false 38524 4 When too tightly leashed, writing chokes and loses its vitality. Although the rules of composition popularized in William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White&#8217;s <i>Elements of Style </i>have been <i>de rigueur</i> for decades, they won&#8217;t exactly set your writing free.<br><br>To the rescue comes <i>Spunk & Bite</i>, a guide to bold and radiant language and style. The secret, according to bestselling author and former publishing executive Arthur Plotnik, is to embrace those qualities that composition rulebooks sidestep&#8211;among them, surprise, personality, engagement, edge, and fearlessness. Drawing on selections from today&#8217;s most exciting writers&#8211;Jonathan Franzen, Sandra Cisneros, Bill Bryson, Maureen Dowd, and many dozens more&#8211;Plotnik reveals the tricks and techniques that make prose fresh, forceful, and publishable. <br><br>For all types of writing&#8211;novels, articles, poems, ad copy, blogs, and even e-mail&#8211;this uncommon handbook reveals how to make your words so fetching that readers beg for more.<br><br><br><b>Arthur Plotnik </b>is an author, and former publishing executive. Two of his works have been featured as Book of the Month Club selections: <i>The Elements of Editing</i> and <i>The Elements of Expression: Putting Thoughts into Words</i> . Reviewers have consistently praised Plotnik&#8217;s writing for its accuracy, style, and wit, often ranking it with Strunk & White in practicality. <br><br>Plotnik studied under Philip Roth and Vance Bourjaily at the Iowa Writers Workshop . As a publisher, he brought five national awards to the American Library Association&#8217;s book imprint. He also won numerous honors as editor of ALA&#8217;s flagship magazine, <i>American Libraries.</i> 38286 15 11 2005 Spunk & Bite: A writer's guide to punchier, more engaging language & style total:114|5:36|4:49|3:25|2:1|1:3| 114 456 262 31 3 1 false false Sat Aug 23 03:50:30 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 16 06:47:31 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 23 03:50:30 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Thu Aug 28 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 09 13:28:59 -0700 2008 Wed Sep 24 15:44:30 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 1 false false Fri Jun 20 06:43:58 -0700 2008 Tue Jan 15 23:26:28 -0800 2008 Fri Jun 20 06:43:58 -0700 2008
This one is entertaining, which is surprising for a 'writer's guide'. But Plotnik practices what he preaches, and there are some fun turns of phrase.

I find myself waxing uber-prosaic af...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Feb 15 19:13:23 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 04 07:09:29 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 15 19:13:23 -0800 2009 ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Oct 22 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Dec 07 18:29:22 -0800 2008 Thu Oct 22 15:02:27 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Jun 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 19 09:55:59 -0700 2008 Fri Jun 19 16:42:55 -0700 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Fri Oct 02 12:30:55 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 02 12:32:34 -0700 2009 1 0 false false Thu Apr 10 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Jan 10 13:51:12 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 10 13:51:12 -0800 2009 1 0 false false Tue Feb 10 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 12 16:05:48 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 12 06:51:45 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Oct 27 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 27 17:47:12 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 27 17:51:20 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 11 10:16:51 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 15 10:02:38 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri May 01 15:41:02 -0700 2009 Fri May 01 15:41:06 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Mar 17 14:36:17 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 17 14:36:49 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Apr 27 10:23:55 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 27 10:24:10 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Jul 04 07:16:33 -0700 2007 Sun Sep 23 08:11:36 -0700 2007 The Writer magazine (which is ending, I hear!), and I learn from this book. I always love checking out new books on w...more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Jul 03 09:38:37 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 03 09:40:40 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Sep 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun May 03 02:07:41 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 05 22:03:19 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Aug 24 13:02:15 -0700 2007 Fri Aug 24 13:10:32 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jun 02 05:26:22 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 23 06:03:34 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Fri Aug 24 20:14:07 -0700 2007 Fri Aug 24 20:15:55 -0700 2007 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=38524