Writing with Precision: How to write so that you cannot possibly be misunderstood

by Jefferson D. Bates

Book by Bates, Jefferson D.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Reference

226 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1978

Reviews

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Writing with Precision is a practical manual for writers. It offers specific ‘ways’ to be clear; so many with such depth, that one must practice them to understand. It’s good that the book includes a few practical exercises.

The first edition was published in 1978 and Jefferson Bates, a former NASA writer of some renown, lays out what he learned over four decades as a professional writer. He spends his time on government writing and covers letters, memos, instructions, regulations, and reports with the aim to be precise. While some may think this is too narrow for those writing blogs or articles, it gives those of us in government service something to ponder. Specifically, what have we learned about writing this isn’t helpful? Bates sees jargon, vogue words, and gobbledygook as a start. He was a key player in de-mystifying government writing…and I thought it was bad now.

Bates breaks Writing with Precision into several parts which cover a variety of topics. Part 1 focuses on writing with 10 principles and 7 axioms. Part 2 covers editing skills while Part 3 is a handbook organized in alphabetical order that complements Part 1. Lastly, Part 4 is a series of practical exercises with the authors solutions and comments. Throughout, he adds checklists and exercises to drive home his points.

Overall, a worthy read. My two biggest take-aways were a new method for building an outline using index cards and the reasons you SHOULD use passive voice. This will go on my reference shelf. It is a great tool to come back to as you edit your own (or someone else’s) work.

[Londi · Rating 4 out of 5]

(This is one of my textbooks. I did not actually read the entire thing from front to back. What I have read for my classes, so far, is what I am basing my review on.)

Note to self: when selecting books from ThriftBooks, select "like new" or "new" because I hate when I get used annotated books. The highlights the previous owner put in here are driving me crazy.

Okay, now that aside, this is actually a good reference book. And if you plan on being an author (in any genre or topic, etc.), you should most definitely have this book as a resource. I'm sharing the love here. I have several friends aspiring to become published authors. And if you are hitting writer's block, need help outlining, or need help deciding what POV to write your story in, this is definitely the resource for you.

[Eric Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book on nuts and bolts of writing and editing I ever read.

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a light-hearted look at editing with lots of great suggetions and a little bit of humor. For a beginning book editor, I would recommend this book to any person. This was a Good Read.

[Shanea Kirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

While it is strange to think 2000 was technologically lacking, this book does show itself as dated. Re-published and revised in 2000, there are several chapters that do not hold a lot of significance to the world today. Having said that, I would almost give this book a four if only due to the Handbook that will absolutely be referenced often. There are still many worthy chapters that will prove useful, but the handbook and style manual suggestions are the real gold mine to this book.

[Haritha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great book for those trying to understand what clear and concise writing is supposed to look like. Bates' book is going to be a great book for me to refer to for a quick grammar or style question in academic writing. You'll have to ignore Bates' labelling non-fiction as "useful" writing. This doesn't diminish the importance or affect the clarity of what he is trying to tell us. This book has great exercises after every section- very useful!

[Arica · Rating 1 out of 5]

I would recomend this book as an occassional reference, not as something to sit down and read all the way through. My favorite suggestion from this book was to write my own obituary, what a difficult and thoughtful thing to write.

[Brie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Way too outdated to be really useful with sexist undertones to keep it irrelevant.

[S]

Diane has a copy. Was described in a review as a more advanced book on the topic.