Belief 04

Sentences

Trust is won or lost one sentence at a time — and every technique that wins it has a name.

Writing Beliefs · members' unit

Sentences is behind a locked door

The Writing Beliefs page and Study are open to everyone. The other 9 units are enrolment-only.

What's in this unit · 20 min read

  1. Put the engine at the front
  2. The period is a stop sign
  3. Control the pace
  4. Climb the ladder before you write
  5. Prune
  6. What Strunk actually said
  7. Break the rules on purpose
  8. Your turn

7 quick checksannotated passagesbefore/after editsline-edit lababstraction ladder

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Sources

  • Roy Peter Clark — Writing Tools — 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer
  • Molly McCowan — Effective Editing (The Great Courses)
  • William Strunk Jr. & E.B. White — The Elements of Style
  • William Strunk Jr. — The Elements of Style (1918)
  • Geoffrey K. Pullum — 50 Years of Stupid Grammar Advice
  • William Zinsser — On Writing Well
  • Sol Stein — Stein on Writing
  • George Orwell — Politics and the English Language
  • Gary Provost — 100 Ways to Improve Your Writing
  • James Scott Bell — The Art of War for Writers