Mastering the Craft of Writing: How to Write With Clarity, Emphasis, and Style

Gutsy. Stephen Wilbers begins Mastering the Craft of Writing with a challenge—read this book twice. In a world where few people read, even fewer read with any depth, and most treat writing books as a sleep aid, any author encouraging a second read might appear delusional. But, on finishing a first read, perhaps gutsy fits.Wilbers describes himself as a “writing consultant, award-winning author, and columnist”.[1] He has taught at a number of universities[2] and written a number of books on writing—the other one on my desk is Keys to Great Writing (Cincinnati: F&W Publications, 2000).[3]Mastering the Craft of Writing focuses on 52 writing tips for weekly study complete with exercises and, frequently, a reflection illustrating the tip of the week. Many of Wilbers’ tips proved helpful in drawing attention to fine points in language usage that I was not—as a writer—sensitive to. Early in his book he focuses on tips relating to clarity; in the middle of the book he focuses on tips about emphasis; and late in the book he focuses on stylistic writing tips. Let me structure my comments accordingly.Clarity. For example, the tip for week 1 advises the writer reading to: “Listen to Your Language” (5). Picking a few well-known, book titles, like Ernest Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea”, he teases us with alternative word choices (e.g. “The Elderly Man and the Ocean”) to make the point that word choice matters.Another example of a clarity tip is found in week 19 where Wilbers lists 5 type of mid-sentence shifts to avoid—o Shifts in verb tense,o Shifts in person,o Shifts in subjects,o Shifts in voice, ando Shifts in modified subject (103-104).—and cites examples of sentence both with the error and with the error corrected. While I was sensitive to the first two shifts (verb tense and person), the others were new to me. Oftentimes in speaking and writing we make these shifts without giving them much thought even though they muddle our message unnecessarily.Emphasis. Wilbers’ tips on sentence construction and emphasis were interesting, such as in week 27, where he writes: “In the left part of your sentence, concentrate on topic. In the right part of your sentence, manage your emphasis.” (147)Building on this discussion, he observes in week 29 that subordinate clauses can be used to put a positive spin on bad news—a talent helpful for writers who have daily interactions with the public (157). This tip makes clear that Wilbers is sensitive to a wider range of writing styles and contexts than most writers, who tend to write for a particular audience and within a particular professional context.Style. Wilbers offers a number of tips that can add polish to your writing—who can’t use more polish? For someone, like myself, coming out of a technical writing background, these tips are perhaps the least familiar.For example, in week 40 Wilbers outlines 4 types of compound sentences:o Balanced (or parallel) sentences have a list of similar elements,o Antithetical sentences are balanced sentences with a contrary element,o Loose sentences begin with a main clause and are followed by parallel elements, ando Periodic sentences have the main clause following the parallel elements (223).What kind of sentence is this line—“Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she had to walk into mine.” (222)—spoken by Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) in the 1942 movie Casablanca? (Periodic) By placing the parallel elements in the sentence first, a periodic sentence offers a drama introduction to the main clause according to Wilbers (223).Stephen Wilbers’ Mastering the Craft of Writing is an interesting and accessible read. Even experienced writers are likely to find his advice useful. Wilbers’ challenge to read the book more than once is warranted, if you are like me, because—for the absent minded—practice still makes perfect.[1] Backcover. Also see: (...)[2] For example, he teaches at the University of Minnesota.[3] My current writing instructor recommended both books—Keys to Great Writing and Mastering the Craft of Writing.

After considerable thought, weighing whether I liked this book or loved it, I've decided to go five-star meaning I love it. However, for some unexplainable reason the love affair hasn't quite siezed me with the intensity I've felt when reading and studying other books on writing. The content covers all the areas any writer will need with excellent presentations and examples. Also the deminsions of the book suit me as opposed to some of the smaller-in-dimension books that have come from Writer's Digest. I've also made two short presentations to my Writer's Group using the information I gleaned from this book and the earlier companion book "Keys to Great Writing." Probably as I use these for continued reference the love for them will grow into an indespensible infatuation. I reread my writing books as time passes to remind me of details that are forgotten when not frequently used. "Mastering the craft of writing" is something every writer should read and study; its content will move you to higher levels in the craft of writing and in your style and personality as they emerge on the page.

Such an EXCELLENT book and here's why: 1. the chapters are short. 2. the author is extremely engaging 3. it is NOT like any other dry, boring writing book. 4. he will make you laugh 5. you will WANT to do the exercises at the end of each chapter. 6. he will ask you, as he is writing the chapter, to improve on his examples and then he'll give you the correct answer within the text. The author encourages writers to read the book twice (sounds a bit much) but here's why: the first time through he suggests you skip the exercises and read it cover to cover. The second time through he suggests you read a chapter EACH WEEK WITH the exercises and promises that at the end of the 52 weeks, you will be a better writer. I haven't read it the second time but I plan to. Highly recommend!

Very good book with a lot of great writing helps and guidelines. One of the best, especially for a learning writer. Isn't that all of us? Great help for both experienced and inexperienced writers.

I am an english major and got this for a writing class. I learned SO much - more than any textbook! If you are a creative writer, you need this book.

There are tons of lame books on writing that provide generic advice like:-Write with rhythm-Vary your sentence length-Make sure your ideas flow from one sentence to the nextHowever, Mastering the Craft of Writing is not one of those books.It lives up to its title by providing precise and practical advice on how to write sentences and paragraphs that are clear, emphatic and flavorful.Even though the book isn't about copywriting, it aided me greatly with my work as a web copywriter.So if you write for a living--or want to write for a living--and give a crap about creating quality work, then buy this book--now.

The content of the book is really good. However, there are lot of spelling and format mistakes.

Mastering the Craft of Writing by Stephen Wilbers certainly deserves a 5-star rating. Mr. Wilbers provides writing tips along with examples and exercises for each tip. The book is meant to be read slowly; each tip has its own chapter. I am not sure about "mastering" writing. Or even if writing is a craft. My approach is to improve my writing through practice and through reading helpful books on writing like Mr. Wilbers'.

Such a great book, I've learned a lot

It’s unique. It’s lucid. It’s better than the other books on writing.The book fine-tunes one’s style of writing. Really.It made me buy his other book titled “keys to great writing”.

I bought this for an up and coming author who has found it extremely helpful. Thank you

Unique. Best book on writing among the available ones on Amazon.

Brand new book. I like it