Annoying Book Reviewer Cliches

An oldie but goodie piece of advice from The Examiner's Michelle Kerns. Her advice is a compelling tour de force that describes with nuanced insights those cliches that makes us all hate book reviewers. The article passes the R&R test: readable and riveting!

Deirdre McCloskey on Good Writing

Bad writing is a democratic problem in that it affects both the uneducated person and the over-educated one. The latter, In particular, over-educated fellows such as Ivory Tower members, who* have a hard time explaining their research in clear prose. Undoubtedly, failing to describe or defend ideas just because they are buried under poor writing is a disservice to humanity. Praise thy Web because She gives us Deirdre McCloskey, who has taken upon herself to teach some basic writing rules to theoretical minds and liberate humanity from illegible words. Her 15 rules of economic writing are a gift that every human being interested in clear prose should read. If you do not want to help yourself by spending 30 minutes on these rules, you can read a one-page summary. If you, however, want to go the whole nine yards you can read Professor McCloskey’s book, “Economical Writing.”

* See rule # 15.

Speech Writing for The People, by the People, and of the People

What are the elements of a good speech? Granted, a competent speechwriter must juggle a speech’s pace, flow, alliteration, core themes, aesthetic and also emotional qualities. But how do you blend seamlessly all these elements without conveying a woolly-headed or convoluted message? The answer is not simple and the learning path is not straightforward. Some people are just innately able to write great speeches in a short time. Abraham Lincoln apparently wrote his Gettysburg Address—probably one of the best speeches ever in the history of mankind—in less than two days. Thankfully, for the rest of us without a natural ability to pen celebrated addresses, there are infinite resources available for free just one click away. For example, About.com is very helpful, featuring a whole section on speech writing. Also, there are good speech samples here and, of course, there is a blog with a ton of speechwriting ideas a tips. In addition, you can get inspired by reading historic speeches, such as Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" or Edmund Burke's "Speech on conciliation with the colonies." 

Edifying Editing

I recently read this excellent article (thanks to Marginal Revolution) by California Institute of Technology's R. Preston McAfee on what makes a good editor. Prof. McAfee provides lots of good (and free!) advice on both editing and writing. 

E-mail Etiquette

Sometimes it takes more time to sign-off an email than to actually write it. Certainly, an email's final words can negatively impact its core message. Depending on who your audience/reader is you may need to close the email differently. However, it is hard to know what specific words are appropriate. Thanks to Washington Post's Ruth McCann we can learn more about email-etiquette's basics in this article. Read it and figure out if your boss deserves a "sincerely."

About.com on Job-related Letters

So, you’ve heard all about the 21st century extremely competitive labor market. Particularly, employers are raising the bar on potential employees’ non-technical skills such as written & oral communication, team work, and leadership. The first filter that employers have to assess a job candidate’s non-technical skills is his/her usage of written employment protocol. Although the traditional resume and cover letters come to mind, there are specific letters for each step of the job-seeking process. Knowing their use and style can make a big difference in the job market. Let us all be grateful for About.com’s Resumes, Cover Letters, and Employment-Related Letters. The site is an outstanding source of advise, samples, and videos on all kinds of employment-related letters. It is maintained by job-search-expert Alison Doyle, who has her own useful blog. Imagine that, free employment counseling one click away! [BTW: About.com is a relatively unknown gem of well-organized information buried under Google’s Internet-search dominance. Do check it out.]

The Economist's Style Guide

I am big fan of the British magazine The Economist. They have the best international affairs coverage, superb economic analysis, and up-to-date information on all that is relevant in our global village. However, what makes The Economist so good, I think, is their writing style. Unlike many magazines, journals, and newspapers, reading The Economist is a pleasure regardless of the subject. Notably, you will never find in its pages long sentences, convoluted phrases, woolly-headed reasoning, or unnecessary jargon. The magazine's editors also take care of the small stuff that makes a difference when you read long articles. For example, they avoid solecisms, spell out abbreviations, and generally write in active voice. Best of all, they let you learn about their style and editing rules for free! Just visit the magazine's Style Guide page and one day you will be able to write phrases like, "The infantile solipsism that leads a government to fiddle the economic figures has been the handmaiden of decline."

Ivory Tower for Free

I really don't understand why prestigious private universities put up some of their courses and lectures on-line for free. Sure, education is a public good and so on. But isn't it the point of elitist universities to be elitist and restrict access to their resources? At any rate, some of the world's leading universities have free content on-line for us all to enjoy. Here it is:

Columbia University

Harvard University

M.I.T.

Princeton University

Stanford University

University of California, Berkeley

University of California, Irvine

Yale University

How not to write

William Safire has made a huge favor to all of us willing to improve our writing skills. His book "How Not to Write: Misrules of Grammar" is an extremely valuable guide to good writing. In less than 160 pages, Safire tackles usual grammatical mistakes with wit and erudition. Read it and contribute to a better (written) world. If you can't afford the book's $4 cost (used in Amazon), you should borrow it from your closest library.