Writing with Style: The Economist Guide (Economist Books)

I have the 2018 (12th edition) which titled, “Style Guide’ whereas the 2023 edition is titled, ‘Writing with Style’ and described on the cover as ‘A new edition of The Economist Style Guide’. This 2023 edition is a true new edition. It has 70 pages of useful advice on many points. It begins with the advice to write clearly because ‘clarity of writing usually follows clarity of thought’. It provides tips on how that can be achieved with a number of rules such as ‘Never use a long word when a short one will do’, and ‘If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out’. Concurring with Winston Churchill, the editor, Greene, writes: ‘short words are best, and old words, when short, are best of all’. Hence, use ‘buy’ and not ‘purchase’, ‘make’ and not manufacture, and ‘show’ to ‘demonstrate’. We are discouraged from using euphemisms and exaggeration, and thus prefer ‘battle’ to ‘kinetic action’.Chapter 2 is about how metaphors affect the clarity of our phrases. The advice against journalese and jargon are helpful because even journalists these days are resorting more and more to journalese and jargon. There is therefore ‘heightened tensions’ between journalists and Economist-trained writers.Chapter 3 discusses the relationship between grammar and writing with brevity. Here, we are advised to avoid long sentences – ‘the full stop is the writer’s best friend’. This chapter also explains when the passive voice may sound better than the active one. The use and abuses of punctuations are also discussed in this chapter, and so are common problems – ‘who’ and ‘whom, ‘between you and I’, and excessive use of the comma.Chapter 4 is about writing with numbers, and it contains some of my favourite parts – the avoidance of the kind of language used in business. Business-words such as ‘bail-out’, ‘flatlining growth’, level playing fields’ all sound tired and over-used. There are hilarious examples of misnomers such as ‘sustainable business that may be going bust’.Finally, in this first part, chapter 5 tells us the importance of editing our work. Some commonly used words that can be edited out are: ‘rather, somewhat, possibly, mostly, actually, really’. There is a difference between a sentence and a paragraph. ‘One-sentence paragraphs should be used only occasionally’. Trim neoplasms. ‘Rise up, serious crisis, pilotless drones, disappear from sight, free gift’ are all at least a word too long. The advice to proofread suggests that we use a spell checker, but ought not to rely solely on it.Chapter 6 is the whole of part 2. It contains the discussion of troublesome words and often misused ones. It also has the details of how to use names of countries, places, the technical aspects of punctuation – all the details that make writing good (and bad).If you have the 2018 edition, it is time to change.

The Economist is famous for its clear and intellectual style. This book presents the guidelines that its journalists are supposed to follow. The main idea is that redundant text should be eliminated. But this is probably not an easy task. The book includes many redundant sentences like the following one on page 118: “Avoid over-use or exaggeration”. This is a tautology. By the meanings of the words, any over-use or exaggeration should be avoided. The relevant question is: under what condition a certain text is over-use or exaggerated? The author does not present an answer to this question.

Well designed, can be useful on all levels

Después de un mes de anunciada la entrega por fin llego el libro.Como lo esperaba es muy interesante. Gracias a Johnson por compartirnos su sabiduría.La edición pasada del manual de estilo es muy práctica y de fácil consulta para cosas que se deben resolver a la carrera, el de ahora es una manual de estilo más pedagógico y profundo en sus enseñanzas y disertaciones, aunque ya veremos como es de versátil para el día a día.A pesar de que ahora tenemos Wikipedia a mano al instante yo no hubiera quitado la última parte de la edición anterior con esos datos de interés que bien hubieran valido una actualización, así tocara inclurir al tal D. Trump en la lista de presidentes de los Estados Unidos.

Really beneficial style guide and the delivery service—picking up at a locker—couldn't have been easier!

A zippy, informative read and a terrific resource to have within reach if you're trying to make your own writing clearer, more effective and more engaging. The book was conceived as an in-house guide for the pithy, succinct writing The Economist has been known for for nearly 2 centuries but lends itself to improving all sorts of day-to-day communication. Highly recommend!

In terms of writing advice, this book doesn't go much beyond the classic Strunk and White. Really a style guide for writers for The Economist. Of note: some linguistic background; a chapter on numeracy; a section on usage of economics and business terms; a section comparing usage in British v American English. Well written with examples of the good and bad.

This book is an excellent guide to help improve your writing and answer all of those style questions. Lane Greene’s writing style makes this vital subject enjoyable to read.

The Economist has been publishing its guide since 1986, and it has been improving ever since. This last edition, now titled "Writing with Style", before "The Style Guide", is by Lane Greene, also the author of the magnificent weekly column "Johnson", and an enthusiast of languages.To call this book indispensable is to sell it short. It has many sections, all packed with knowledge and insights on how to write (or read or even listen). Only for the first chapter, a succinct essay on how the English language was formed and shaped by successive invasions (Roman, Anglo-Saxon, Norman), this book is worth buying it.I challenge anyone, whatever the trade or walk of life, who cannot find at least a bunch of sound advice on how to use English. For those who use the language as a daily tool, this will be essential.

Deals with all problems of the English language. Merges the old economist style guide with a updated style manual(grammar, sentence construction).Must buy even if you have a previous edition. The updates alone make it worth it. With examples of correct and incorrect use and explanations as to why.

While it is pretty basic, I found it useful because it reminded me about the fundamentals of writing and grammar. Would be useful for beginners.

As you'd hope for, this style guide is full of good tips for how to write like a human, not a bot!