Strunk & White's Elements of Style is superb. Another superb book is Style - Ten Lessons in Clarity & Grace by Joseph Williams.
I used to hate writing, because I did it so badly. I found this book in the MIT bookstore, where it was the only required book for a freshman writing class. After working with it, I still hate writing, but I can do it adequately.
Williams claims that your reader will probably think your writing is clear & direct when they can get the 'story' (who is doing what) easily, without stumbling over words or backtracking. His book is a workbook that teaches you how to make it easy for the reader, both within a sentence and in how meaning flows from one sentence to the next.
It also teaches, step by step, how to turn a pile of gnarled institutionalized CYA jargonized crap writing into something that Strunk & White could live with.
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Strunk & White's Elements of Style is superb. Another superb book is Style - Ten Lessons in Clarity & Grace by Joseph Williams.
I used to hate writing, because I did it so badly. I found this book in the MIT bookstore, where it was the only required book for a freshman writing class. After working with it, I still hate writing, but I can do it adequately.
Williams claims that your reader will probably think your writing is clear & direct when they can get the 'story' (who is doing what) easily, without stumbling over words or backtracking. His book is a workbook that teaches you how to make it easy for the reader, both within a sentence and in how meaning flows from one sentence to the next.
It also teaches, step by step, how to turn a pile of gnarled institutionalized CYA jargonized crap writing into something that Strunk & White could live with.