{"product_id":"9780226351988","title":"The Writer's Diet: A Guide to Fit Prose","description":"\u003cp\u003eDo your sentences sag? Could your paragraphs use a pick-me-up? If so, \u003ci\u003eThe Writer’s Diet \u003c\/i\u003eis for you! It’s a short, sharp introduction to great writing that will help you energize your prose and boost your verbal fitness.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHelen Sword dispenses with excessive explanations and overwrought analysis. Instead, she offers an easy-to-follow set of writing principles: use active verbs whenever possible; favor concrete language over vague abstractions; avoid long strings of prepositional phrases; employ adjectives and adverbs only when they contribute something new to the meaning of a sentence; and reduce your dependence on four pernicious “waste words”: it, this, that, and there.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSword then shows the rules in action through examples from William Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, Martin Luther King Jr., John McPhee, A. S. Byatt, Richard Dawkins, Alison Gopnik, and many more. A writing fitness test encourages you to assess your own writing and get immediate advice on addressing problem areas. While \u003ci\u003eThe Writer’s Diet \u003c\/i\u003eis as sleek and concise as the writing ideals contained within, this slim volume packs a powerful punch.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith Sword’s coaching writers of all levels can strengthen and tone their sentences with the stroke of a pen or the click of a mouse. As with any fitness routine, adhering to the rules requires energy and vigilance. The results, however, will speak for themselves.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"University of Chicago Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47014909706480,"sku":"9780226351988","price":21.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780226351988_p0.jpg?v=1763684712","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780226351988","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}