Keys to Great Writing: Review
By Sherril Steele-Carlin
Can You be a Great Writer?
Keys to Great Writing is yet another one of those books that every writer should make room for on their bookshelf. If you're a beginning writer, it will be invaluable to your burgeoning career. If you're an experienced writer, you'll use it as a reference, and to fine-tune your writing. Either way, it's a great book, and more than worth the price.
Even if you never make it past the foreword, you'll find a wealth of tips and ideas to make your writing better. Author Wilbers presents five keys to great writing: economy, precision, action, music, and personality. Each of these keys is broken down and covered in much more detail in chapters devoted to each key. There are also sections in the book on composition, and drafting and revising. Wilbers includes checklists and also lists of substitute words to cut out the bloat in your sentences. So, if you work through this book as you would a workbook, you stand an excellent chance of becoming a better writer by the time you finish this book. Just about any writer can stand improvement, so even if you've been writing for years, reading this book should open up your mind to new opportunities, new ideas, and new techniques.
It's sometimes hard to concentrate on the many lists and tips that pepper the chapters, but this book is so useful, it's worth the effort to get past the lists, and then use them often to help your writing. It's an excellent resource, and should become a major player in your writing library. It's another book you'll want to keep close to the computer, and it's especially handy for writing drafts and revising copy.
For More Information:
Author: Stephen Wilbers
ISBN: 0-89879-932-5
Writer's Digest Books, 2000
$19.95 Hardback