Economical Writing

by McCloskey, Deirdre

• ISBN13: 9781577660637
• ISBN10: 1577660633
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-05-01
• Publisher: Waveland Pr Inc

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Why You Should Not Stop Reading Here	1	(2)
Writing Is the Economist's Trade	3	(3)
Writing Is Thinking	6	(2)
Rules Can Help, But Bad Rules Hurt	8	(4)
Be Thou Clear; But for Lord's Sake Have Fun, Too	12	(3)
The Rules Are Factual Rather Than Logical	15	(2)
Classical Rhetoric Guides Even the Economical Writer	17	(3)
Fluency Can Be Achieved by Grit	20	(2)
Write Early Rather Than Late	22	(3)
You Will Need Tools	25	(4)
Keep Your Spirits Up, Forge Ahead	29	(4)
Speak to an Audience of Human Beings	33	(2)
Avoid Boilerplate	35	(4)
Control Your Tone	39	(5)
Paragraphs Should Have Points	44	(2)
Make Tables, Graphs, and Displayed Equations Readable	46	(2)
Footnotes Are Nests for Pedants	48	(2)
Make Your Writing Cohere	50	(3)
Use Your Ear	53	(2)
Write in Complete Sentences	55	(1)
Avoid Elegant Variation	56	(2)
Watch How Each Word Connects with Others	58	(3)
Watch Punctuation	61	(4)
The Order Around Switch Until It Good Sounds	65	(3)
Read, Out Loud	68	(2)
Use Verbs, Active Ones	70	(2)
Avoid Words That Bad Writers Love	72	(6)
Be Concrete	78	(2)
Be Plain	80	(3)
Avoid Cheap Typographical Tricks	83	(2)
Avoid This, That, These, Those	85	(1)
Above All, Look at Your Words	86	(5)
If You Didn't Stop Reading, Join the Flow	88	(3)
Works Cited	91	(4)
Index	95