A Concise Course in the Art of Writing

Whether you're composing a letter, writing a school thesis, or starting a novel, this resource offers expert advice on how to think more creatively, how to conjure up ideas from scratch, and how to express those ideas clearly and elegantly. No matter where you find yourself in the writing process-from the daunting look of a blank page, to the rough draft that needs shaping, to the small but important questions of punctuation-you'll find what you need in this one handy, all-inclusive volume. Some features include:

• How to use journals to store ideas and explore potential topics
• Examples of style and technique from such masters of form as Mark Twain, H.L. Mencken, E.B. White, and Annie Dillard
• Advice on using outlines to shape your material-and drafts and revisions to refine them
• Selecting the proper words to convey both information and point of view
• A useful appendix on punctuation, ranging from commas to underlining and capitalization