Economical Writing, Third Edition: Thirty-Five Rules for Clear and Persuasive Prose (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing)
Deirdre N. McCloskey and Stephen T. Ziliak. Link
If you write a lot you, buy this book. Deirdre McCloskey’s classic will improve your writing.
I’d give this book to any graduate student or young professional on their first day. Their careers will prosper if they follow McCloskey’s recommendations.
Most professionals write a lot, and a lot of professional writing is turgid. Many reports, memos and notes churned out just don’t make sense. If the words don’t make sense after the first reading, most readers give up.
If the reader understands your words, the chances are that your ideas and recommendations get taken up. If you leave the reader puzzled as to the point you were putting forward, you have wasted their time.
If you want to turn out clear and concise writing, follow McCloskey’s 35 Rules. You’ll be glad you did.
McCloskey’s 35 Rules
1 Writing Is a Trade
2 Writing Is Thinking
3 Rules Can Help, but Bad Rules Hurt
4 Be Thou Clear, but Seek Joy, Too
5 The Rules Are Factual Rather Than Logical
6 Classical Rhetoric Guides Even the Economical Writer
7 Fluency Can Be Achieved by Grit
8 Write Early Rather Than Late
9 You Will Need Tools
10 Keep Your Spirits Up, Forge Ahead
11 Speak to an Audience of Human Beings
12 Avoid Boilerplate
13 Control Your Tone
14 A Paragraph Should Have a Point
15 Make Tables, Graphs, Displayed Equations, and Labels on Images Readable by Themselves
16 Footnotes and Other “Scholarly” Tics Are Pedantic
17 Make Your Writing Cohere
18 Use Your Ear
19 Write in Complete Sentences
20 Avoid Elegant Variation
21 Watch How Each Word Connects with Others
22 Watch Punctuation
23 The Order Around Switch Until It Good Sounds
24 Read, Out Loud
25 Use Verbs, Active Ones
26 Avoid Words That Bad Writers Love
27 Be Concrete
28 Be Plain
29 Avoid Cheap Typographical Tricks
30 Avoid This, That, These, Those
31 Above All, Look at Your Words
32 Use Standard Forms in Letters
33 Treat Speaking in Public as a Performance
34 Advice for Nonnative English Speakers
35 If You Didn’t Stop Reading, Join the Flow