Elements of Expression: Putting Thoughts into Words - Softcover

Plotnik, Arthur

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1936740141 ISBN 13: 9781936740147

Publisher: Viva Editions, 2012

Synopsis

More than ever in this completely updated edition, The Elements of Expression helps word users "light up the cosmos or the written page or the face across the table" as they seek the radiance of expressiveness--the vivid expression of thoughts, feelings, and observations. Nothing kills radiance like the murky, generic language dominating today's talk, airwaves, and posts. It tugs at our every sentence, but using it to express anything beyond the ordinary is like flapping the tongue to escape gravity.

The Elements of Expression offers an adventurous and inspiring flight into words that truly share what's percolating in our minds. Here writers, presenters, students, bloggers--even well intentioned "Mad Men"--will discover language to convey precise feelings, move audiences, delight and persuade. No snob or scold, the acclaimed word-maven Arthur Plotnik explores the full range of expressiveness, from playful "tough talk" to finely wrought literature, with hundreds of rousing examples. Confessing that we are all "like a squid in its ink" when first groping for luminous expression, he shines his amiable wit on the elements leading, ultimately, to language of "fissionable intensity."

About this title

About the Author

Arthur Plotnik is a versatile author with a distinguished background in editing and publishing. Among his seven previous books (not to mention 22 pseudonymous potboilers early in his career) are The Elements of Editing and The Elements of Expression, both Book-of-the-Month Club selections, and the best-selling Spunk & Bite: A Writer's Guide to Bold, Contemporary Style. His articles, op-eds, and literary pieces have been published widely, including his columns in The Writer magazine, on whose editorial board he serves.Plotnik studied under Philip Roth in the Iowa Writers Workshop, was a reporter for the Albany (N.Y.) Times-Union, and after earning a second graduate degree, worked as a Library of Congress staffer in Washington and magazine editor in New York. He received numerous honors and awards as a long-time editor and publisher with the American Library Association in Chicago. He lives in that city with his wife and an avalanche tumble of jottings for Better than Great.

From the Back Cover

If a word falls in today's impenetrable forest of words, does anyone hear it? Now, in this updated and expanded edition, Plotnik treats expressiveness in a world of texts, tweets, rap, apps, and joyful diversity. Embracing both the new and classic forms, with hundreds of vivid examples, he leads word-users from the dull generic to the fissionable---language that blasts thoughts and feelings into expression of the first intensity.

Reviews

The second edition of Plotnik’s neat little guide to writing comes at a good time in history—with more people communicating electronically than ever before, it often seems that grammar, spelling, and the sheer ability to express one’s thoughts clearly are all under assault. This book offers tips on how to write and speak in an engaging and effective manner. More than a grammar guide, this should find a place in most libraries and will be appreciated by both the casual blogger and professional writer. --Rebecca Vnuk

Edition details

• Publisher: Viva Editions
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1936740141
• ISBN 13: 9781936740147
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 240