Write Tight: How to Keep Your Prose Sharp, Focused, and Concise

by William Brohaugh

Book Overview

"These days, most creative-writing courses teach self-indulgence. Write Tight counsels discipline. It is worth more than a university education. Its advice is gold." -Dean KoontzForeword by Lawrence... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0898795486
• ISBN13: 9780898795486
• Release Date: January 1993
• Publisher: Writer's Digest Books
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 1.01 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

A Great Reference

"Write Tight" - Say Exactly What You Mean with Precision and Power." William Brohaugh's book is an excellent choice for anyone who is interested in improving the quality of his or her writing. I bought it on the advice of a critique partner and it has become one of my most utilized references on writing. "The Elements of Style" by William Strunk Jr advises: "Omit needless words. Vigorous writing is concise." Brohaugh's book tells you exactly how to do it. Concise writing does not mean use all short sentences. It does mean that you should make every word count. Be clear. If your readers can't figure out what you're saying they may decide it's not worth the effort to continue. "Write Tight" addresses redundancy and overwriting. Readers are given instruction on how to create better sentences and trim the fat - all those unnecessary words. The tips are invaluable. Trash empty modifiers such as "very," "really," "usually," "generally," "basically" and "actually." Use a single word to convey a phrase. "The writer with ambition" becomes "The ambitious writer." Lose empty transitions such as "and," "however," "well," "so." Eliminate the "deadwould." Don't be pretentious. Overkill is wordy, irritating and boring. Avoid the cliché and standardized phrases. Advice, techniques, specific strategies, exercises and tests help you check your own writing. Make your writing more effective. "Write Tight" is a must have for writers of all genres. Contents Foreword: Write Tight or Else by Lawrence Block Introduction: A Tight Fit Into Today's World The Four Levels of Wordiness and How to Tackle Them Sixteen Types of Wordiness and How to Trim Them Prewriting Tight Testing Your Writing for Flab The Danger Signs of Wordiness Exercises for Developing Your Awareness of Concision Reducing the Mental Length of Your Manuscript Nonverbal Streamlining How Tight is too Tight Putting it all Together: Write Light Tips for Trimming During Manuscript Revision Shave and a Haircut and a Few Bits Bibliography, sources and an appendix of redundant phrases. Gail Pruszkowski reviews for "Romantic Times BOOKreviews" magazine and her work has been published in the "Cup of Comfort" Anthologies. http://mysite.verizon.net/bookworm.gp/ http://write-juncture.blogspot.com/ Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gail_Pruszkowski http://EzineArticles.com/?Write-Tight-by-William-Brohaugh & id=2743700

One of the Most Important Books Any Writer Can Own

It literally changed my life. I re-read it at least once a year. After doing so, I can take my own manuscripts or those of colleagues and cut them by 40% with no loss of meaning or precision. If you write, buy it! Read it! Then read it again.

Write Tight

The BEST book on writing ever! If everyone followed Brohaugh's advice, we'd cut down world paper usage by half.

no human who ever puts pen to paper should be without this!

no, i'm not trying to one-up the previous reviewer but i am not kidding. i'm a computer programmer- i wanted a book to help me better document manuals and perhaps give me a few writing tips. i'm on page 38 of this book and it is by far the most useful, insighful, practical writing book i've ever read. why wasn't this used when i was in high school????!!!!if you ever need to write an email, a letter for your child's school, your grandmother, or some fancy newspaper article, this is a THE book you NEED!

A must read for all beginning writers

If you haven't read the MLA, or Chicago Manual of Style, you gotta read this book! No writer should be without a copy. It reads like an expansion of The Elements of Style, by Strunk and White. If you can find a copy, buy it. It will make an excellent gift for any writer.