Reddit reviews Sin and Syntax: How to Craft Wickedly Effective Prose

Sin and Syntax: How to Craft Wickedly Effective Prose

You should consider checking out Spunk & Bite, as well.

Sin and Syntax by Constance Hale. It is about the parts of language, rather than punctuation, but it's amazing. It will teach you the "right way" and the "wrong, but awesome" way to write.

Edit: I feel that I should add that I have read this book through twice. It's not often I can just read a book about grammar, but this book is very well written, in my opinion. She makes language fun.

Just do it. Just put it out there. Some of the worst stuff I have written, that I still call "trash fiction", is the stuff people loved best. Some of the best stuff I have written has gotten the harshest critiques. The point, here, is to be careful of becoming "married" to things, that is, being unwilling to change it if someone has a valid critique.

Basically, take everything that is said to you about your work, process it as feedback rather than attack, and use it to help your writing get better. If someone took the time to critique your work, rather than defending the work, thank them for the criticism. Take the criticim, apply it, and see if it makes your work stronger. If it does, keep it, if not ignore it. Rough criticim has helped me immensely.

I also cannot emphasize how much a few writing classes and good books can help. Check out On Writing Well by William Zinsser, and Sin in Syntax by Constance Hale. Worth their weight in gold.

Feel free to inbox me with your stories. I promise to be thorough, yet non-douchy! Here's my online portfolio , if you want to check out my stuff. :)

EDIT: A comma.

Is it Transitive Vampire or Sin & Syntax?

Some fun books to start with:

Eats, Shoots and Leaves, by Lynne Truss

Sin and Syntax, Constance Hale

I recently finished a book entitled, Sin & Syntax that is quite good - a lot of fun, and goes over not only the basics, but also artful writing.
Otherwise, if you read a lot of books with very good grammar/writing you'll tend to pick it up - I don't mean to make any unfounded judgments on your taste, but, as a general comment, read something like The Anatomy of Melancholy instead of Dan Brown. (At least, I think his writing is dreadful.) Otherwise, one comment suggests learning another language, and that is definitely a step in the right direction if you can manage it - I recommend Latin.

I go through phases. Sometimes I read poetry (nothing in particular, usually a trip to the library looking for collections instead of one single author). Sometimes I read fiction. Sometimes I read non-fiction.

The other part of the equation is to make sure you're reading actively. It doesn't matter how much you read if you don't really understand it. Pay attention to the way the author says things.

An issue I have with just reading nonfiction books on a particular subject (ie. philosophy as you've stated) doesn't really help if the books are dry. You're wanting to learn how to turn a phrase--you don't get that from a lot of non-fiction. The philosophy part might help you look at the world differently or become more aware of things outside your own point of view, but they don't usually help you understand how to write a crafty sentence (or lyric). In other words, it might give you something to write about, but not how to write about it!

Something else that might help is to read books about writing. Not textbooks, but books about grammar and style. I also recommend books written by successful authors on their own writing.

Two books that I have next to me pretty much always are:

https://www.amazon.com/Sin-Syntax-Craft-Wickedly-Effective/dp/0767903099

and

https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Eloquence-Secrets-Perfect-Phrase/dp/042527618X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483465760&sr=8-1&keywords=elements+of+eloquence

Of course, you can also enroll in a creative writing course. Having guidance and feedback is worth more than most people think.

Write On!


Perhaps you'd like some more Sin & Syntax in your life. How 'bout adding more Spunk & Bite to your writing? Or doing something everyday that scares you?

I'd like this so I can keep my dirty paws off my phone.