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Do I Make Myself Clear? Why Writing Well Matters
A wise and entertaining guide to writing English the proper way by one of the greatest newspaper editors of our time.
Harry Evans has edited everything from the urgent files of battlefield reporters to the complex thought processes of Henry Kissinger. He's even been knighted for his services to journalism. In DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?, he brings his indispensable insight to us all in his definite guide to writing well.
The right words are oxygen to our ideas, but the digital era, with all of its TTYL, LMK, and WTF, has been cutting off that oxygen flow. The compulsion to be precise has vanished from our culture, and in writing of every kind we see a trend towards more--more speed and more information but far less clarity.
Evans provides practical examples of how editing and rewriting can make for better communication, even in the digital age. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR? is an essential text, and one that will provide every writer an editor at his shoulder.
Harry Evans has edited everything from the urgent files of battlefield reporters to the complex thought processes of Henry Kissinger. He's even been knighted for his services to journalism. In DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?, he brings his indispensable insight to us all in his definite guide to writing well.
The right words are oxygen to our ideas, but the digital era, with all of its TTYL, LMK, and WTF, has been cutting off that oxygen flow. The compulsion to be precise has vanished from our culture, and in writing of every kind we see a trend towards more--more speed and more information but far less clarity.
Evans provides practical examples of how editing and rewriting can make for better communication, even in the digital age. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR? is an essential text, and one that will provide every writer an editor at his shoulder.
416 pages, Hardcover
First published May 16, 2017
About the author
Harold Evans
57 books45 followersHarold Evans is an English-born journalist and writer who was editor of the Sunday Times from 1967 to 1981. A graduate of Durham University, he has written a number of bestselling histories. He followed the late Alistair Cooke in commentaries on America for the BBC. An American citizen since 1993, he has held positions as editor-in-chief of the Atlantic Monthly Press, founding editor of the prize-winning Conde Nast Traveler; editorial director of the Atlantic and US News and the New York Daily News; and president and publisher of Random House. He holds the British Press Awards' Gold Award for Lifetime Achievement of Journalists. In 2001 British journalists voted him the all-time greatest British newspaper editor, and in 2004 he was knighted. Since 2011, he has been editor-at-large for Reuters.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 180 reviews
January 16, 2020
This book seemed to me to be pure political propaganda. I could find nothing to help authors with actual writing and editing. The sections skirting writing and editing seemed to be his muddy afterthoughts to me, just used offhandedly to frame his passionate true political message. The author is British, knighted as Sir Harold Evans. But his citizenship is no bar to his participation in American politics. (Alex says " Sir Evans is an American citizen who has lived in the US for 35 years.")
In the first chapter, the author lauds Hillary Clinton, Stephen Colbert, the New York Times and the Sunday Times and on page 15 begins his many criticisms of President Trump by calling him a liar in an oblique way: " ... 'he told it like it is,' which is about the last thing he did..." (page 16).
Evans goes on to boast that he was the Random House president and publisher and line editor for Obama's "Dreams from My Father" on page 26. This author seems deeply imbued with progressive extreme leftist politics and, to me, was a complete disappointment lacking any information about writing or editing. He shared nothing with me of the craft of writing and editing.
A better title would have been "Trashing Trump" because he never lets up throughout the book with his denigration of President Trump (pages 69, 101, 103, 122, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 181, 193, 194, 195, 205, 215, 286). How does Sir Evans's hatred of President Trump teach me to write?
Evans loves the Obama administration socialists and the propaganda masters of the spy agencies.
He is politically correct for the left and never uses their forbidden term "radical Islamic terrorists". On page 387 he says: "America's counterterrorism (CT) community of departments and agencies works day and night to keep their fellow Americans safe". Again, I see no connection between authorship and the craft of writing with communism, globalism and the like.
I see this book as an example of sneaking in political ideas under the pretense of aiding a craft. Sir Evans is just "targeting us as stooges" (Thanks, Julia!).
In the first chapter, the author lauds Hillary Clinton, Stephen Colbert, the New York Times and the Sunday Times and on page 15 begins his many criticisms of President Trump by calling him a liar in an oblique way: " ... 'he told it like it is,' which is about the last thing he did..." (page 16).
Evans goes on to boast that he was the Random House president and publisher and line editor for Obama's "Dreams from My Father" on page 26. This author seems deeply imbued with progressive extreme leftist politics and, to me, was a complete disappointment lacking any information about writing or editing. He shared nothing with me of the craft of writing and editing.
A better title would have been "Trashing Trump" because he never lets up throughout the book with his denigration of President Trump (pages 69, 101, 103, 122, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 181, 193, 194, 195, 205, 215, 286). How does Sir Evans's hatred of President Trump teach me to write?
Evans loves the Obama administration socialists and the propaganda masters of the spy agencies.
He is politically correct for the left and never uses their forbidden term "radical Islamic terrorists". On page 387 he says: "America's counterterrorism (CT) community of departments and agencies works day and night to keep their fellow Americans safe". Again, I see no connection between authorship and the craft of writing with communism, globalism and the like.
I see this book as an example of sneaking in political ideas under the pretense of aiding a craft. Sir Evans is just "targeting us as stooges" (Thanks, Julia!).
January 19, 2018
There are some very good points in this book ... but they are buried in a mountain of repetitive examples which make reading, in the normal sense of that word, a difficult task ...
February 20, 2017
My thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.
No.*
*To avoid being a smart-arse re:my above response to the question of the title, I will attempt to explain why the book did not resonate with me.
The author took about 14 eReader pages to explain why he was so wonderful and why a book like this needed to be written. He's trying to explain how important being concise is...by writing 14 pages of dense text, with metaphors and the like that don't fit the subject AT ALL.
I got to page 36 before I stopped reading. I don't think this book is bad, it just isn't for me at this moment and it may be too above my meager intellect. Or I'm just reading it wrong. I do that. Two stars, because while I didn't like it, I can see the necessity for a book like this and how others would enjoy it. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go curl up with my copy of Strunk and White now.
No.*
*To avoid being a smart-arse re:my above response to the question of the title, I will attempt to explain why the book did not resonate with me.
The author took about 14 eReader pages to explain why he was so wonderful and why a book like this needed to be written. He's trying to explain how important being concise is...by writing 14 pages of dense text, with metaphors and the like that don't fit the subject AT ALL.
I got to page 36 before I stopped reading. I don't think this book is bad, it just isn't for me at this moment and it may be too above my meager intellect. Or I'm just reading it wrong. I do that. Two stars, because while I didn't like it, I can see the necessity for a book like this and how others would enjoy it. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go curl up with my copy of Strunk and White now.
May 15, 2022
A gem of a book and in many ways a book-length expansion of Orwell’s classic essay ‘Politics and the English Language.’
As well as a primer against the dangers of clotted, lifeless writing, it’s also superb on the dangers of empty verbiage and its ties to political corruption — hence, perhaps, the outrage from Trump cultists.
Get yourself a copy, and follow up with his superb memoir My Paper Chase.
As well as a primer against the dangers of clotted, lifeless writing, it’s also superb on the dangers of empty verbiage and its ties to political corruption — hence, perhaps, the outrage from Trump cultists.
Get yourself a copy, and follow up with his superb memoir My Paper Chase.
June 14, 2017
After writing my first book I felt it was time to return to the “classroom” and sit by the side of one of the best editors and authors of our time and continue working on my art. I was not disappointed. The insights on good writing permeated the entire book, and as an added benefit the book was filled with insightful commentary on our times presented with both cutting humor and satire, and the graceful charm the British are so proficient at.
The growth of “alternative facts” and the “fog” caused by misinformation are clouding our society and indeed our democracy’s ability to function properly. In this digital age the right words are oxygen to our ideas, as a desire to be precise is vanishing from our culture and writing of every kind is trending towards more speed and information but far less clarity. And this growing amount of misinformation comes from the very top of our leadership as countless Tweets spew out of the Oval Office, distracting reporters and society from what’s really important and how we might come together to solve some of our pressing problems.
Harold Evans proved to be a keen observer of our time and country as well as in writing. A former editor of the Times of London and recipient of the British Gold Award for Lifetime Achievement in Journalism, he was knighted and is currently the editor at large for Reuters. Oftentimes it takes an outsider like de Tocqueville to see through the veneer of our society and articulate what’s really happening and what the implications might be for the future.
The author provides excellent advice on what good writing is. He provides a clear explanation of what makes a cliché, a well-defined phrase “so hackneyed as to be knock-kneed and spavined.” But goes on to point out that they serve a natural inclination for quick vocabulary in daily social encounters and provides several humorous examples such as “horny as a three-peckered billy goat” and goes on to provide six more pages of examples.
He goes on to provide examples of how “zombies” and “flesh-eaters” threaten prose. A “zombie” is a noun that has devoured a verb, so document becomes “documentation” and participate becomes “participation.” The “flesh eaters” are unnecessary words, pompous phrases and “propositional parasites” that eat space and reduce the strength of one’s writing, so “Named” becomes “A man/woman by the name of” and “stay” becomes “continue to remain.”
The author also tells impressive stories on the power of words and how their authors were inspired to articulate what they felt. Like FDR following the bombing of Pearl Harbor when he “deleted the murmuring commas in the opening sentence and came up with the killer phrase live in infamy set between two dagger-point dashes.”
He also shows how words make reality incomprehensible, such as a rental car warranty. He adds some humor to one example of this triple talk with, “The cost of any repairs carried out on the instructions of the Renter or Driver without the prior written approval of the Owner shall be the responsibility of the Renter” to which the author responds with a “Who dat?”
As a student of sociology and history, I was delighted at the timely social commentary which permeated the book. He says that “Donald Trump was a joke until he wasn’t.” He refers to a piece in the Wall Street Journal which suggested a parallel to the presidential election and “the last dark age of Western politics” and compares Trump with Benito Mussolini with parallels that include a growing belief that democracy was rigged and that immigrants were plundering the economy. The author points out that these are similarities and that the readers should not be indifferent to the parallels.
Other interesting social commentary includes a look at the revision in the test of the Social Security act of December 2015 and May 2016 as an example of “social and political ‘meanness’ like Kafka waking up in Bleak House.” Where “language defies understanding and, in the best Orwellian tradition, the text imposing cuts in Social Security benefits is headed “Protecting Social Security Benefits.” And “vast numbers of Americans fail to claim the money they could. There are more than nine thousand different claiming options—and the administration is prohibited by law from giving case-by-case personal advice.” He strengthens his point with, “But the millions of people who have paid a lifetime of dues are entitled to clearer English than is found in the 2,728 rules governing Social Security and the Program Operations Manual System which are thicker than the Bible, to the point that the Social Security Administration stopped printing them in the 1980s.
Evans not only provides practical examples of how editing and rewriting can make for better communication, even in the digital age, but provides insightful commentary on our times with cutting satire and graceful charm.
The growth of “alternative facts” and the “fog” caused by misinformation are clouding our society and indeed our democracy’s ability to function properly. In this digital age the right words are oxygen to our ideas, as a desire to be precise is vanishing from our culture and writing of every kind is trending towards more speed and information but far less clarity. And this growing amount of misinformation comes from the very top of our leadership as countless Tweets spew out of the Oval Office, distracting reporters and society from what’s really important and how we might come together to solve some of our pressing problems.
Harold Evans proved to be a keen observer of our time and country as well as in writing. A former editor of the Times of London and recipient of the British Gold Award for Lifetime Achievement in Journalism, he was knighted and is currently the editor at large for Reuters. Oftentimes it takes an outsider like de Tocqueville to see through the veneer of our society and articulate what’s really happening and what the implications might be for the future.
The author provides excellent advice on what good writing is. He provides a clear explanation of what makes a cliché, a well-defined phrase “so hackneyed as to be knock-kneed and spavined.” But goes on to point out that they serve a natural inclination for quick vocabulary in daily social encounters and provides several humorous examples such as “horny as a three-peckered billy goat” and goes on to provide six more pages of examples.
He goes on to provide examples of how “zombies” and “flesh-eaters” threaten prose. A “zombie” is a noun that has devoured a verb, so document becomes “documentation” and participate becomes “participation.” The “flesh eaters” are unnecessary words, pompous phrases and “propositional parasites” that eat space and reduce the strength of one’s writing, so “Named” becomes “A man/woman by the name of” and “stay” becomes “continue to remain.”
The author also tells impressive stories on the power of words and how their authors were inspired to articulate what they felt. Like FDR following the bombing of Pearl Harbor when he “deleted the murmuring commas in the opening sentence and came up with the killer phrase live in infamy set between two dagger-point dashes.”
He also shows how words make reality incomprehensible, such as a rental car warranty. He adds some humor to one example of this triple talk with, “The cost of any repairs carried out on the instructions of the Renter or Driver without the prior written approval of the Owner shall be the responsibility of the Renter” to which the author responds with a “Who dat?”
As a student of sociology and history, I was delighted at the timely social commentary which permeated the book. He says that “Donald Trump was a joke until he wasn’t.” He refers to a piece in the Wall Street Journal which suggested a parallel to the presidential election and “the last dark age of Western politics” and compares Trump with Benito Mussolini with parallels that include a growing belief that democracy was rigged and that immigrants were plundering the economy. The author points out that these are similarities and that the readers should not be indifferent to the parallels.
Other interesting social commentary includes a look at the revision in the test of the Social Security act of December 2015 and May 2016 as an example of “social and political ‘meanness’ like Kafka waking up in Bleak House.” Where “language defies understanding and, in the best Orwellian tradition, the text imposing cuts in Social Security benefits is headed “Protecting Social Security Benefits.” And “vast numbers of Americans fail to claim the money they could. There are more than nine thousand different claiming options—and the administration is prohibited by law from giving case-by-case personal advice.” He strengthens his point with, “But the millions of people who have paid a lifetime of dues are entitled to clearer English than is found in the 2,728 rules governing Social Security and the Program Operations Manual System which are thicker than the Bible, to the point that the Social Security Administration stopped printing them in the 1980s.
Evans not only provides practical examples of how editing and rewriting can make for better communication, even in the digital age, but provides insightful commentary on our times with cutting satire and graceful charm.
July 29, 2017
Sir Evans:
I decided not to read your book. Here’s why.
The four sentence-structure definitions on page 34 are not accurate, thus undermining the credibility of your book. For example:
1. A simple sentence can have a compound verb, not just a “single-verb.”
2. A compound sentence requires a coordinating conjunction, not just “a conjunction.”
3. A complex sentence requires one or more subordinate clauses, not “statements or clauses.” (Also “…that modify or supplement the main statement” is redundant.)
4. A compound-complex sentence does not require that “all the statements” have modifiers; one dependent clause is sufficient.
Instead you could have explained the four sentence types using independent and dependent clauses. After defining those two terms, you could then say:
1. A simple sentence has one independent clause.
2. A compound sentence has at least two independent clauses, typically joined by a coordinating conjunction.
3. A complex sentence has one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses.
4. A compound-complex sentence has two or more independent clauses plus one or more dependent clauses.
Why will I not be reading Do I Make Myself Clear? To learn about effective writing, I’m going to find a more accurate book. As you say, “…writing well matters.”
I decided not to read your book. Here’s why.
The four sentence-structure definitions on page 34 are not accurate, thus undermining the credibility of your book. For example:
1. A simple sentence can have a compound verb, not just a “single-verb.”
2. A compound sentence requires a coordinating conjunction, not just “a conjunction.”
3. A complex sentence requires one or more subordinate clauses, not “statements or clauses.” (Also “…that modify or supplement the main statement” is redundant.)
4. A compound-complex sentence does not require that “all the statements” have modifiers; one dependent clause is sufficient.
Instead you could have explained the four sentence types using independent and dependent clauses. After defining those two terms, you could then say:
1. A simple sentence has one independent clause.
2. A compound sentence has at least two independent clauses, typically joined by a coordinating conjunction.
3. A complex sentence has one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses.
4. A compound-complex sentence has two or more independent clauses plus one or more dependent clauses.
Why will I not be reading Do I Make Myself Clear? To learn about effective writing, I’m going to find a more accurate book. As you say, “…writing well matters.”
May 20, 2018
I was asked recently if I find it easy to forgive. I do not. And I have a hard time forgiving Harold Evans for writing a book about the paramount importance of clear writing that is so consistently hard to read.
There are wonderful gems in this book: Evans has good advice, makes excellent lists, and introduces readers to pieces of writing that deserve a wide audience. The advice he gives will successfully propel a writer who follows it to make better decisions about her prose, but at some cost. His own prose is needlessly acrobatic, occasionally requiring multiple re-reads of a sentence -- something that he would agree is a terrible outcome. He also produces suggested rewrites of imperfect material that change the meaning or leave out details that he deems "extraneous" when I would argue they are not. More than once, I felt compelled to add snide marginalia to my copy.
Flipping back through the book now, I judge that the instances of "???" and "oh ffs" and "not true" are well outnumbered by the underlined phrases that startled me with their acuity. "You are Kafka waking up in Bleak House" he says of the unwieldy language in the Social Security act. Defending the truth in our bizarre era of 'alternative' facts, he writes: "Most editors recognize the risks of shouting 'Lie!' in an empty theatre. It is as well to be creditable as it is to be clear." And, throughout, he gives good, straightforward advice, like: "If in doubt about the rhythm of a piece of writing, say it aloud."
I suspect that my reluctance to forgive Evans for his own writerly foibles is based on a certainty of how closely they resemble mine. When I catch myself criticizing faults in others that I also observe in myself, I discover that I'm subverting my own attempts at self-improvement. So, perhaps I can forgive Howard Evans after all.
There are wonderful gems in this book: Evans has good advice, makes excellent lists, and introduces readers to pieces of writing that deserve a wide audience. The advice he gives will successfully propel a writer who follows it to make better decisions about her prose, but at some cost. His own prose is needlessly acrobatic, occasionally requiring multiple re-reads of a sentence -- something that he would agree is a terrible outcome. He also produces suggested rewrites of imperfect material that change the meaning or leave out details that he deems "extraneous" when I would argue they are not. More than once, I felt compelled to add snide marginalia to my copy.
Flipping back through the book now, I judge that the instances of "???" and "oh ffs" and "not true" are well outnumbered by the underlined phrases that startled me with their acuity. "You are Kafka waking up in Bleak House" he says of the unwieldy language in the Social Security act. Defending the truth in our bizarre era of 'alternative' facts, he writes: "Most editors recognize the risks of shouting 'Lie!' in an empty theatre. It is as well to be creditable as it is to be clear." And, throughout, he gives good, straightforward advice, like: "If in doubt about the rhythm of a piece of writing, say it aloud."
I suspect that my reluctance to forgive Evans for his own writerly foibles is based on a certainty of how closely they resemble mine. When I catch myself criticizing faults in others that I also observe in myself, I discover that I'm subverting my own attempts at self-improvement. So, perhaps I can forgive Howard Evans after all.
July 20, 2017
Harold Evans, former editor of the Sunday Times of London, presents a beneficial (not at all didactic) book on how to make writing sparkle with as few words as possible in appropriately, "Do I Make Myself Clear: Why Writing Well Matters."
Evans discharges mountains of examples of bloated words and hackneyed terms to avoid, along with “dozy verbs in the passive voice’’ with chapters titled: "Be Specific," "Tools of the Trade" "Pleonasms" (more words than necessary), along with a list of “flesh-eaters” to avoid, such as “Has/Have” instead of "In the Possession of," “Together with” instead of "In conjunction with," “During/While” instead of "In the course of."
Evans, of course, displays his signature British humor by underscoring glaring examples of bad writing; not to condemn, but merely to emphasize the landmines many of us unwittingly fall into.
Not only are we greatly entertained, we are bestowed with some highly valued tools of the trade, which every writer needs, every now and again.
Bill Lucey
Evans discharges mountains of examples of bloated words and hackneyed terms to avoid, along with “dozy verbs in the passive voice’’ with chapters titled: "Be Specific," "Tools of the Trade" "Pleonasms" (more words than necessary), along with a list of “flesh-eaters” to avoid, such as “Has/Have” instead of "In the Possession of," “Together with” instead of "In conjunction with," “During/While” instead of "In the course of."
Evans, of course, displays his signature British humor by underscoring glaring examples of bad writing; not to condemn, but merely to emphasize the landmines many of us unwittingly fall into.
Not only are we greatly entertained, we are bestowed with some highly valued tools of the trade, which every writer needs, every now and again.
Bill Lucey
August 9, 2017
This book should be standard reading for every writer. Harold Evans has crafted a witty and persuasive argument for why and how everyone should write clearly. Evans enumerates ambiguous habits, clarifies clear style, and draws from his experiences as an editor, all while reminding the reader (and the writer) that clear writing literally saves lives.
Evans also uses contemporary examples: an Obama administration press release, a Traveler's insurance lawsuit, an opinion article on the United Nations' welfare program in the Gaza Strip. While I agree with the criticism I've heard about DIMMC (Will this book age well?), Evans's handy examples give this book the punch it might otherwise lack. Most writing manuals are notoriously dry and don't beg for cover-to-cover reading. Conversely, Evans's wit and cogent points make you want to finish the whole thing, even if it's too much for one sitting.
I recommend picking up this book in small installments. You'll be a better writer for it.
Evans also uses contemporary examples: an Obama administration press release, a Traveler's insurance lawsuit, an opinion article on the United Nations' welfare program in the Gaza Strip. While I agree with the criticism I've heard about DIMMC (Will this book age well?), Evans's handy examples give this book the punch it might otherwise lack. Most writing manuals are notoriously dry and don't beg for cover-to-cover reading. Conversely, Evans's wit and cogent points make you want to finish the whole thing, even if it's too much for one sitting.
I recommend picking up this book in small installments. You'll be a better writer for it.
July 19, 2017
A CLARION CALL FOR EXCELLENT WRITING
Long-time journalist and former President of Random House Harold Evans has written a fascinating audiobook on the subject of clear communication. He uses classic texts as examples throughout the book combined with interesting stories.
I listened to the audiobook version of this book. With the numerous writing examples, I found it a bit overwhelming and hard to listen to the entire book cover to cover. After a while the examples do not sink in and make sense—at least to me. It would be different with the print book. I did not complete the audiobook as I normally do.
I enjoyed the writing in this book. Evans is a word craftsman and excellent communicator. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR? is a clarion call for writers to not be wordy and economic yet clear with their communication and writing. I recommend this excellent book.
Long-time journalist and former President of Random House Harold Evans has written a fascinating audiobook on the subject of clear communication. He uses classic texts as examples throughout the book combined with interesting stories.
I listened to the audiobook version of this book. With the numerous writing examples, I found it a bit overwhelming and hard to listen to the entire book cover to cover. After a while the examples do not sink in and make sense—at least to me. It would be different with the print book. I did not complete the audiobook as I normally do.
I enjoyed the writing in this book. Evans is a word craftsman and excellent communicator. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR? is a clarion call for writers to not be wordy and economic yet clear with their communication and writing. I recommend this excellent book.
December 13, 2020
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I loved all the examples that this book provided and it gives you an insight on what to look for in conversations. However, I thought there might have been more information on constructing rather than just examples
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I loved all the examples that this book provided and it gives you an insight on what to look for in conversations. However, I thought there might have been more information on constructing rather than just examples
February 6, 2018
Sir Harold is an editor by vocation and by inclination. I can see him in his wingback chair, in front of a tiny fireplace that is more about scene setting than warmth, perhaps with a pipe forgotten in an ashtray on the tiny table that also supports a reading lamp and a tepid cup of forgotten tea. Felt slippers on his feet, a Montblanc fountain pen in hand. His lips are pressed together, his brow furrowed, the manuscript he's reading trembling. Ink stains dot his smoking jacket. This book is a superb character study as well as an entertaining guide to grooming writing. He pillories academic and political writing with its relentlessly convoluted circle of words stomping out meaning. The more said, the less understood. Evans gives us examples of rewrites that work for clarity. Some of the chosen paragraphs are also windows on character. Read it as research for developing a curmudgeon with credentials and cheek, and add to your reading enjoyment. And lose that passive voice for good.
November 18, 2017
An exhausting, ironically hard-to-read book, not because of the prose style, but because it's essentially hundreds of pages of Evans correcting absurdly terrible writing and nothing else. After he corrects a terrible paragraph, he then tells you how and why he did it. If you're a good writer, it's boring and not illustrative of anything; if you're a poor writer, it's too narrowly focused, showy and didactic to teach anything.
January 15, 2018
Highly recommend for anyone who writes or contemplates writing. Also an excellent book for people who love to read!
April 22, 2018
If you are more interested in his political views than you are in learning how to write well, then this book is for you. It’s about 1/3 advice on writing, 1/3 filler, and 1/3 a leftist manifesto.
February 16, 2019
Do I Make Myself Clear?: Why Writing Well Matters by Harold Evans
“Do I Make Myself Clear?” is an entertaining guide in the art of writing well. Sir Harold Evans a British-born journalist, editor of much acclaim takes the reader on a journey of what it means to write well. He provides countless historical and practical examples, a welcomed approach of what would otherwise be yet another grammar book. This instructive 419-page book includes twelve chapters broken out by the following three parts: I. Tools of the Trade, II. Finishing the Job, and III. Consequences.
Positives:
1. A well-written book. What else would you expect?
2. A unique topic, the art of writing well.
3. Award-winning editor Harold Evans is a master of the topic. He practices what he preaches.
4. Unlike most books on good writing, Evans takes the reader on a practical journey infused with many practical examples including historical accounts.
5. A quote fest. “Political language –and with variations this is true of all political parties, from Conservative to anarchist – is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.”
6. The key to good writing is clarity. “We should respect grammatical rules that make for clarity, but never be scared to reject rules that seem not to.”
7. Throughout the book, Evans provides techniques on good writing. “We are impelled to read on to find out what happened. (In the craft of journalism, the technique of holding the reader in suspense is called a delayed drop, apparently a term borrowed from parachuting.)”
8. Provides many rewrites, he keys on verbs that drives the sentence and proceeds to eliminate unnecessary words. Here is an example in which he takes the original unintelligible paragraph of 165 words and ends up with 29 instead. “The Commission has the authority to act against any violation of the provisions of this chapter. It may prescribe charges and practices it judges to be fair and reasonable.”
9. Provides ten helpful shortcuts on making yourself clear. “Vigorous, clear, and concise writing demands sentences with muscle, strong active verbs cast in the active voice.”
10. The concept of zombies in writing. “The zombie is a noun that’s devoured a verb: implementation, assessment, authorization, documentation, participation, transmittal, realization… all zombies.” As an example, instead of writing, “They accepted employment on a part-time basis.” Use, “They accepted part-time work.”
11. Explains the value of each word. ““Infamy, a word from fifteenth-century Norman French for “public disgrace and dishonour,” was precisely the right noun to express the vileness of an act deserving of universal reproach.”
12. Examines new words. “The greatest smuggler of new words, of course, was William Shakespeare, the snapper-up of unconsidered trifles. Oxford English Dictionary researchers credited him with inventing as many as two thousand words and phrases, because they could find no currency in them before they appeared in print and voice in Shakespeare plays and sonnets.”
13. Provides a good-word glossary. “Compliment/Complement: You are entitled to a compliment—applause or praise—if you don’t mix it up with complement, meaning “complete or full.””
14. The value of storytelling. “When a story is so familiar from other media that the readers/viewers know the result, but would now be intrigued by detail and drama.”
15. Lethal language when money and words matter. “That changed, Tett tells us, when Paul McCulley, a ponytailed economist at the bond fund company PIMCO, broke the linguistic and cognitive impasse by coming up with a neat phrase to describe the entities he thought inherently unstable: the shadow banks. It was immediately adopted.”
16. How words can get in the way. “By 2016, twenty million had insurance they didn’t have before. The point for Do I Make Myself Clear? is that the lack of clarity in the bill worked against the express purpose of popularizing the legislation, so it was vulnerable to misrepresentation, even by its true begetter.1 Consider the furor over “death panels.””
17. Finalizes the book with four great examples of nonfiction writing. “Lord Jeff is one thing, Wilson another. The severe-looking president was in many ways a transformational progressive. He advocated women’s right to vote (the 19th Amendment) and the eight-hour workday, and he supported the Clayton Antitrust Act as well as the creation of the Federal Reserve and the Federal Trade Commission. He also backed the implementation of the federal income tax, a progressive way for the government to raise funds.”
18. Provides a writing analysis in the appendix.
19. Formal bibliography provided.
20. Helpful blogs provided.
Negatives:
1. Folks on the right will certainly have issue with the author’s progressive views. For the record, I enjoyed them but I’m trying to be fair.
2. Repetitive.
3. Not your typical book, it’s not the type you read through so it’s challenging to get through. Ironic, isn’t it?
4. It’s going to take a lot more than this book to wrote well.
In summary, is not the kind of book an engineer like myself typically reads but I like pushing myself and I glad that I did. The book is part how to write well, political critique and interesting stories. If you are looking for a book that explains the art of writing well versus a regimented grammar book, you will enjoy this. I recommend it.
Further suggestions: “Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style” by Benjamin Dreyer, “Writing to be Understood” by Anne Janzer, “On Writing Well” and “Writing to Learn” by William Zinsser, “The Sense of Style” by Steven Pinker, “The Idea: The Seven Elements of a Viable Story for Screen, Stage or Fiction” by Erik Bork, “Wired for Story” by Lisa Cron, and “You Are a Writer (So Start Acting Like One) by Jeff Goins.
“Do I Make Myself Clear?” is an entertaining guide in the art of writing well. Sir Harold Evans a British-born journalist, editor of much acclaim takes the reader on a journey of what it means to write well. He provides countless historical and practical examples, a welcomed approach of what would otherwise be yet another grammar book. This instructive 419-page book includes twelve chapters broken out by the following three parts: I. Tools of the Trade, II. Finishing the Job, and III. Consequences.
Positives:
1. A well-written book. What else would you expect?
2. A unique topic, the art of writing well.
3. Award-winning editor Harold Evans is a master of the topic. He practices what he preaches.
4. Unlike most books on good writing, Evans takes the reader on a practical journey infused with many practical examples including historical accounts.
5. A quote fest. “Political language –and with variations this is true of all political parties, from Conservative to anarchist – is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.”
6. The key to good writing is clarity. “We should respect grammatical rules that make for clarity, but never be scared to reject rules that seem not to.”
7. Throughout the book, Evans provides techniques on good writing. “We are impelled to read on to find out what happened. (In the craft of journalism, the technique of holding the reader in suspense is called a delayed drop, apparently a term borrowed from parachuting.)”
8. Provides many rewrites, he keys on verbs that drives the sentence and proceeds to eliminate unnecessary words. Here is an example in which he takes the original unintelligible paragraph of 165 words and ends up with 29 instead. “The Commission has the authority to act against any violation of the provisions of this chapter. It may prescribe charges and practices it judges to be fair and reasonable.”
9. Provides ten helpful shortcuts on making yourself clear. “Vigorous, clear, and concise writing demands sentences with muscle, strong active verbs cast in the active voice.”
10. The concept of zombies in writing. “The zombie is a noun that’s devoured a verb: implementation, assessment, authorization, documentation, participation, transmittal, realization… all zombies.” As an example, instead of writing, “They accepted employment on a part-time basis.” Use, “They accepted part-time work.”
11. Explains the value of each word. ““Infamy, a word from fifteenth-century Norman French for “public disgrace and dishonour,” was precisely the right noun to express the vileness of an act deserving of universal reproach.”
12. Examines new words. “The greatest smuggler of new words, of course, was William Shakespeare, the snapper-up of unconsidered trifles. Oxford English Dictionary researchers credited him with inventing as many as two thousand words and phrases, because they could find no currency in them before they appeared in print and voice in Shakespeare plays and sonnets.”
13. Provides a good-word glossary. “Compliment/Complement: You are entitled to a compliment—applause or praise—if you don’t mix it up with complement, meaning “complete or full.””
14. The value of storytelling. “When a story is so familiar from other media that the readers/viewers know the result, but would now be intrigued by detail and drama.”
15. Lethal language when money and words matter. “That changed, Tett tells us, when Paul McCulley, a ponytailed economist at the bond fund company PIMCO, broke the linguistic and cognitive impasse by coming up with a neat phrase to describe the entities he thought inherently unstable: the shadow banks. It was immediately adopted.”
16. How words can get in the way. “By 2016, twenty million had insurance they didn’t have before. The point for Do I Make Myself Clear? is that the lack of clarity in the bill worked against the express purpose of popularizing the legislation, so it was vulnerable to misrepresentation, even by its true begetter.1 Consider the furor over “death panels.””
17. Finalizes the book with four great examples of nonfiction writing. “Lord Jeff is one thing, Wilson another. The severe-looking president was in many ways a transformational progressive. He advocated women’s right to vote (the 19th Amendment) and the eight-hour workday, and he supported the Clayton Antitrust Act as well as the creation of the Federal Reserve and the Federal Trade Commission. He also backed the implementation of the federal income tax, a progressive way for the government to raise funds.”
18. Provides a writing analysis in the appendix.
19. Formal bibliography provided.
20. Helpful blogs provided.
Negatives:
1. Folks on the right will certainly have issue with the author’s progressive views. For the record, I enjoyed them but I’m trying to be fair.
2. Repetitive.
3. Not your typical book, it’s not the type you read through so it’s challenging to get through. Ironic, isn’t it?
4. It’s going to take a lot more than this book to wrote well.
In summary, is not the kind of book an engineer like myself typically reads but I like pushing myself and I glad that I did. The book is part how to write well, political critique and interesting stories. If you are looking for a book that explains the art of writing well versus a regimented grammar book, you will enjoy this. I recommend it.
Further suggestions: “Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style” by Benjamin Dreyer, “Writing to be Understood” by Anne Janzer, “On Writing Well” and “Writing to Learn” by William Zinsser, “The Sense of Style” by Steven Pinker, “The Idea: The Seven Elements of a Viable Story for Screen, Stage or Fiction” by Erik Bork, “Wired for Story” by Lisa Cron, and “You Are a Writer (So Start Acting Like One) by Jeff Goins.
November 7, 2017
Kiinnostavaa luettavaa monelta kannalta. Tiivistettynä kirja siitä, miten kirjoittaa hyvää ja selkeää tekstiä. Evans lyö tiskiin huonoja tekstejä, kertoo mikä niissä on pielessä ja korjaa ne. Välillä hän kattaa pöytään valioyksilöitä ja kertoo, miksi ne ovat niin hyviä. Hienoja ekskursioita, maukkaita lainauksia. Olisiko suomeksi tarjolla jotakin vastaavaa?
June 22, 2018
This is more than an entertaining romp through the English language, it is an education. In Do I Make Myself Clear: Why Writing Well Matters, Harold Evans uses wit and wisdom and numerous real-life examples of how to correct bad writing and indeed, how to make good writing better. And although I read the book in linear fashion from cover to cover, there are chapters with enough linguistic heft to stand by themselves.
Chapter 4 alone, “Ten Shortcuts to Making Yourself Clear,” is worth its weight in gold. Evans’s shortcuts include favoring the energy of active voice over the insidious laziness of the passive, trading the vagueness of abstract words for the sharp clarity of specific ones, and “rationing adjectives and razing adverbs.” Another shortcut suggests that you avoid making your writing boring. “Try being a musician in prose,” says Evans. “The more you experiment, the more you will appreciate the subtleties of rhythm in good writing—and bad…Vary sentence structure. Vary sentence style.”
What makes this 400-page book a fast read is an abundance of useful lists. In the chapter, “Please Don’t Feed the Zombies, Flesh-Eaters, and Pleonasms,” Evans defines a zombie as “a noun that’s devoured a verb.” Examples are: implementation, assessment, authorization, and documentation. Flesh-eaters are “…unnecessary words, pompous phrases and prepositional parasites that eat space…” And a pleonasm is a redundancy, such as complete monopoly and awkward predicament, where “complete” and “awkward” add no value. Evans provides comprehensive and handy lists of zombies, flesh-eaters, and pleonasms that will have you guiltily nodding your head as a feeder of these critters in your own writing.
For all the wit and the sprinkling of cartoons to illustrate a point, Evans also shows that words can matter in life-and-death situations. One example of “lethal language” includes miscommunication between a ground controller and a gunship navigator that resulted in a hospital being mistaken for a Taliban base. Innocent patients and medical staff were killed. Evans also highlights the convoluted language in Social Security documents, insurance policies, and warranties.
The concluding chapter in the book features samples from four people that Evans considers “accomplished practitioners” of excellent writing, namely, Robert Angell (New Yorker essayist), Richard Cohen (Washington Post columnist), David Foster Wallace (author), and Barbara Demick (Los Angeles Times journalist).
I am a self-confessed junkie for books on the English language and how to write well. Do I Make Myself Clear: Why Writing Well Matters should be required reading for all who want to improve their writing. It contains easy-to-learn lessons supported by solid, explanatory examples. If you are a fellow-junkie, then I humbly recommend these further fixes: the brilliant The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Writing in the 21st Century by Steven Pinker; the charming Between You and Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen by Mary Norris; the very brief How to Write a Sentence: And How to Read One by Stanley Fish; the hilarious Anguished English: An Anthology of Assaults Upon Our Language by Richard Lederer; the seriously entertaining Eats, Shoots and Leaves: A Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation; and the seminal Clear and Simple as the Truth: Writing Classic Prose by Frances Noel-Thomas and Mark Turner.
Chapter 4 alone, “Ten Shortcuts to Making Yourself Clear,” is worth its weight in gold. Evans’s shortcuts include favoring the energy of active voice over the insidious laziness of the passive, trading the vagueness of abstract words for the sharp clarity of specific ones, and “rationing adjectives and razing adverbs.” Another shortcut suggests that you avoid making your writing boring. “Try being a musician in prose,” says Evans. “The more you experiment, the more you will appreciate the subtleties of rhythm in good writing—and bad…Vary sentence structure. Vary sentence style.”
What makes this 400-page book a fast read is an abundance of useful lists. In the chapter, “Please Don’t Feed the Zombies, Flesh-Eaters, and Pleonasms,” Evans defines a zombie as “a noun that’s devoured a verb.” Examples are: implementation, assessment, authorization, and documentation. Flesh-eaters are “…unnecessary words, pompous phrases and prepositional parasites that eat space…” And a pleonasm is a redundancy, such as complete monopoly and awkward predicament, where “complete” and “awkward” add no value. Evans provides comprehensive and handy lists of zombies, flesh-eaters, and pleonasms that will have you guiltily nodding your head as a feeder of these critters in your own writing.
For all the wit and the sprinkling of cartoons to illustrate a point, Evans also shows that words can matter in life-and-death situations. One example of “lethal language” includes miscommunication between a ground controller and a gunship navigator that resulted in a hospital being mistaken for a Taliban base. Innocent patients and medical staff were killed. Evans also highlights the convoluted language in Social Security documents, insurance policies, and warranties.
The concluding chapter in the book features samples from four people that Evans considers “accomplished practitioners” of excellent writing, namely, Robert Angell (New Yorker essayist), Richard Cohen (Washington Post columnist), David Foster Wallace (author), and Barbara Demick (Los Angeles Times journalist).
I am a self-confessed junkie for books on the English language and how to write well. Do I Make Myself Clear: Why Writing Well Matters should be required reading for all who want to improve their writing. It contains easy-to-learn lessons supported by solid, explanatory examples. If you are a fellow-junkie, then I humbly recommend these further fixes: the brilliant The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Writing in the 21st Century by Steven Pinker; the charming Between You and Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen by Mary Norris; the very brief How to Write a Sentence: And How to Read One by Stanley Fish; the hilarious Anguished English: An Anthology of Assaults Upon Our Language by Richard Lederer; the seriously entertaining Eats, Shoots and Leaves: A Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation; and the seminal Clear and Simple as the Truth: Writing Classic Prose by Frances Noel-Thomas and Mark Turner.
August 17, 2017
The field of English grammar can be a pedant’s paradise (or nightmare), what with Twitter and texting divining their own rules, and for over 400 pages noted wordsmith Evans sounds off about his favorite peeves. He also, if readers take away nothing else, reminds us that the passive voice (not tense) can bloat a sentence, whereas active voice (subject+verb+object) allows for clearer and briefer writing. Evans takes governmental babble and rewrites it so that one can understand it:
White House:
Evans’s rewrite:
The author reduces the passage’s bloat from 68 words to 46, without reducing its meaning; in fact, he clarifies its meaning. And this goal becomes his overarching purpose. As a journalist Evans hasn’t much use for other inflated language, including what he calls flesh-eaters. One should, for example, use “although” instead of the flesh-eating “despite the fact that” or “like” instead of “along the lines of.” He reiterates what every good eighth-grade English teacher tries to teach: “Don’t pad your writing.” He might have followed his own advice when explaining “flesh-eating” by reducing his verbiage from half a page (plus a photograph of Zoophagus insidians) to a sentence or two. His metaphor is self-explanatory.
Overall, Mr. Evans provides a fine review for persons who write or wish to. He directs his writing to the journalist, who is attempting to reach as many readers as possible, but his “Ten Shortcuts to Making Yourself Clear” (Chapter Five) alone are worth the price of the book, and could assist all writers in making themselves clearer, regardless of the genre. Kudos to this wordsmith.
White House:
“Despite these opportunities and multiple intelligence products that noted the threat AQAP could pose to the Homeland, the different pieces of the puzzle were never brought together in this case[,] the dots were never connected, and, as a result steps to disrupt the plot involving Mr. Abdulmutallab were not taken prior to his boarding of the airplane with an explosive device and attempting to detonate it in-flight” (374).
Evans’s rewrite:
“CT staff never connected the dots, so no one attempted to prevent Mr. Abdulmutallab boarding the plane with an explosive device” (375).
The author reduces the passage’s bloat from 68 words to 46, without reducing its meaning; in fact, he clarifies its meaning. And this goal becomes his overarching purpose. As a journalist Evans hasn’t much use for other inflated language, including what he calls flesh-eaters. One should, for example, use “although” instead of the flesh-eating “despite the fact that” or “like” instead of “along the lines of.” He reiterates what every good eighth-grade English teacher tries to teach: “Don’t pad your writing.” He might have followed his own advice when explaining “flesh-eating” by reducing his verbiage from half a page (plus a photograph of Zoophagus insidians) to a sentence or two. His metaphor is self-explanatory.
Overall, Mr. Evans provides a fine review for persons who write or wish to. He directs his writing to the journalist, who is attempting to reach as many readers as possible, but his “Ten Shortcuts to Making Yourself Clear” (Chapter Five) alone are worth the price of the book, and could assist all writers in making themselves clearer, regardless of the genre. Kudos to this wordsmith.
June 27, 2018
I needed this book.
Everybody
needs this book - even if English is not your language of choice. In an age when degenerated vernacular makes its way into electronic mail, and worse... papers, reports, news stories...when the idiotic term "fake news" is slung with chopped sentence fragments of Twit-verse...the need to write well has never been more, ... needed.
This was listed as a reference in a class on writing I had last month and as I had it on my "someday" list, I bumped it up to "now". Evans has an impressive pedigree and writes with authority and knowledge. He also writes for a reader, no stretch given his editorial positions. In three parts, he breaks down the mechanics of writing well, focuses the reader on making words count and focusing on meanings, and explores the consequences of bad writing. And on the mechanics, I had difficulty not succumbing to monologophobia when writing that last sentence. Coined apparently by Theodore Bernstein, a monologophobe is "a guy who would rather walk naked in front of Saks Fifth Avenue than be caught using the same word twice in three lines." ("God said 'Let there be light,' and there was solar illumination.") Evans might have convinced me that there is nothing wrong with repeating the correct word.
Full of tools, great stories, even better examples of actual editing for content and communication, I'll be returning to this (particularly as I has to write a research paper for a course administrator who seemingly thinks just like Evans...)
Evans gets a sixth, invisible star for skewering the tragedy of what writing and communication has become since the ... come on, you can do it... tragedy... of 2016.
This was listed as a reference in a class on writing I had last month and as I had it on my "someday" list, I bumped it up to "now". Evans has an impressive pedigree and writes with authority and knowledge. He also writes for a reader, no stretch given his editorial positions. In three parts, he breaks down the mechanics of writing well, focuses the reader on making words count and focusing on meanings, and explores the consequences of bad writing. And on the mechanics, I had difficulty not succumbing to monologophobia when writing that last sentence. Coined apparently by Theodore Bernstein, a monologophobe is "a guy who would rather walk naked in front of Saks Fifth Avenue than be caught using the same word twice in three lines." ("God said 'Let there be light,' and there was solar illumination.") Evans might have convinced me that there is nothing wrong with repeating the correct word.
Full of tools, great stories, even better examples of actual editing for content and communication, I'll be returning to this (particularly as I has to write a research paper for a course administrator who seemingly thinks just like Evans...)
Evans gets a sixth, invisible star for skewering the tragedy of what writing and communication has become since the ... come on, you can do it... tragedy... of 2016.
November 11, 2017
Do I Make Myself Clear?:Why Writing Well Matters - Harold Evans | NITROLEITURAS #guiaparaescritores
Um guia de estilo e de escrita do lendário Sir Harold Evans, editor dos mais importantes jornais e editoras do mundo!
Do I Make Myself Clear? Why Writing Well Matters - Harold Evans | 416 páginas, Little Brown, 2017 | Lido de 09.11.17 a 12.11.17 | NITROLEITURAS #guiaparaescritores
SINOPSE
New York Times Bestseller * Um guia sábio e divertido para escrever o inglês da maneira certa por um dos maiores editores de jornais do nosso tempo.
Harry Evans editou tudo, desde os arquivos urgentes dos repórteres do campo de batalha até os complexos processos de pensamento de Henry Kissinger.
Ele já foi nomeado cavaleiro por seus serviços ao jornalismo.
Em EU ESTOU SENDO CLARO?, ele traz sua visão indispensável para todos nós em seu guia definitivo para escrever bem.
As palavras certas são o oxigênio para nossas idéias, mas a era digital, com todos os seus TTYL, LMK e WTF, está cortando esse fluxo de oxigênio.
A compulsão para ser preciso desapareceu de nossa cultura e, por escrito, de todos os tipos, vemos uma tendência para mais - mais velocidade e mais informações, mas muito menos clareza.
Evans fornece exemplos práticos de como a edição e reescrita podem ser feitas para uma melhor comunicação, mesmo na era digital. EU ESTOU SENDO CLARO?,é um texto essencial, e aquele que fornecerá a cada escritor um editor no ombro dele.
RESENHA
O maior sucesso do ano em termos de guia para escritores, "Do I Make Myself Clear" é um livro único, principalmente por ter sido escrito por uma lenda viva no mundo editorial, Sir Harold Evans!
E olha que ele é recebeu o título de cavaleiro justamente pelo seus trabalhos de edição jornalística e literária! O cara é um monstro.
Atualmetne com 80 anos, Evans, que, originado da classe trabalhadora no norte provincial da Inglaterra fez a sua reputação como um jovem e ambicioso jornalista. De 1967 a 1981, foi editor chefe do The Sunday Times de Londres, transformando o mundo do jornalismo investigativo e se tornando uma das maiores influências do New Jornalism, um novo estilo de se narrar notícias, que incorpora técnicas mais literárias de narrativa de histórias.
Deixando The Times depois de entrar em confronto com seu novo comprador, o infame Rupert Murdoch, Evans logo se mudou para os Estados Unidos.
Na década de 1990, ele se tornou chefe da Random House, onde editou os livros de eminências como Norman Mailer e Henry Kissinger.
Posteriormente, ele mesmo escreveu vários livros populares sobre a história americana.
Ele é casado com Tina Brown, a antiga editora da Vanity Fair e do The New Yorker. Harry e Tina são o último "power couple" do mundo editorial de Manhattan.
Com todo esse background, Evans é um cara que merece ser estudado por quem curte a arte da escrita. Suas dicas e suas experiências são preciosas, e mais do que isso, os exemplos de suas edições de textos anteriormente terríveis, são os aspectos que diferenciam esse livro dos demais guias para escritores.
"Do I Make Myself Clear" é um livro focado mais na CLAREZA do texto, em como um escritor e um editor pode trabalhar para tirar os excessos, alterar a estrutura, visando clareza na mensagem.
Para Harold Evans, a boa prosa é transparente, ela cumpre o que o escritor desejou que ela deveria cumprir. A má escrita é confusa, ofuscante e faz o oposto, distorce e até mesmo inverte totalmente o que o escritor queria passar ao escrever.
É um livro sobre COMO escrever com clareza. Como ser implacável com os excessos e como trabalhar a linguagem de modo a deixar o leitor engajado e ajudá-lo na compreensão clara de seu texto.
Um aviso, Harold escreve com muita acidez e suas críticas são ao mesmo tempo engraçadas e bem cruéis com crimes cometidos na prosa jornalística. Ele tem uma paixão pela concisão, ou seja, falar com mais clareza usando menos palavras, e os exemplos de suas edições, espalhados pelo texto, são preciosos.
O livro também serve para educar o olhar do escritor para os excessos e os problemas de sua própria prosa, e deveria ser leitura obrigatória para qualquer aspirante a editor!
E para terminar, adorei a forma simples e direta usada pelo Evans para diferenciar uma boa escrita de uma escrita ruim.
Simples, a Boa Escrita não ENTEDIA do leitor! :)
Doidimais e recomendadíssimo!
Indicado para leitores que:
* Gostam de escrever
* São editores ou querem trabalhar como editores
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Um guia de estilo e de escrita do lendário Sir Harold Evans, editor dos mais importantes jornais e editoras do mundo!
Do I Make Myself Clear? Why Writing Well Matters - Harold Evans | 416 páginas, Little Brown, 2017 | Lido de 09.11.17 a 12.11.17 | NITROLEITURAS #guiaparaescritores
SINOPSE
New York Times Bestseller * Um guia sábio e divertido para escrever o inglês da maneira certa por um dos maiores editores de jornais do nosso tempo.
Harry Evans editou tudo, desde os arquivos urgentes dos repórteres do campo de batalha até os complexos processos de pensamento de Henry Kissinger.
Ele já foi nomeado cavaleiro por seus serviços ao jornalismo.
Em EU ESTOU SENDO CLARO?, ele traz sua visão indispensável para todos nós em seu guia definitivo para escrever bem.
As palavras certas são o oxigênio para nossas idéias, mas a era digital, com todos os seus TTYL, LMK e WTF, está cortando esse fluxo de oxigênio.
A compulsão para ser preciso desapareceu de nossa cultura e, por escrito, de todos os tipos, vemos uma tendência para mais - mais velocidade e mais informações, mas muito menos clareza.
Evans fornece exemplos práticos de como a edição e reescrita podem ser feitas para uma melhor comunicação, mesmo na era digital. EU ESTOU SENDO CLARO?,é um texto essencial, e aquele que fornecerá a cada escritor um editor no ombro dele.
RESENHA
O maior sucesso do ano em termos de guia para escritores, "Do I Make Myself Clear" é um livro único, principalmente por ter sido escrito por uma lenda viva no mundo editorial, Sir Harold Evans!
E olha que ele é recebeu o título de cavaleiro justamente pelo seus trabalhos de edição jornalística e literária! O cara é um monstro.
Atualmetne com 80 anos, Evans, que, originado da classe trabalhadora no norte provincial da Inglaterra fez a sua reputação como um jovem e ambicioso jornalista. De 1967 a 1981, foi editor chefe do The Sunday Times de Londres, transformando o mundo do jornalismo investigativo e se tornando uma das maiores influências do New Jornalism, um novo estilo de se narrar notícias, que incorpora técnicas mais literárias de narrativa de histórias.
Deixando The Times depois de entrar em confronto com seu novo comprador, o infame Rupert Murdoch, Evans logo se mudou para os Estados Unidos.
Na década de 1990, ele se tornou chefe da Random House, onde editou os livros de eminências como Norman Mailer e Henry Kissinger.
Posteriormente, ele mesmo escreveu vários livros populares sobre a história americana.
Ele é casado com Tina Brown, a antiga editora da Vanity Fair e do The New Yorker. Harry e Tina são o último "power couple" do mundo editorial de Manhattan.
Com todo esse background, Evans é um cara que merece ser estudado por quem curte a arte da escrita. Suas dicas e suas experiências são preciosas, e mais do que isso, os exemplos de suas edições de textos anteriormente terríveis, são os aspectos que diferenciam esse livro dos demais guias para escritores.
"Do I Make Myself Clear" é um livro focado mais na CLAREZA do texto, em como um escritor e um editor pode trabalhar para tirar os excessos, alterar a estrutura, visando clareza na mensagem.
Para Harold Evans, a boa prosa é transparente, ela cumpre o que o escritor desejou que ela deveria cumprir. A má escrita é confusa, ofuscante e faz o oposto, distorce e até mesmo inverte totalmente o que o escritor queria passar ao escrever.
É um livro sobre COMO escrever com clareza. Como ser implacável com os excessos e como trabalhar a linguagem de modo a deixar o leitor engajado e ajudá-lo na compreensão clara de seu texto.
Um aviso, Harold escreve com muita acidez e suas críticas são ao mesmo tempo engraçadas e bem cruéis com crimes cometidos na prosa jornalística. Ele tem uma paixão pela concisão, ou seja, falar com mais clareza usando menos palavras, e os exemplos de suas edições, espalhados pelo texto, são preciosos.
O livro também serve para educar o olhar do escritor para os excessos e os problemas de sua própria prosa, e deveria ser leitura obrigatória para qualquer aspirante a editor!
E para terminar, adorei a forma simples e direta usada pelo Evans para diferenciar uma boa escrita de uma escrita ruim.
Simples, a Boa Escrita não ENTEDIA do leitor! :)
Doidimais e recomendadíssimo!
Indicado para leitores que:
* Gostam de escrever
* São editores ou querem trabalhar como editores
ONDE COMPRAR:
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August 1, 2017
I'm not a huge fan of books about writing, they tend to be written by failed writers (I can see myself writing one some day) or Stephen King. So to see that Harold Evans had attempted one was a welcome change from the usual crowd of unpublished prophets re-hashing the same points over and over.
I was never going to get much out of the book because my brain doesn't work, but it has its useful moments - pointed lists of the wrong words, phrases, and cliches to use - and not so useful but interesting moments like anecdotes and a constant commentary of modern events. Perhaps most interested were examples Evans pulled out which show both how complicated writing can be but also how simple. Most books like this give you exercises and examples written by the "author", Evans shows you exactly what he means by showing you good and bad examples from real writers.
As a reference tool it seems excellent, as a book to sit down and read through its a bit of a trek. A little dry in places and at times too technical, at others not technical enough. Better than most books of its ilk, certainly better than On Writing.
I was never going to get much out of the book because my brain doesn't work, but it has its useful moments - pointed lists of the wrong words, phrases, and cliches to use - and not so useful but interesting moments like anecdotes and a constant commentary of modern events. Perhaps most interested were examples Evans pulled out which show both how complicated writing can be but also how simple. Most books like this give you exercises and examples written by the "author", Evans shows you exactly what he means by showing you good and bad examples from real writers.
As a reference tool it seems excellent, as a book to sit down and read through its a bit of a trek. A little dry in places and at times too technical, at others not technical enough. Better than most books of its ilk, certainly better than On Writing.
July 13, 2017
Writing well matters more than you might think. One ambiguous word or phrase and an insurance policy, an auto recall statement, or the Social Security law can change lives. Evans demonstrates how.
The author, a former editor of the London Times, is impassioned about clear, readable writing and he tells us ways to keep our prose crisp. Keep sentences to 40 words or shorter. Avoid "junk." (I wrote "some ways" in the previous sentence but went back and deleted "some", for example.) Use the active voice. Do away with adverbs.
I disliked Evans' constant use of examples of bad writing that are anti-Republican, anti-conservative, anti-Trump, pro abortion, pro belief in global warming, pro other progressive fads. I read this book because I wanted to learn about good writing. I resent political lectures in purportedly non-political books.
And one thing I liked was a chapter of examples of good prose by two of my favorite writers, Roger Angell and Robert D Kaplan, and others.
The author, a former editor of the London Times, is impassioned about clear, readable writing and he tells us ways to keep our prose crisp. Keep sentences to 40 words or shorter. Avoid "junk." (I wrote "some ways" in the previous sentence but went back and deleted "some", for example.) Use the active voice. Do away with adverbs.
I disliked Evans' constant use of examples of bad writing that are anti-Republican, anti-conservative, anti-Trump, pro abortion, pro belief in global warming, pro other progressive fads. I read this book because I wanted to learn about good writing. I resent political lectures in purportedly non-political books.
And one thing I liked was a chapter of examples of good prose by two of my favorite writers, Roger Angell and Robert D Kaplan, and others.
June 1, 2017
Rarely is a book about the process of writing so entertaining and valuable - although I am stressed even writing this for fear of making cardinal sins in my diction or syntax! I found no less than 5 specific passages which I have already turned into lessons for my AP Lang class next year! BRAVO!
November 22, 2017
Well-written (of course) book on, well, writing. Lots of examples of snippets from articles presented next to Evans's suggestions for rewriting the sentences to make them active, more interesting, clearer, all of it. It's long but reads quickly.
September 27, 2021
Icon con mèo Simon khạc cục lông mắc trong cổ họng ra sẽ mô tả chính xác của tôi khi đọc (một nửa) cuốn sách này.
Writing manuals mà thực sự khó đọc, hoặc có lẽ tôi đã quen và thích style rành mạch rõ ràng của Steven Pinker rồi nên không chịu được những câu văn xoắn xuýt khó hiểu một cách không cần thiết. Bản thân tác giả cũng đưa ra gợi ý rằng nếu không cần thì đừng diễn đạt khó hiểu, nhưng cả cuốn sách lại nhiệt tình phản lại lời khuyên đó =)) Cũng không phải tôi chỉ thích đọc cái gì dễ chịu, trôi tuồn tuột, tôi có thể nghiền ngẫm một văn bản khó miễn là nó truyền tải được gọn ghẽ nội dung. Nhưng đó không phải là trường hợp của cuốn sách này.
Để trả lời cho câu hỏi của tác giả: Do I make myself clear?
No, absolutely not.
Còn nhiều ý kiến tôi không đồng tình trong cuốn sách, nhưng cái đó là quan điểm cá nhân của mỗi người nên tôi không muốn chỉ trích. Khó chịu nhất cái style thôi.
Writing manuals mà thực sự khó đọc, hoặc có lẽ tôi đã quen và thích style rành mạch rõ ràng của Steven Pinker rồi nên không chịu được những câu văn xoắn xuýt khó hiểu một cách không cần thiết. Bản thân tác giả cũng đưa ra gợi ý rằng nếu không cần thì đừng diễn đạt khó hiểu, nhưng cả cuốn sách lại nhiệt tình phản lại lời khuyên đó =)) Cũng không phải tôi chỉ thích đọc cái gì dễ chịu, trôi tuồn tuột, tôi có thể nghiền ngẫm một văn bản khó miễn là nó truyền tải được gọn ghẽ nội dung. Nhưng đó không phải là trường hợp của cuốn sách này.
Để trả lời cho câu hỏi của tác giả: Do I make myself clear?
No, absolutely not.
Còn nhiều ý kiến tôi không đồng tình trong cuốn sách, nhưng cái đó là quan điểm cá nhân của mỗi người nên tôi không muốn chỉ trích. Khó chịu nhất cái style thôi.
July 31, 2018
The advice on clear writing is good, but nothing that I had not seen previously in other books; hence my 2 stars. Other than that, the author mostly uses the book to show his political statements and convictions. I do understand using examples of politicians speaking but his whole book seemed very one-sided to me. Regardless of political stance, when I select a book about better writing, I would believe that this is what I would get. When I want a book about political musings, I'll make sure to go to that section of the library/bookstore...
June 3, 2017
Great book on clear writing by one of the premier editors of our time. I have to say, though, my own Conan the Grammarian is just as good and more fun - but mine is geared toward fiction; Evans' is geared toward nonfiction, so take your pick.
January 7, 2018
Comes across slightly pompous at times but still very helpful. Lots of practical advice which I will endeavour to apply! It was interesting how useful it can be to see both good and bad writing/editing.
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