Beyond Style: Mastering the Finer Points of Writing

Offers writers advice on style, pace, unity, sound, imagery, identification, credibility, subtlety, tension, form, and viewpoint

YA Early on, Provost says that this book is aimed at those who have ``done a good deal of writing, and perhaps published some of it.'' While that profile may not fit many high-school students, schools with a large writing program may find this how-to book valuable. Written in a breezy, conversational style, its easy readability is likely to appeal to students looking for a non-textbook writing manual. Some of the topics are covered by Strunk and White in Elements of Style , but others, such as pace and tension, apply particularly to longer fiction and nonfiction writings. The section on originality is helpful, as is the part on how to avoid stereotypes. There are some suggested exercises, but many readers will look only at the parts that describe what they are having trouble with, repair manual style. The index is adequate but suffers from the use of jargon like ``luggage'' and ``plants'' which average students may not know. In addition, all excerpts of published and non-published works used as examples are indexed by author, which is not useful as some come from struggling writers who have written to Provost for help. The book will be a good follow-up to Peter Elbow's Writing Without Teachers (Oxford, 1973). Carolyn Praytor Boyd, Episcopal High School, Bellaire
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.