Most books on the art of writing dwell more on the rules of grammar, and the beginnings of story development, plotting, characterisation and growing the novel to the finish before making pre-publishing trips. Not many books exist in the realms of what really goes in the mind of a beginning writer - the one who has to exorcise all the demons that block the wannabe writer's creativity or over-draw it, the one who has to find the tools of trade, draw out reference material and weave the works. I have surveyed such books of tips on writing all my life. "The Elements of Style" is too pedantic even though classy. "On Writing Well" by William Zinsser is a classic and bang-on when it comes to talking about the craft of writing. "Good Writing" by Mitchell Ivers is another welcome addition to the two. "Overcoming Writer's Block" is another tiny yet memorable book on how to break out into the zone of profligate writing. However, the most enjoyable book is "The Pen Commandments" by a lesser-known high-school English teacher in US - Steven Frank.
Its a delightful book that revels in writing for fun at the level where the urge to write should strike us first - when we are still toggling between the love for language and the foundations of a commercial or scientific career.
"Pen Commandments" gives all the kickstarting tools and tenets of writing ourselves to potential, giving some outstanding examples of shiny writing mostly from the high school students of his class. You can well figure out that Steven Frank must have polished most pieces of composition and creative writing that he puts out for our perusal. There are anecdotes, commandments of biblical value and there are countless examples of appropriate grammatical rules intermixed with inviolable style rules. I read this piece almost two Olympics back and still find it a happy bunker to bury my head into whenever I need a resurrection of creativity. It is more elegant and stylish, contemporary and fun to read than a New Yorker piece or an Arthur Plotnick's repost in "Spunk & Bite" ("Strunk and White"). I don't know why Steven Frank never attempted more books after such a dramatic flash of brilliance in the book. "The Pen Commandments" will surprise you and permanently leave you with an incurable love for the English language - it deserves to be widely-read - not just in High Schools but by all who push their pen for any cause.
Its a delightful book that revels in writing for fun at the level where the urge to write should strike us first - when we are still toggling between the love for language and the foundations of a commercial or scientific career.
"Pen Commandments" gives all the kickstarting tools and tenets of writing ourselves to potential, giving some outstanding examples of shiny writing mostly from the high school students of his class. You can well figure out that Steven Frank must have polished most pieces of composition and creative writing that he puts out for our perusal. There are anecdotes, commandments of biblical value and there are countless examples of appropriate grammatical rules intermixed with inviolable style rules. I read this piece almost two Olympics back and still find it a happy bunker to bury my head into whenever I need a resurrection of creativity. It is more elegant and stylish, contemporary and fun to read than a New Yorker piece or an Arthur Plotnick's repost in "Spunk & Bite" ("Strunk and White"). I don't know why Steven Frank never attempted more books after such a dramatic flash of brilliance in the book. "The Pen Commandments" will surprise you and permanently leave you with an incurable love for the English language - it deserves to be widely-read - not just in High Schools but by all who push their pen for any cause.
