or mindless rules of usage and grammar ("don't split infinitives"). Instead, he teaches you, step by step, how to construct sentences and paragraphs that are clear, concise, coherent, even elegant. He explains in great detail the principles and techniques involved in achieving clarity, grace, and other attributes of good writing. And he illustrates these principles and techniques with many specific, telling examples. "Style" is not a quick read, but it is definitely worth the effort.

Joseph Williams' book, "Style: Toward Clarity and Grace" is the best book on writing I have ever read, by far. Williams himself describes the emphasis of the book on page one: "Telling me to 'Be clear' is like telling me to 'Hit the ball squarely.' I know that. What I don't know is how to do it." But Williams does know how to write well, and his explanations are precise and concrete.

This book takes a sort of linguistic, almost scientific approach to improving your writing style. I first learned of Williams' work in "The Language Instinct," by the Stephen Pinker, the acclaimed professor of linguistics from MIT.

Unlike every other writing book, this one is more than a laundry list of grammatical shoulds and shouldn'ts. This book is about HOW-- how to write to suit the human brain's innate method of processing information.

I am a professional writer, and I have a whole book case filled with grammar books. But this book is worth more than all the others combined. If you're a writer, this is the book you've been looking for.