The Elements of Writing Quotes

“Consider a favorite story—even a story from your own life. On a piece of paper, express this story in three ways. First, draw a straight line from left to right, with hash marks to indicate moments in time. Create a simple chronology: “just one thing after another.” Then create a series of circles, showing recurring patterns in the story. Then create a series of triangles, showing trios of characters or ideas at different stages of the story.”
― Charles Euchner, The Elements of Writing: The Complete How-To Guide to Writing, With Case Studies from the Masters in All Genres

“In philosophy, dialectics captures the same dynamic. Ideas move through three stages: thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. The thesis represents an idea that somehow dominates some sphere of life. The antithesis represents its opposite. When two ideas clash, they create a synthesis—a higher development of those two opposing ideas. The tech entrepreneur Jon Lonsdale explains this process, common in business: “Deep truths exist at both extremes of a dialectic, and the wisest stance on an issue will incorporate both of the opposites within itself.” Nothing is absolute; nothing is forever; meaning is never fixed. Truth can only be found in change.”
― Charles Euchner, The Elements of Writing: The Complete How-To Guide to Writing, With Case Studies from the Masters in All Genres

“The trick is to relate the unknown to the known. To explain density, McPhee makes references to lead and footballs. To describe radioactivity, he reassures us that we can hold on our laps, without any danger, the same amount of U-235 that comprised the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.”
― Charles Euchner, The Elements of Writing: The Complete How-To Guide to Writing, With Case Studies from the Masters in All Genres

“Consider one of the most useful verbs you’ll ever see: To say. Novices often use different words to say said, especially when writing dialogue. So they say that a president argues, declares, and cajoles. A ballplayer stutters, barks, muses, and mumbles. A philosopher cogitates, elucidates, complains, and demurs. These synonyms disrupt the flow of ideas. Avoid that distraction; just say said. If someone says something interesting, you don’t need to dress it up with synonyms.”
― Charles Euchner, The Elements of Writing: The Complete How-To Guide to Writing, With Case Studies from the Masters in All Genres

“Use sounds that describe texture. Hard consonants sound rough and sharp, while soft consonants sound smooth. The word crackling sounds rough, while luminescent and slither sound smooth.”
― Charles Euchner, The Elements of Writing: The Complete How-To Guide to Writing, With Case Studies from the Masters in All Genres

“The senses affect us so powerfully that we often use one sense to describe another. We use physical words—for heaviness and lightness, hardness and softness—to describe colors. We use visual words—for brightness and darkness, focus and blurriness—to talk about sounds. So we use metaphors to describe metaphors”
― Charles Euchner, The Elements of Writing: The Complete How-To Guide to Writing, With Case Studies from the Masters in All Genres

“An old TV commercial for Berlitz showed the training of a German coast guard watchman. The supervisor shows the new man all of the monitoring equipment and then leaves him alone to man the controls.  Later, a distress signal comes in: “SOS, we’re sinking! We are sinking.” The new watchman is confused. “What are you sinking about?” he asks. Success and failure in communications often depend on a single word—even a letter or two. The way most people write today—in business, education, government, even journalism and publishing—is the result of an accidental, ad-hoc process of learning and mislearning.”
― Charles Euchner, The Elements of Writing: The Complete How-To Guide to Writing, With Case Studies from the Masters in All Genres