What s the secret of a stylish essay, or story, or email How do you make your sentences sparkle In this slim volume, a leading editor who is also a pop critic and sportswriter shows how much fun you can have while sharpening your pen. In a few breezy chapters, Tim de Lisle hands you the keys to good writing: how to be clear, concise and vivid. He rattles through the basics of grammar and punctuation, reveals the tricks that will bring your writing alive, and steers you round the rocks of self-consciousness. Along the way, he quotes dozens of great lines, from Shakespeare to Caitlin Moran. Writing, he says, is like dancing, in that you can tell instantly if someone is good at it. But it s also like driving, in that it can be learnt. Spend a couple of hours with this book, and you ll learn things that will help you for years to come. - from Amzon