A course in journalistic writing The title of a book is often the hardest part to write. The title of this book is admittedly a compromise. When the manuscript was submitted to various high-school and college teachers of the subject, each suggested…
How to prepare essays, lectures, articles, books, speeches, and letters, with hints on writing for the press. Excerpt Manu who themselves can easily write excellent Articles or make excellent Speeches, by the light of nature, will utterly fail to te…
Notes on the composition of scientific papers In the course of the year, I peruse sixty or seventy theses for the degree of M.B. and about twenty-five for the degree of M.D. The matter of these theses is good, it is often excellent; in composition a…
The elements of the short story The method of studying the short story here presented is based on two ideas. The first is that the well-equipped student of the short story should have in mind a number of standard examples that exhibit in concrete fo…
A manual of essay-writing This little book aims at giving more systematic guidance in the art of essay-writing than is usually attempted. Many teachers, I am aware, are sceptical as to the value of such an attempt. They feel the importance of spont…
Storytelling: what to tell and how to tell it The literature on storytelling concerns itself, for the most part, with the requirements of the kindergarten and earlier grades, and very little which is suggestive and helpful seems available for the c…
The thirty-six dramatic situations From introduction: Thirty-six situations only! There is, to me, something tantalizing about the assertion, unaccompanied as it is by any explanation either from Gozzi, or from Goethe or Schiller, and presenting a…
A manual of the short story art A famous actress, long since dead, once remarked with bitterness: "In my day all that was necessary to produce a play were two boards and a passion; today all that is necessary are two sticks and a wardrobe.&quo…
How to write short stories From introduction: A glimpse at the advertising columns of our leading magazines shows that whatever else this country may be shy of, there is certainly no lack of correspondence schools that learns you the art of short-s…
Writing for the magazines From the publisher's introduction: Like several other volumes in The Writer's Library, this book covers a subject not heretofore treated, except in a fragmentary way, by any other author. It will be found impressive…
Language in action: a guide to accurate thinking, reading, and writing Samuel Ichiye Hayakawa (July 18, 1906 – February 27, 1992) was a Canadian-born American academic and politician of Japanese ancestry. A professor of English, he served as preside…
Hints for young writers Hints for young writers Excerpt For centuries it was thought that oratory was the greatest human achievement, the most perfect expression of personal power. It was long supposed that no other form of self-expression develope…
