How To Guide To Good Writing

Every writer has a favorite book or author to help them in their quest to be a better writer. For myself, it is Mitchell Ivers' Random House Guide to Good Writing which has inspired me to write and to write well.

Ivers' book identifies what is good writing, the voice and tone of writing, structure and plot, grammar, and more. What I like about the book is that Ivers writes in a style that is easy to follow and not overflowing with verbosity: Ivers goes straight to the point when giving examples. So, when you read "Guide to Good Writing" you come away wanting to write not having to write. In other words, what some instructors make to be a chore, Ivers clearly replaces with the joy of writing.

Ivers' writing exercises are particularly useful to help writers develop their own style. The Random House Style manual is included as an appendix to the book. In addition, Ivers includes examples from Poe and Emerson, two of my favorite classical authors. Reread Poe's "Masque of the Red Death" and you will be inspired, if not a little bit frightened!

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200 Years of Service (Grier's Almanac)

One of my favorite "reads" are almanacs. From the formerly named Information Please almanac to the Old Farmer's Almanac, these handy paperback books contain a wealth of information on virtually any subject, particularly the more generalized tomes such as Information Please.

In November 2005, I visited my locally owned drugstore and found that they had free copies of Grier's Almanac available for customers. Similar in design to the Old Farmer's Almanac, I took a copy home with me.

Although not peppered with stories such as can be found in the Old Farmer's Almanac, Grier's contains the usual "zodiac" information which farmers in time's past would rely on to help them determine when to plant. In addition, you can find information on daily weather predictions, a fishing calendar, an exhaustive list of holidays for the year, and interesting chronological information on events that happened on particular dates throughout history. In the back of the almanac is a section devoted to all kinds of classified ads.

As with most almanacs in this particular genre, Grier's has its share of ads. Some are helpful and include ads for insurance and gardening, while others are bizarre and include ads for oils and candles to help make your opposing lawyer stupid. Okay, if it works than that is great!

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Grier's is that 2006 represents their 200th anniversary edition. For two straight centuries the almanac has been published including throughout the Civil War period, a remarkable feat indeed.

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Explain Book Review Questions For the Discerning Reader

All of us have been asked what we thought of a book after someone has learned that we read it. All of us have been asked to answer some basic book review questions.

What was the book about? Did you like it? What did you learn? Was the reading hard or easy? Do you think I should read it? Do you think you would read other books by this author? These are questions anyone might ask of us and they are questions we should be able to answer easily if we have read the book inquisitively, with detailed book review questions anticipated before we read the book.

Having your questions in mind before you read the book will help you recognize the answer when you come across it in your reading. These questions help you determine if the book is satisfactory or unsatisfactory while you're reading it. It tells you what you expect to get out of the book, what values you want to find in the book, and how the book will be meaningful to you.

Before you read the book, think about the subject. What do you already know about it? What don't you know? What would you like to know? How will the information you get from the book extend your knowledge, your understanding, your perceptions of the subject in the world? Ask yourself what your attitude is towards the subject. Does it give you pleasure, concern, or pain? Do you expect the book to heighten your feelings about the subject? Does the subject demand objectivity, or should it move your passions? Do you expect the book to be discursive or poetic, argumentative or artistic? The questions asked before the reading will be answered as you read the book. After the reading, you will ask a more general set of book review questions, and your answers to those questions will be based on the answers to the detailed questions you first posed before you started the reading.

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