

Buy anything from 5,000+ international stores. One checkout price. No surprise fees. Join 2M+ shoppers on Desertcart.
Desertcart purchases this item on your behalf and handles shipping, customs, and support to Kenya.
A Concise Course in the Art of Writing Whether you’re composing a letter, writing a school thesis, or starting a novel, this resource offers expert advice on how to think more creatively, how to conjure up ideas from scratch, and how to express those ideas clearly and elegantly. No matter where you find yourself in the writing process—from the daunting look of a blank page, to the rough draft that needs shaping, to the small but important questions of punctuation—you’ll find what you need in this one handy, all-inclusive volume. Some features include: • How to use journals to store ideas and explore potential topics • Examples of style and technique from such masters of form as Mark Twain, H.L. Mencken, E.B. White, and Annie Dillard • Advice on using outlines to shape your material—and drafts and revisions to refine them • Selecting the proper words to convey both information and point of view • A useful appendix on punctuation, ranging from commas to underlining and capitalization Review: The Best Book on Writing I Have Read - If you have heard of prose and love to write, read this book. I have read it once and am currently reading it again, slowly. I like the part on sentence formation. It even discusses mimetic rhythm. Grammar books might not seem like a lot of fun to read, even for writers, however I find reading this book to be enjoyable. It is full of great quotes and gives valuable insight to writing. If you want to improve your skills, you will enjoy reading this book. It is one of my top five books I have read, and that means I enjoyed it as much as a handful of classics. I discovered the author G. K. Chesterton while reading this book, a historical master of witty/fun prose, and I also highly recommend it (the book) often, to others. Review: Informative guide to thoughtful writing. Some of the content ... - Informative guide to thoughtful writing. Some of the content is slightly outdated (writing conventions are changing so quickly now that we spend so much time writing and reading online), but the basic concepts are solid and will help you think more clearly and purposefully about your writing—professional or personal, fiction or non-fiction. I'm a copyeditor, so I'm using Kane's advice to improve others' writing, and I still find it very helpful.
| Best Sellers Rank | #350,152 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #203 in Rhetoric (Books) #253 in Words, Language & Grammar Reference #629 in Fiction Writing Reference (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.5 out of 5 stars 127 Reviews |
J**R
The Best Book on Writing I Have Read
If you have heard of prose and love to write, read this book. I have read it once and am currently reading it again, slowly. I like the part on sentence formation. It even discusses mimetic rhythm. Grammar books might not seem like a lot of fun to read, even for writers, however I find reading this book to be enjoyable. It is full of great quotes and gives valuable insight to writing. If you want to improve your skills, you will enjoy reading this book. It is one of my top five books I have read, and that means I enjoyed it as much as a handful of classics. I discovered the author G. K. Chesterton while reading this book, a historical master of witty/fun prose, and I also highly recommend it (the book) often, to others.
A**R
Informative guide to thoughtful writing. Some of the content ...
Informative guide to thoughtful writing. Some of the content is slightly outdated (writing conventions are changing so quickly now that we spend so much time writing and reading online), but the basic concepts are solid and will help you think more clearly and purposefully about your writing—professional or personal, fiction or non-fiction. I'm a copyeditor, so I'm using Kane's advice to improve others' writing, and I still find it very helpful.
C**O
Essential writing tool
I read through this book very quickly, so excuse my grammar but, I found its contents very easy to comprehend, and the book includes several excerpts from classic authors books, and the professionals in different areas of the writing industry. I'll read through some areas of the book and always keep it on hand for reference. "The Oxford Essential Guide to Writing", is definitely a great buy!
K**Y
Great resource
Perfect size and chock full of valuable information for anyone aspiring to be an author, editor, or who just want their writings to be polished and professional. The price is really great for this resource too. I'm really glad I purchased it.
A**Y
Great resource book!
This little book covers a wide range of topics on the writing experience. It is a useful resource to be used in the classroom, at home or in the office. I would recommend it to college students as a great reference tool for use during their writing courses.
Y**Y
Very basic- probably good for high school
I'm taking copyediting courses through University of California, San Diego online and this book was a required text. Its real purpose is to help you prepare an essay. I would have liked to have it back in high school, but it is fairly basic for more advanced writers and barely useful for editors. I know I gave it three stars, but I do want to stress that I would have found this very helpful for high school papers.
W**B
Guide to Writing
My daughter had to have this for a writing class she took her Senior year in high school. She liked it so much she kept it and took it to college. Her younger sister is now using it and loves it. The conversational style of Kane's writing makes composition much more enjoyable. It has been a wonderful resource.
D**M
Beginner's instruction manual for writing.
Very basic beginners guide. If you’re just out of high school and wanting the basics, this book is for you. It’s a good start.
B**H
A must have for English Majors
I use this book in writing lectures.
J**Z
You may benefit more from this is you have at least a partial understanding of grammar but I found it fascinating - It might come across as a bit old-fashioned and certainly not the most sparky of tomes for the copy-writer but it's solid and methodical and has all the right information for the writer who wants to express their ideas/opinions/facts in the best possible way
Wow - what detail. Paragraphs, sentences, clauses...You may benefit more from this is you have at least a partial understanding of grammar but I found it fascinating - It might come across as a bit old-fashioned and certainly not the most sparky of tomes for the copy-writer but it's solid and methodical and has all the right information for the writer who wants to express their ideas/opinions/facts in the best possible way.
D**R
Essentials
Essential tool for reference
R**O
Dañado
Llegó dañado
M**M
Three Stars
Its okay.
Trustpilot
1 month ago
2 weeks ago