The New Oxford Guide to Writing

Book excerpt: Many books on writing tell you how to think more creatively, how to conjure up an idea from scratch. Many, once you have an idea, show you how to express it clearly and elegantly. And many handbooks offer reliable advice on the use of commas, semicolons, and so forth. But The New Oxford Guide to Writing does all three, so that 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 will find what you need in one handy, all-inclusive volume. Highlighted by numerous examples of successful prose--including marvelous, brief excerpts from Mark Twain, Joan Didion, H.L. Mencken, E.B. White, and Annie Dillard--this stimulating volume covers the entire subject step-by-step, clearly and authoritatively. It shows: ___*How to use commonplace books and journals to store ____ideas, how to brainstorm, how to explore a potential ____topic systematically ___*How to use a statement of purpose or an outline to ____give preliminary shape to your material, how to use ____drafts and revisions (and more revisions) to refine ____your ideas ___*How to open an essay clearly and interestingly, how to ____lead the reader subtly, how to use qualifications to ____express complexity without sacrificing impact ___*How to organize ideas into a coherent paragraph, how ____to vary sentence structure and length for variety and ____emphasis ___*How to select words that convey both information and ____point of view ___*And much, much more In addition, it contains a useful appendix on punctuation, ranging from commas and periods to underlining and capitalization. Whether you write for business or for pleasure, whether you are a beginner or an experienced pro, The New Oxford Guide to Writing is an essential addition to your reference library, providing abundant assistance and encouragement to write with more clarity, more color, and more force.