Writing Tools

Live inside the English language long enough, begin to see grammar as glamorous, and you will experience many sweet moments of epiphany. The light may shine, for example, when you solve a language puzzle that has long left you baffled. It's the same kind of rush as when you've mastered a new dance step or an elegant new jazz riff on the piano.

It took a long time for me to conquer the distinction between "affect" and "effect," an admission for which I feel no shame. Young writers -– and some prose pros –- confuse these words all the time. To get them straight, you may still have to look them up, the way I have to look up the spelling of "judgment" –- or is it "judgement?" Just a sec ... as I was saying, "judgment."

Two days a week, about 50 steps from my desk, sits another writer in another office finishing up another book. His name is Tom French. We met years and years ago at a Bruce Springsteen concert, and we have been writing pals ever since. We share the same agent and a long friendship, but it is a coincidence that has us writing our books at the same time in the same place.The coincidence has created many collateral benefits, including opportunities to encourage each other to keep going, or to share the challenges and writing strategies of the day.

My book in progress happens to be about the glamour of grammar.

Tom's book is about life and death at an American zoo. When I describe it that way to people, they look a little puzzled as if that definition needed expansion or exemplification. I can read the question in their eyes, "What about life and death in an American zoo?"  If they had this language available to them, they might say "Life and death in an American zoo" is a topic, not a story. Not a theme. "What is this story really about?"

Since my book "Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer" was conceived on this Web site, I would like to bring you up to date on what has happened to the book since its publication three years ago. I also have some news on how you can get your hands on these writing strategies both old and new.

First, news about the book:

• More than 60,000 copies are now in print.
• It is available in hard cover, paper cover, and scholastic editions.
• The cost of a copy continues to decrease: $9.09 is the discounted price offered by Amazon.
• A Quick List of "Writing Tools" is available for free, as are hundreds of essays I've written on the craft for Poynter.org.
• The book is now available in Danish and German and Portuguese translations.
• Poynter.org will now and then republish some chapters of "Writing Tools" that I think have special relevance for journalists.