I am, after all, writing a summary of a book on writing and it’s rather disconcerting. Why not think of it instead as a form of pleasurable mastery, like cooking or photography? Perfecting the craft is a lifelong calling, and mistakes are part of the game.' - The Sense of Style, page 12įull disclosure: My fingers are trembling above my QWERTY keypad as I type. Mistakes Are Part of the Game 'An aspiring writer could be forgiven for thinking that learning to write is like negotiating an obstacle course in boot camp, with a sergeant barking at you for every errant footfall. Whether he’s reverse-engineering good writing to help us develop a writerly ear or showing how a better understanding of syntax can avoid convoluted and misleading sentences, his primary goal is to help things go right when “so much can go wrong in a passage of prose.”įor me, what makes this book most actionable is its encouragement to treat the entire writing process as “a form of pleasurable mastery.” To do that, we must be willing to take a circuitous path to success that may involve repeated course corrections. Pinker provides reasoned, practical advice on how to write clearer, more engaging prose. And “a crisp sentence, an arresting metaphor, an elegant turn of phrase” can be a source of delight for those whom we most want to delight. It respects irreplaceable time and attention. Whether or not we ultimately secure writing endorsements from our LinkedIn connections, all of us should want to improve the words, sentences and paragraphs we continually ask our readers to read.

Like the classic guides, it is designed for people who know how to write and want to write better.' - The Sense of Style, page 7 Nor is it a remedial guide for badly educated students who have yet to master the mechanics of a sentence. 'The Sense of Style is not a reference manual in which you can find the answer to every question about hyphenation and capitalization.

The sense of style by steven pinker