- Paperback: 136 pages
- Publisher: Peterson's Guides,U.S.; 2nd edition edition (1 Mar 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0028637550
- ISBN-13: 978-0028637556
- Product Dimensions: 23.7 x 15.5 x 0.9 cm
-
Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
1,963,514 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #51 in Books > Reference > Writing > Newspapers & Magazines
| ||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
There are no customer reviews yet on Amazon.co.uk.
5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
25 reviews
33 of 34 people found the following review helpful
Not just for Journalists
23 Nov 2002
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book is a must reference for journalists. It is small enough to be read and re-read many times. Every journalist should be forced to read this book, and be quizzed on it, every six months. It would save the rest of us from having to read the awful writing in the manistream press. Even a non-journalist would enjoy this book. It will give you some insight into how news stories are written. Also, if you catch a journalist breaking these simple "how to" rules, you can move on to another more well written story.
Personally, I would rather read a well written story about a topic in which I have no interest, than a poorly written story about something for which I am passionate.
Personally, I would rather read a well written story about a topic in which I have no interest, than a poorly written story about something for which I am passionate.
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Concise, readable, and informative
7 Dec 2001
Format:Paperback
I wish I had had this book when I started writing.
Now that I copy edit, I've made our editor-in-chief buy it for all of the writers.
In a completely readable way, it demonstrates how to write clean, effective copy.
If you're vaguely dissastisfied with your writing, or if have any desire to write for publication, then get this book. It will improve your writing at least 100 per cent.
33 of 36 people found the following review helpful
How to avoid an attack of The Elongated Yellow Fruit
26 May 2004
Format:Paperback
"The Associated Press Guide to News Writing" makes more points in 136 pages than do most writing books four times the size. One would expect no less from a master news editor like Rene Chappon. The formula Cappon follows is to write a very brief explanation of a problem; an example of the problem; a sentence dissecting the example; a rewriting of the problem sentence; and a summary of the topic. The result is almost always memorable. Consider this typical section on The Elegant Variation (capitalized words below are italicized in the original):
***
Writers who believe that the repetition of plain words within shouting distance of each other is crude take off on synonym safaris.... It's all the more grotesque as there are few true synonyms and the author may introduce misfits:
"The mayor's task force was asked to meet with the owners of the STRUCTURES, discuss whether they wanted their BUILDINGS preserved, and recommend ways to adapt older EDIFICES to new use."
STRUCTURES could be anything and EDIFICES is too grandiose; the story concerns commercial and apartment buildings. If the author didn't want to repeat BUILDINGS, a pronoun was the way out:
"...to meet with the owners of the buildings, discuss whether they wanted THEM preserved, and recommend ways to adapt the older ones to new uses."
The same craving for daintiness will convert elephants to PACHYDERMS, dogs to CANINES, cats to FELINES, tigers to STRIPED PREDATORS and cars to VEHICLES. Petroleum becomes BLACK GOLD, snow becomes WHITE POWDER (a justly forgotten poet once called it "God's dandruff"), a banana turns into THE ELONGATED YELLOW FRUIT.
***
The benefit of this style is that Cappon's admonitions pop up unasked whenever we commit one of the sins he identifies. I find that "elongated yellow fruit" frequently superimposes itself on my more tortured prose.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Business, Finance & Law
- Books > Languages
- Books > Reference > Language
- Books > Reference > Publishing & Books > Authorship
- Books > Reference > Writing > Editing
- Books > Reference > Writing > Journalism
- Books > Reference > Writing > Newspapers & Magazines
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Social Sciences
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
