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Ask HN: Good books for English writing?

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Re: Ask HN: Good books for English writing?

#31

Post by michael_dorfman »

fierarul wrote: post #23
michael_dorfman wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also available in paperback (for $10!). If you're serious about learning to write well, it's well worth putting down the Kindle and going "old school" on this one.

Yeah, I'm just not from the US so I don't like to wait for the package to arrive, pay extra for the shipping, then have it clear customs, etc. Kindle provides instant gratification and all that :-)

I'm not in the US either, but patience is a virtue, and good things come to those who wait. The Kindle is great, but don't let it form the limit of your world.

Re: Ask HN: Good books for English writing?

#33

Post by Zev »

As an exercise, try writing in E-Prime[1], instead of regular English. Its a "variant" of English where the phrase "to be" and any variant of it ("be", "is", "am", "are", "was", "were", "been," "being" and their variants).

In High School, I had an English teacher who made us write like this for a few months. There is a noticeable difference between something I wrote directly before and after writing in E-Prime for a few months. I hated it at the time (writing in E-Prime forced me to think about every word I was writing). Few years down the line, the exercises are one of the biggest things that have stuck with me.

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Prime

Re: Ask HN: Good books for English writing?

#35

Post by swombat »

tsynfeng wrote: post #27
swombat wrote: post #2

The good thing about learning to write well is that every books is a book about writing - or at least every good book. Increase the number of top quality books that you read and your language will naturally improve. It's not a magic recipe, and it won't happen overnight, but it will happen. One way to make sure that what you read is always good is to focus on the classics - Dickens, Twain and so on - and also the (go…

"within a matter of years" That made me smile : ) I hope I can be as persistent as it takes.

The great thing about reading, particularly fiction, is that it's such a pleasure... so disciplining yourself to read more great fiction (and thus improve your writing and a number of other areas of your life) is a bit like disciplining yourself to eat great-tasting food or to go for walks more often. It's something you can really enjoy and build good habits around.The fact that your writing will naturally improve is just a bonus!

Re: Ask HN: Good books for English writing?

#36

Post by GeneralMaximus »

tsynfeng wrote: post #25
vorg wrote: post #6

Many people use too many words. To shorten your post: "Can anyone recommend good books for improving English writing? I've tried Jason Fried's technique of writing an essay in five versions: three pages, one page, three paragraphs, one paragraph, and one sentence. It worked really well, but I've now become more critical about... ... ..." Two golden rules: practice, and feedback from others. I'm certainly still learni…

Being concise is my ultimate goal too. I tried to shorten my post but it was the best I could do. Just for an exchange of idea, how would you write my post? (no comparison or offense here, I simply want to see a different style)

A few weeks back I purchased a book called The Dictionary of Concise Writing by Robert Hartwell Fiske. So far it has served me well. Here: http://www.amazon.com/Dictionary-Concise-Writing-Alternative...

It's a fun book to skim when you have nothing to do.

Re: Ask HN: Good books for English writing?

#37

Post by manicbovine »

Zev wrote: post #33

As an exercise, try writing in E-Prime[1], instead of regular English. Its a "variant" of English where the phrase "to be" and any variant of it ("be", "is", "am", "are", "was", "were", "been," "being" and their variants). In High School, I had an English teacher who made us write like this for a few months. There is a noticeable difference between something I wrote directly before and after writing in E-Prime for a…

I think you forgot to add the words 'is eliminated'.

"... and any variant of it (...) is eliminated."

Just helping to clarify your interesting post.

Re: Ask HN: Good books for English writing?

#38

Post by tsynfeng »

andrewtbham wrote: post #34

why don't you post a link to the different versions of your essay? fyi, I guessed english was not your native tongue from the title. Your subject could be "Good books for writing", most people on hacker news take it for granted that you're writing in English.

I wrote on paper; have been trying to avoid online distractions lately.

Re: Ask HN: Good books for English writing?

#39

Post by tsynfeng »

Zev wrote: post #33

As an exercise, try writing in E-Prime[1], instead of regular English. Its a "variant" of English where the phrase "to be" and any variant of it ("be", "is", "am", "are", "was", "were", "been," "being" and their variants). In High School, I had an English teacher who made us write like this for a few months. There is a noticeable difference between something I wrote directly before and after writing in E-Prime for a…

I knew asking on HN will generate interesting answers like this!

Re: Ask HN: Good books for English writing?

#40

Post by Zev »

manicbovine wrote: post #37
Zev wrote: post #33

As an exercise, try writing in E-Prime[1], instead of regular English. Its a "variant" of English where the phrase "to be" and any variant of it ("be", "is", "am", "are", "was", "were", "been," "being" and their variants). In High School, I had an English teacher who made us write like this for a few months. There is a noticeable difference between something I wrote directly before and after writing in E-Prime for a…

I think you forgot to add the words 'is eliminated'. "... and any variant of it (...) is eliminated." Just helping to clarify your interesting post.

I did indeed, thanks for catching that.
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