Do I Make Myself Clear?Do I Make Myself Clear?
Why Writing Well Matters
Title rated 3.7 out of 5 stars, based on 46 ratings(46 ratings)
Book, 2017
Current format, Book, 2017, First edition, Available .eBook
Also offered as eBook, Available. Available
Harry Evans has edited everything from the urgent files of battlefield reporters to the complex thought processes of Henry Kissinger. He's even been knighted for his services to journalism. In DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?, he brings his indispensable insight to us all in his definite guide to writing well. The right words are oxygen to our ideas, but the digital era, with all of its TTYL, LMK, and WTF, has been cutting off that oxygen flow. The compulsion to be precise has vanished from our culture, and in writing of every kind we see a trend towards more--more speed and more information but far less clarity. Evans provides practical examples of how editing and rewriting can make for better communication, even in the digital age. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR? is an essential text, and one that will provide every writer an editor at his shoulder.
"This wise and entertaining guide by one of the great editors of our time offers timeless tools for making meaning clear. Refresh your writing. Unravel convoluted sales talk written to deceive. See through political campaigns erected on a tower of falsehoods. Fake news is but one of the pimples of a literate civilization under siege. Slovenly English! Billions of words come at us every day with unimaginable velocity and shriveled meaning, in social media posts, bloated marketing, incomprehensible contracts, and political language 'designed to make lies sound truthful.' Orwell, of course. The digital era he never glimpsed has had unfortunate effects on understanding. Ugly words and phrases are picked up by the unwary and passed on like a virus. Cryptic assertion supplants explanation and reasoned argument. Muddle and contradiction suffocate meaning. You will write better--and have fun--with the original approaches of an editor experienced in ridding prose of corrupting predators: learn to recognize the infiltrators, the flesh-eaters. and the zombies. But watch, too, as Harry Evans identifies the magic potions mixed by the best of prose writers. He has spent his life clarifying complexities, from the tragic poisoning of thalidomide babies to the urgent files from battlefield reporters and his political histories. Make yourself clear with a trustworthy editor at your side."--Jacket.
"This wise and entertaining guide by one of the great editors of our time offers timeless tools for making meaning clear. Refresh your writing. Unravel convoluted sales talk written to deceive. See through political campaigns erected on a tower of falsehoods. Fake news is but one of the pimples of a literate civilization under siege. Slovenly English! Billions of words come at us every day with unimaginable velocity and shriveled meaning, in social media posts, bloated marketing, incomprehensible contracts, and political language 'designed to make lies sound truthful.' Orwell, of course. The digital era he never glimpsed has had unfortunate effects on understanding. Ugly words and phrases are picked up by the unwary and passed on like a virus. Cryptic assertion supplants explanation and reasoned argument. Muddle and contradiction suffocate meaning. You will write better--and have fun--with the original approaches of an editor experienced in ridding prose of corrupting predators: learn to recognize the infiltrators, the flesh-eaters. and the zombies. But watch, too, as Harry Evans identifies the magic potions mixed by the best of prose writers. He has spent his life clarifying complexities, from the tragic poisoning of thalidomide babies to the urgent files from battlefield reporters and his political histories. Make yourself clear with a trustworthy editor at your side."--Jacket.
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- New York : Little, Brown and Company, 2017.
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