Revising Prose
by Richard A. Lanham
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Lanham's eight simple steps to clearer, more understandable writing will win you praise from bosses, colleagues, and clients. Voice; Business Prose; Professional Prose; Electronic Prose; General Interest; improving your writing.Tags
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An essential and no nonsense guide to any kind of writing, but especially useful to the person who wants to communicate in the "real world" -- that is, in business, academia, or personal correspondence. It's not as much about style or spelling or punctuation, but about how to get the fat, useless, rambly stuff that you were convinced made you sound smarter in highschool out of your writing so people can figure out what you are trying to say.
Your writing will improve exponentially if you apply Lanham's principles during the revision process. Lanham patiently describes each technique and convincingly explains its value.
I've reviewed this book here: http://douggeivett.wordpress.com/2010/11/27/perfecting-your-prose%E2%80%94part-1...
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17+ Works 1,413 Members
Born on April 26, 1936, Richard Lanham was educated at Yale, receiving a B.A. in 1956, an M.A. in 1960, and a Ph.D. in 1963. After serving in the U.S. Army for two years, Lanham worked briefly for the Smithsonian Institution and then took a position teaching English at Dartmouth College. In 1965, he moved to the University of California at Los show more Angeles, eventually becoming the executive director of writing programs. He was a National Endowment for the Humanities senior fellow in 1973-74. Lanham is the author of numerous books on writing, including Style: An Anti-textbook, The Motives of Eloquence: Literary Rhetoric in the Renaissance, Revising Prose, Revising Business Prose, Analyzing Prose, and Literacy and the Survival of Humanism. He has also contributed articles to English Literary Renaissance, Modern Language Quarterly, English Studies, and other journals. Richard Lanham married Carol Dana in 1957. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Classifications
- Genre
- Fiction and Literature
- DDC/MDS
- 808.042 — Literature & rhetoric Literature, rhetoric & criticism Rhetoric and collections of literary texts from more than two literatures Rhetoric and anthologies Handbooks for writers English
- LCC
- PE1421 .L297 — Language and Literature English language English Modern English
- BISAC
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- 292
- Popularity
- 109,576
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.89)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 7
