Revising prose

What Hacker News says

1. jeffmcmahanJun 2020
   Just wanted to add a book recommendation for copy editing: "Revising Prose" by Lanham. It was recommended by a respected philosopher when I was in undergrad. Excellent.
   thread
2. spcelzrdJul 2017
   There are so many. Writing, like any other skill, can be taught and learned. Don't just practice and passively observe.

   Thinking in Style, Pinker

   Revising Prose, Lanham

   Good Prose, Kidder

   thread
3. itamarstJul 2017
   The best book on understanding what style means: Clear and Simple as the Truth. Every other book just has confusing "this is The Correct Way", which is wrong, it all depends.

   Once you understand style, either try for style they mostly talk about in that book (classical style), or if you want practical style then Revising Prose or Style: Toward Clarity and Grace are good.

   thread
4. itamarstNov 2016
   It's always hard recognizing problems in one's own writing. But to give an example:

   > "I'm absolutely struggling with how to change the way I write to be less complex, when I myself don't recognize it as being verbose or overly complex in structure."

   could be written more shortly and simply as:

   > "I don't believe my writing is verbose or complex, so I don't know how to make it simpler."

   Not picking on you, if I were writing that I'd probably end up with something closer to your first version in the first draft. Which is why you want to revise into a second draft.

   Luckily there's a book that can help: "Revising Prose" by Lanham (http://amzn.to/2f9pUjN). Your local library probably has a copy. It's pretty entertaining read, too.

   If you want a more extensive guide, "Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace" (http://amzn.to/2f9zqDp) goes a lot further. Again, I read a copy from the library. Beyond the style of your prose, if you want a conceptual guide to business writing, see this review: https://codewithoutrules.com/2016/06/15/writing-book/

   But "Revising Prose" will probably suffice.

   Show morethread
5. stdbrouwJun 2016
   > if possible I'd like to request if anyone can point me to a resource (apps, software, etc) so I can learn to write, speak, and converse like Dijkstra in this lecture?

   Practice makes perfect, that's really all there is to it. A good book on writing style can help, but only if you use it. The Sense of Style by Steven Pinker and Revising Prose by Richard Lanham are my two favorites.

   thread
6. samsolomonMar 2015
   I second On Writing Well. It's an absolute must read for anyone writing non-fiction.

   There are two other books I'd throw up with it—Revising Prose by Richard Lanham and The Elements of Style by Strunk and White.

   Those three books together are a fantastic course in writing.

   thread