Write Tight: Say Exactly What You Mean with Precision and Power Paperback – September 1, 2007

"Write Tight" - Say Exactly What You Mean with Precision and Power." William Brohaugh's book is an excellent choice for anyone who is interested in improving the quality of his or her writing. I bought it on the advice of a critique partner and it has become one of my most utilized references on writing."The Elements of Style" by William Strunk Jr advises: "Omit needless words. Vigorous writing is concise." Brohaugh's book tells you exactly how to do it. Concise writing does not mean use all short sentences. It does mean that you should make every word count. Be clear. If your readers can't figure out what you're saying they may decide it's not worth the effort to continue."Write Tight" addresses redundancy and overwriting. Readers are given instruction on how to create better sentences and trim the fat - all those unnecessary words. The tips are invaluable. Trash empty modifiers such as "very," "really," "usually," "generally," "basically" and "actually." Use a single word to convey a phrase. "The writer with ambition" becomes "The ambitious writer." Lose empty transitions such as "and," "however," "well," "so." Eliminate the "deadwould." Don't be pretentious. Overkill is wordy, irritating and boring. Avoid the cliché and standardized phrases. Advice, techniques, specific strategies, exercises and tests help you check your own writing. Make your writing more effective. "Write Tight" is a must have for writers of all genres.ContentsForeword: Write Tight or Else by Lawrence BlockIntroduction: A Tight Fit Into Today's WorldThe Four Levels of Wordiness and How to Tackle ThemSixteen Types of Wordiness and How to Trim ThemPrewriting TightTesting Your Writing for FlabThe Danger Signs of WordinessExercises for Developing Your Awareness of ConcisionReducing the Mental Length of Your ManuscriptNonverbal StreamliningHow Tight is too TightPutting it all Together: Write LightTips for Trimming During Manuscript RevisionShave and a Haircut and a Few BitsBibliography, sources and an appendix of redundant phrases.Gail Pruszkowski reviews for "Romantic Times BOOKreviews" magazine and her work has been published in the "Cup of Comfort" Anthologies. [...] [...]Article Source: [...] [...]

This book is just what I was looking for. I wanted a book that helped me to write better and this one does that perfectly.

This book is magnificent. I've had it quite some time, but picked it up recently to read it while letting my manuscript "rest." Brohaugh doesn't just tell you you need to do a certain thing with your story, he tells you how to do it, and gives wonderful examples. It's the best how-to book on writing I've read. If I'd read it first, I wouldn't have needed to buy so many other writing books searching for answers.

Gives great tips to streamline your writing. Makes your manuscript musch more readable.

Over two years ago I read Write Tight, and I find I'm still writing under its influence. New authors are prone to verbosity in an era where few find the charm of purple prose. This book will streamline their writing, increase their clarity, and omit a variety of useless words from their vocabularies. Write Tight should be required reading for everyone who ventures to into the art of writing.

Fabulous tips! Brohaugh knows exactly what authors need to know to write succinctly.

Filled with helpful tips in a similar format of Clark's helpful books. I recommend it to any writer wanting to write better.

For a book on getting to the point and hoping to serve as a reference to aspiring writers, it is meandering with a terrible format. The content is good but makes one work extremely hard in putting the points in a logical that can later be retrieved. Not only does the author subject us to an analogy of writing to bonsai cultivation but he also seems to think sixteen types of wordiness is a helpful level of breakdown. The examples given are hidden in prose with clever turns of phrase more intent on revealing the author’s intellect than trying to help the reader. In short, a useful but terribly written book.

Un livre intéressant mais pas très accrochant. J'ai dû forcer et forcer pour le finir. Plus scolaire que agréable de lire.

I read “Write Tight” once then self-edited our book draft. Its word count reduced by 10,000. It was painless and happened as though by magic. My mantra is ‘reduce mental load’.Winsome jokes that come at the end of sections: shortcuts to my smarter brain. I did not apply all recommendations: American grammar is different to Australian.Buy this book. Apply some of the recommendations. See a big change.

I first read this book, borrowed from my local public library, about 15 years ago. Re-reading it has been a pleasure and now at hand will be referred to often.Heartily recommended to anyone interested in writing for pleasure or for academic publication.

Whilst often painful to read, the advice is great and is well worth sticking through it

Good in itself however its a retelling of others which are available free online so it's hard to suggest it to others