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Writing

An annotated collection of 6 books & essays on writing, spanning 1946 to 2000. Featuring works by George Orwell, William Strunk Jr. & E. B. White, William Zinsser and 3 more — each with editorial commentary oriented to digital product practice.

Politics and the English Language

George Orwell, 1946 · Horizon, Vol. 13, No. 76

Orwell's six rules for writing clear prose — never use a metaphor you have seen before, never use a long word where a short one will do, if it is possible to cut a word always cut it, never use the passive where you can…

The Elements of Style

William Strunk Jr. & E. B. White, 1959 · Macmillan (originally Harcourt, based on Strunk's 1918 pamphlet)

The most influential short book on English prose. Strunk wrote it as a pamphlet for his Cornell students in 1918; E. B. White revised and expanded it in 1959 and the little book has not stopped being read since. The advi…

On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction

William Zinsser, 1976 · Harper & Row (30th anniversary edition, HarperCollins, 2006)

Zinsser's book is the most widely read and widely used manual on writing non-fiction in English. The argument is adjacent to Strunk and White's (simplicity, clarity, honesty) but expanded to the specific problems non-fic…

How to Write with Style

Kurt Vonnegut, 1985 · International Paper Company (Power of the Printed Word series)

Vonnegut's seven rules for writing with style — find a subject you care about, do not ramble though, keep it simple, have the guts to cut, sound like yourself, say what you mean to say, pity the readers. The essay is two…

How I Work

Paul Krugman, 1993 · MIT personal page (originally delivered as AEA address)

Krugman's short essay about his own methodology — the four "Krugman rules" for doing serious work in a fuzzy field. Listen to the Gentiles (take seriously ideas outside your discipline), question the question, dare to be…

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

Stephen King, 2000 · Scribner

Half memoir and half writing manual, King's book is the most read and most useful contemporary book about the practice of writing. The memoir half gives the manual half its weight: King's advice about toolboxes, vocabula…