PoE
Feacrassionar
‘meexgues
FORWAMNG
WI STAE
‘AND
POWER.
UR,
WRITING
DETAILED EXPLANATIONS AND EXPERT ADVICE
‘ABOUT EVERY ASPECT OF WRITING--FROM,
SPIRATION TO FUNCTUATION
‘ACTUAL EXAMPLES OF "DO'S" AND "DON'TS" THAT
IMARETHEDIFFERENCE
DESIGNED FOR BOTH INSTANT REFERENCE AND.
COVERTO.COVERREADING.
GARY PROVOST
‘euhor of The Freelonce Writers HandbookIntroduction
‘This book wil ech you how to write bette ransom notes,
twill so teach You how to write beter love leer,
short stores, magane aries, Jeers tthe er, ba
ess propor, sermons, poems, novels, puro equa,
church ewslete, sons, memos, essys, tem popes,
‘hese, raf, death dents, advertisements, and shop.
Ping hs,
HE your writing does ot improve alter you read this
took, you have led. Thave Is he water's, not
the reader's, Wo see that weting scompihes Whatever
oa the wer ha set frit
One bit of advice I wil pve you in his book is “Make
Yours likable." Reade who like you are mere incon
to st you, to lagh at our joke, cy over your aguith,
sign the petition, by the rode, put te check inthe
‘ior do whatever leit you are yng to gt hem to
& thovgh your wing.
T want you to ke re 30 tht you will follow my‘any Pnovoer
th
‘wrong. I'm here show you
‘dvice—and recommend my book to your fiends. And
at's imporan for you to know Because it nae Pans od
tell you tht yeu're wring
Iwo wnt ig.
CHAPTER ONE
Nine Ways to Improve
Your Writing When
You're Not Writing
1. Get Some Reference Books
&, Expand Your Vocabulary
&. Improve Your Spelling
prea
5 Tako a Gi
Ls
‘7. Research:
8 Wiite in Your Head
8. Choose « Time and Plaoe| 1.et Some Reference Books
| tewould te «shame to bring an entire wring project to
J tunes case you did't ow ow spel gyroscope
1 sehnaps. So get x dictioary snd Keep in heroes
wher you wate, no more thn an a's length away. In
fac, ge we. Get shard cover for is compehensvenes
and paperback for convenience
‘Allo, pt an encjelopeia, If ou can't afford big st,
[engl volume eacyeopedia
‘And gta thesaurus. Theourus mess “tesa; the
Jets Jou uy wl ba tea of symm, wore
that ure close in meaning to the one you wan, tis 2 book
that wil Ted you to that peret won you know i oer
Ing onthe otis of your rain
| “Roger's Thesaurus sernget in two sections. The fist
section contans hundeds of elses of rested words and
Dlimses. The second section is an index isting all the
words i the fest section alphabetically and telling you
Where they appear in that ston
Lets say, for example, that in 4 eer you waat 9‘any movost
sure the owner of te compaty you wa for tat you
will mos censiny try wo recover the four illon doo:
you Toston the papier mich dal, bt recover Son ue
the word you want ous, and you're not sr wba So
YOU Whip out your pocket edlon of Rogers Themure
{umn tthe index, an look up recover Tee you'l fod
{he numbers 660, 75, and 790, Yu tum cute 660
sal you find recover alongwith its costs rly, nse
‘ull throu, reappear, sad bers I yu dn’ like any,
thing you find there, you tum tothe other numbers,
the thesaurs will ead yeu to redeem, get ack sale,
ant 0 0,
‘You can find thesauruses in paperback aed hard cover,
and Roger's snot the oaly nef do met reomiyed a
ones that are arangd solely i dconary for They ae
‘sir to use bt only about twelve pereat useful
‘Affe you have acute dictionary, an saeyclopedia,
and besa, you can aque eer referee books 2
time, taste, and money allow. Theis importance deponis
largely on what sot of writing you do atl tow mack
Here ar few reference books You might fnd asf
Finding Face Fast by Alden Tod (Tea Speed Press) is
8 good reference book for any wnt wi has t do
esearch,
‘The Statiscal Abstract ofthe United States will you
how many tomatoes were grown in New Teney lst jo
sa good many other things you might ot fd anywho
cise You cn oder i fom he U.S. Government Pasting
‘Otce, Washington, D.C: 20402,
The Book of Lit by David Wallehinsky, ving Wal
ee, and Amy Wallace (Bantam is fu to ead an ch
‘with wef information
100 WAYS 70 nerRovE YOUR WAITING
The Help Book by J. L. Barks (Seine’s) wil tell you
Who provides what services and where you ean get mote
infor,
The King’s Engh by H.W. Fowler and FG. Fowler
(Oxo University resis an excelent grammar ext,
Words into Type Pestie-Hal) wil pune you toogh
‘very aspect of manssenge preparation oer mates of
Usage and grammar fo mates of eng ond rooting
2. Expand Your Vocabulary
Everybody hs heard tps for improving vocabulary
‘eam a new word inthe morsing and use ithe times
before sumst and its yours, et. Thre are many books
that wll help you steth your vocabulary. The best know
fone is Thi Days 10-0 More Powerful Vocabulary by
Wiled Funk ani Nosman Levis (Funk and Wegnal)
Read that book o ne lite it
‘But the most important vocabulary forthe wer isnot
‘he one that will ake in warows tomorow aad subrene
the next dy. I's he one he or she aca fas For the
rier of average ineligence and edo, laming new
‘rds Is much less important thn laing to whe Easily
the words he or se aleady knows,
‘Think fora minut. How many syeonyms cas you ome
up with forthe nu plan?
There ate program, iinerary, scheme, design agen,
‘utine, and blueprint. Ifyou concent fo tint,
{OU might have come up with en words ht you andyany vaovorr
‘nem. But how many of them would have cme easily to
‘mind while you were writing eter othe bos shut sour
Potentially erative new. uh plan?
The only way to make your vocabulary mete accesible
is to ase i. If you want all howe shot but iterating
words wating athe fost of your bran when you acct
‘hem, you must move them £0 the foa of your bran
before you nad hem,
Stop to think about other word possibiits when you
‘wit, andevesally they will come so quell ttt You
Won't have to top.
Pause before you speak. Then inset om of those god
but neglected words
‘And When you drive home from work ih, pick oat
‘an object long the road and se how many sya ou
an thik of before you pas it There's a house ever tne,
Batis aoa dwelling, an abode, a building, ungaow,
ethips, or maybe a cate. I's home for somebody,
4s headquarters for a family, td i's a sie and a
3. Improve Your Spelling
‘Tere stn't maay finn rules that apply tothe speling
of English words, Monty, good spelling is ¢ mater of
forming te right mental associations ant dewloping oo
‘ve for words tht lok ile weind
In the dictionary, look up any word that you're not sue
of I you have been misspeling i, write I carely teu
100 WAYS 70 macrnova youn warrme
tines. vent visual image for the comet speling. Foe
‘example: The Sahara deser aly has on slike Sabra,
but the desert aftr a meal hat 3 second like a second
eling.
How will beter speling improve your witing? Wel,
for one thing, you won't write desert when you Tan
desert. More impoat, itwil improve your wing by
Fefucing the number of tines you aoy the reader. A few
misspelled words wil er the readers concentaton, and
Tot of mispelied words wil yreck your cbt, Right
oe wrong, the reader wil pexeive you a well stupid,
{o pur st bluntly. IF you don't hve the respect of the
reader, your wet wil no wick
iy ofthe Most Commonly Misspelled Werds:
ceptable fascinate cores
spoiogy atta ottoce
‘pee hygiene profesor
archiest ‘imsginble ———_pseonym
assasinae ——mmeintly——_Guaelome
autumn ‘relevant religous
Calendar Jewelry reservoir
langeable judgment shythmic
conscious lovable sors
emesponience miscellaneous syle
ene mischievous tragedy
deceive morgage umbrella
iscemble ——neeettanly vanilla,
ears cxctsionlly vengeance
concn cxcunence yet‘any movoer
erisence omission hetesone
outkf
4. Read
a i atl
WF you mmm a ah
fie you elderly at
shit ire yor ae mapas a
‘cep up with whats being writen about bit aa bres