Writing Tools - BookWyrm

Hardcover, 272 pages

English language

Published Sept. 1, 2006 by Little, Brown and Company.

ISBN:: 978-0-316-01498-4

(6 reviews)

One of America 's most influential writing teachers offers a toolbox from which writers of all kinds can draw practical inspiration."Writing is a craft you can learn," says Roy Peter Clark. "You need tools, not rules." His book distills decades of experience into 50 tools that will help any writer become more fluent and effective. WRITING TOOLS covers everything from the most basic ("Tool 5: Watch those adverbs") to the more complex ("Tool 34: Turn your notebook into a camera") and provides more than 200 examples from literature and journalism to illustrate the concepts. For students, aspiring novelists, and writers of memos, e-mails, PowerPoint presentations, and love letters, here are 50 indispensable, memorable, and usable tools. "Pull out a favorite novel or short story, and read it with the guidance of Clark 's ideas. . . . Readers will find new worlds in familiar places. And writers will be inspired …

One of America 's most influential writing teachers offers a toolbox from which writers of all kinds can draw practical inspiration."Writing is a craft you can learn," says Roy Peter Clark. "You need tools, not rules." His book distills decades of experience into 50 tools that will help any writer become more fluent and effective. WRITING TOOLS covers everything from the most basic ("Tool 5: Watch those adverbs") to the more complex ("Tool 34: Turn your notebook into a camera") and provides more than 200 examples from literature and journalism to illustrate the concepts. For students, aspiring novelists, and writers of memos, e-mails, PowerPoint presentations, and love letters, here are 50 indispensable, memorable, and usable tools. "Pull out a favorite novel or short story, and read it with the guidance of Clark 's ideas. . . . Readers will find new worlds in familiar places. And writers will be inspired to pick up their pens." -Boston Globe"For all the aspiring writers out there-whether you're writing a novel or a technical report-a respected scholar pulls back the curtain on the art." -Atlanta Journal-Constitution"This is a useful tool for writers at all levels of experience, and it's entertainingly written, with plenty of helpful examples." -Booklist

4 editions

DaveNash3 reviewed Writing Tools by Roy Peter Clark

Review of 'Writing Tools' on 'Storygraph'

3 stars

Roy Peter Clark's tools are all helpful reminders or ideas. These are the most helpful:
Have A Mission Statement - for your piece and writing life.
Gold Coins - reward your reader along the way.
Build Work Around a key questions - what is the purpose, the why.
Save String - you can reuse or re-purpose previous writings, even if they weren't used.
Build A Ladder - move up and down from the concrete to the abstract.
Choose a number - one is truth, two is division, three is inclusion, more than three is no good.

The rules are set into four sections. The first section - nuts and bolts - reconfirms Strunk and White in a better narrative form. The second part - special effects - helps elevate the writing. The third part - blue print is helpful when working on specific piece. And the last is more about …

Roy Peter Clark's tools are all helpful reminders or ideas. These are the most helpful:
Have A Mission Statement - for your piece and writing life.
Gold Coins - reward your reader along the way.
Build Work Around a key questions - what is the purpose, the why.
Save String - you can reuse or re-purpose previous writings, even if they weren't used.
Build A Ladder - move up and down from the concrete to the abstract.
Choose a number - one is truth, two is division, three is inclusion, more than three is no good.

The rules are set into four sections. The first section - nuts and bolts - reconfirms Strunk and White in a better narrative form. The second part - special effects - helps elevate the writing. The third part - blue print is helpful when working on specific piece. And the last is more about developing a writing career.

Each rule is a chapter and ends with a "Workshop" section. It is supposed be exercise on how to improve. But it's basically the same for each rule - look at your previous work for this rule, look at good writing for this rule, write a piece with this rule in mind, where else (movies, music, might you see this rule?)