The Elements of Writing: The Complete How-To Guide to Writing, With Case Studies from the Masters in All Genres

by Charles Euchner

REVISED AND UPDATED FOR 2022"The book Pinker wishes he wrote." ... "Move over, Strunk and White." ... "Without peer." ... "Trust me–it works." ... "Just the right blend of rigor, encouragement, and fun." ... "Both useful and a pleasure." ... "A bounty of usable information."Everyone, these days, is a writer. Whether you like it or not, you will have to write in school and on the job. Even in "non-writing" professions -- like engineering, coding, medicine, accounting, and more -- you have to write emails and memos and reports.The problem is that most of us were mis-taught. As a result, we get writer's block. Or we get tangled up. We spend way too much time writing. And we don't get the results we want and need. The answer is right here.The Elements of Writing offers a simple, intuitive approach to writing well in all fields. At the center of The Elements is this simple Almost all challenges of writing -- storytelling, mechanics, and analysis -- fit a simple 1-2-3 format. When you understand how this format works, you can master all of the simple skills you need to write better and faster than ever before.Charlie Euchner, the author of The Elements of Writing and other acclaimed books on baseball, civil rights, cities, and TV -- not only shows you what to do but also how to do it. Step by step, Euchner explains the simple "tricks of the trade" you can apply right away. You probably know some of these simple patterns already. But Euchner points them out and explains how they work, step by step.Then Euchner calls on a "hall of fame" cast to show you how to do it. Every single skill has a "case study," which shows how great writers and storytellers -- from Homer to Shakespeare to Hemingway to Capote, and dozens more -- apply the skills that Euchner explains.Most writing guides offer vague advice on "Grab the reader right away!" "Keep it short!" "Keep it simple!" "Show, don't tell!" All good advice. But only Charlie Euchner explains, step by step, how to do it. He gives you powerful systems and guides so that you can improve your writing -- dramatically -- the next time you sit down to work.Euchner is a respected author and teacher, who has delivered writing seminars to corporate and educational clients all over the U.S. His books include Nobody Turn Me Around, the classic work on the civil rights movement; Playing the Field, the landmark critique of the sports stadium scam; The Last Nine Innings, the "last word on the inside game of baseball," according to sportswriting legend Frank Deford; and other works called "crackling and dynamic," "powerful," "persuasive," and "must reading."Euchner now teaches writing at Columbia University. Previously he taught at Yale and Holy Cross. He also ran a public policy think tank at Harvard.The Elements of Writing is a one-of-a-kind book. Simple and straightforward, easy to use, it shows EXACTLY what to do to master EVERY writing skill.How did Charlie Euchner come up with this complete system for writers in all fields? Euchner developed The Elements by systematically “reverse-engineering” some of the best writers from antiquity to modern times.The Elements provides close to 100 case studies.

Genres: Writing

382 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 12, 2010

About the author

Charles Euchner is the author or editor of eight books. He teaches writing at Yale University and was the founding executive director of the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston at Harvard University.

Reviews

[Anna Erishkigal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good multi-purpose writing skills desk reference

Several of Charles Euchner's smaller 'writing problem' books caught my eye and in my perpetual cheapskate quest to get the most for my money, I noticed this book combines many of his smaller books and bought the paperback version of this one.

I will say, I bought this because I wanted two of the sub-texts, but the other information that came with this was also exceptionally helpful. If you are looking to invest in a single, comprehensive writing 'reference' book and don't want to invest in the usual Writer's Digest stuff, keep this reference book in mind as a viable contender. The definitions of each 'problem' were clear, the 'why this is bad/this is good' examples were readily understandable, and then the suggestions of how to spot/fix writing bugs were genuinely helpful.

I write professionally, both fiction and non-fiction. I am a busy person. I don't have a lot of time to listen to chest-pounding 'this is how to get an agent' drivel. Nor do I want to read the Writer's Digest equivalent of Atlas Shrugged to find the answer to a simple problem (such as one of my beta-readers flagged something and I want to look it up). This book is organized so you can spot the issue and cut to the chase to fix it.

Some of the information was entry-level, but a lot of the stuff was also helpful to a professional commercial writer who wants to add that 'MBA polish.'

[André La Crout · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good overall, very comprehensive

It certainly fulfills the promise of being a “complete how-to guide to writing.”

If you’ve read a lot of other books about writing, this one will repeat many concepts you’re likely already familiar with, but will offer plenty of fresh and interesting ones as well.

There are a semi-absurd quantity of spelling/grammar errors for a “how-to” book about writing, but the content is still sound.

It also seems to veer a little off-course in the latter 3rd of the book. It becomes less about writing and more about analyzing, which is still good for certain types of writing, but fiction writers will lose interest.

Still a great resource overall that I’m glad to have read.