Several Short Sentences About Writing

By: Verlyn Klinkenborg

Narrated by: Verlyn Klinkenborg

Most of what you think you know about writing is useless. It's the harmful debris of your education - a mixture of half-truths, myths, and false assumptions that prevents you from writing well. Drawing on years of experience as a writer and teacher of writing, Verlyn Klinkenborg offers an approach to writing that will change the way you work and think. There is no gospel, no orthodoxy, no dogma in this book. What you'll find here isn't the way to write. Instead, you'll find a way to clear your mind of illusions about writing and discover how you write.

Several Short Sentences About Writing is a book of first steps and experiments. They will revolutionize the way you think and perceive, and they will change forever the sense of your own authority as a writer. This is a book full of learning, but it's also a book full of unlearning - a way to recover the vivid, rhythmic, poetic sense of language you once possessed.

An indispensable and unique book that will give you a clear understanding of how to think about what you do when you write and how to improve the quality of your writing.

©2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc. (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Highly recommended.

Great book and narrator. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in learning how to write concisely.

A great listen!

This book was worth the listen. Great voice. Great message. I learned so much! I will say some of the exercises would be easier with the physical book. I will look at getting a copy.

Unlearn What You Have Learned (About Sentences)

This is essentially an entire English class in the form of a book, specifically focused on word choice and sentence structure, and pushing against all the lessons we were all taught in school. That may be good or bad, depending on what you’re looking for.

Slow

Author made his point well. It’ll take me a few listens to get it. It may take a few more listens and a lot of writing.
I wonder if he could’ve read the book slower.
Maybe he could add some longer pauses.

A new way to think about writing

This audio book will give you a new way to look at your writing. Revision is writing. Writing is revision.

The examples at the end will help you to understand how to look at your sentences, pick apart the parts of speech, and realize the power of each word.

Top takeaways:
Use powerful verbs.
Revise as you write.
Unlearn most formal training.
Relearn to write as if the reader is reading between the lines.

Wonderfully poetic Manual for anyone who would try to write.

If all books of instruction were written as beautifully as this one, more of us would love to learn!

There are so many great lessons here for novice and veteran writers who either forgot or never learned the basic skills of putting pen to paper. Chapter Three alone is worth the price of admission and the Final Chapter is a terrific Final Exam full of examples of how to improve any sentence.

Buy this book before writing your next Great American Novel or a Thank You Note to your Aunt Clara. Four Stars ****

word choice and knowledge and research

The author's pleasant voice narrates his book. He's very into word choice and knowing the word being used. I love that he wants authors to know the definition of words they choose. He gives examples of sentences he admires and doesn't. He explains why some sentences don't work. The topic could be very arrogantly expressed with scorn and derision but this author keeps the subject light and explains well in a conversational style that draws the reader/listener in and kept me listening til the end.

Dry wit and great advice

I have never before laughed out loud listening to a writing craft book. Klinkenborg‘s deadpan voice is perfect for this book of practical advice. I particularly loved the final chapter where he broke down individual sentences and suggested alternatives. Awkward sentences didn’t know what hit them and immediately jumped to attention with Klinkenborg‘s quick fixes. I expect this will be a regular relisten. Excellent, but tough advice to follow for any writer. It‘s worth the effort to apply these rules; better writing awaits!

Go ahead. Download it.

A few things hit home. Like trusting your readers and not dumbing things down for them. Breaking out of the templates you were handed in school. And at the end, he actually goes through a bunch of sentences and explains what's wrong with them in layman terms. Hardly anyone does this in 'How to Write' books, though it seems requisite.

The only thing I really disagree with is the turning over of sentences in your head until you get them perfect before writing them down. He gives his reasons. I just disagree. The hardest thing about writing is just... writing. So throwing up on the paper is fine as long as you get it down. I would rather have a so-so short story completed that I never have time to revise to perfection, than nothing but the first two perfect paragraphs of said story. I rant.

Overall, would recommend as there are plenty of ideas to pick and choose from.

One long tangent thought

The author has some good ideas, but failed to distill those ideas and present them in a comprehensive form. This book is a collection tangential ramblings. The book has potential to be good, but requires a significant rewrite.
The performance is monotone and uninspired. The performance would have been better suited for a book on hypnosis.