Microstyle: The Art of Writing Little

by Christopher Johnson

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Description

A branding consultant explains how to craft miniature messages such as headlines, titles, sound bites, brand names, domain names, and slogans that grab attention, communicate effectively, and stick in the mind, focusing each chapter on a particular tool.

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Member Reviews

5 reviews
This is a must read for people interested in language, and of course, writers.

It's really quite brilliant, the author really takes in account the different social aspects--mostly on the web, all the while covering things like the elevator pitch and company names. It really goes into the reasons why we like the simple things we do--like Coca-Cola.
This is a book about finding the crunchy hidden meanings of words and phrases and then using them to efficiently deliver a message. Most of the examples are from advertising or headlines, with a few movie and book titles thrown in. Then again, it's not so much a book about how to do that as it is a book about how others have done it. In that sense, it's not very successful. On the other hand, for anyone that loves words and writing and wants to think a little deeper about how words work, it's an interesting, light read.
More of an exploration of naming and advertising dynamics than a writing guide. In spite of the many quotes from twitter, at times it sounds just like the more internet-friendly observations have been glued to a pre-existing book on advertising-oriented linguistics (see the author's blog and job). Nevertheless, a nice read.
Very interesting and quick read. How to get yourself heard quickly and effectively - be personal, be brief, be interesting, be relevant.
네트워크 시대에 한 번쯤 읽어보면 좋은 책.
Good book and I read once the network era.

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Published Reviews

ThingScore 75
Implicit in "Microstyle" is the faith that you can say a lot in relatively few words, imply even more and broaden the effect still further by immersing the reader in the depths of connotation and feeling.
Aug 6, 2011
added by tim.taylor
Christopher Johnson’s lively first book, “Microstyle: The Art of Writing Little,” is a work of pop linguistics that doesn’t have much that’s blindingly new to say. That is, it synthesizes a wide range of current thinking from recent books about grammar, branding, cognitive science and Web theory. But it does so with intelligence and friendly wit.
Dwight Garner, The New York Times
Jul 26, 2011
added by tim.taylor

Author Information

1 Work 155 Members

Common Knowledge

Original publication date
2012-07-23
Dedication
For Jordanna, Tobias, and Finn
First words
This is the age of the Incredible Shrinking Message.

Classifications

Genres
Fiction and Literature, Technology
DDC/MDS
808.042Literature & rhetoricLiterature, rhetoric & criticismRhetoric and collections of literary texts from more than two literaturesRhetoric and anthologiesHandbooks for writersEnglish
LCC
PE1421 .J63Language and LiteratureEnglish languageEnglishModern English
BISAC

Statistics

Members
153
Popularity
214,876
Reviews
5
Rating
(3.80)
Languages
English
Media
Paper, Ebook
ISBNs
4
ASINs
4