Your story might have a few loose screws that make it fall apart, or you need to saw off unnecessary words from your essay. No fear! Whatever the case, there is help to be had. Writing Tools by Roy Peter Clark will give you everything you need to turn your writing from a fixer upper to a renovated masterpiece.
I’ve read my decade-old copy, oh, I don’t know, something like 316 times. Whenever I want to improve a piece of my writing, I dig through this toolbox of strategies and go to town.
My favorite things about this book:
- Writing strategies I’ve never heard of before, such as Write from different cinematic angles, Let punctuation control pace and space, and my personal fave, Get the name of the dog.
- Quick and to the point. You don’t have to pour through pages upon pages to find helpful tips.
- Fun exercises at the end of each tool!
I have a whole bookcase full of writing technique books, and, yet, I’m always grabbing for this one. Anyone who writes anything—novels, news articles, blog posts—will benefit from this book. These tools work. You can do so much with them. I mean you can’t build a gazebo, but you can perfect your prose. What a telescoping basin wrench will do for your sink, Writing Tools will do for your writing.
Which writing technique books are your favorites? Leave a comment and let me know. I would love to read them.
