Spunk and Bite: A Writer's Guide to Bold, Contemporary Style

Today's writer needs more than just a solid knowledge of usage and composition to write successfully. Bestselling author Arthur Plotnik reveals the secrets to attention-grabbing, unforgettable writing, in this trade paperback edition.

Updated with all-new writing exercises, Spunk & Bite will help writers take books, articles, business reports, memos, and even e-mail messages to the next level.

Sticking to the rules creates boring text that cannot get out of its own way and let the concepts through, so Plotnik sticks to what works in real life. The result is not just a solid guide to usage and composition, but also a source of inspiration. For this edition Plotnik provides an all-new set of writing exercises that work in creating crisp novels, fiction writing, business reports and even blogs. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

When too tightly leashed, writing chokes and loses its vitality. Although the rules of composition popularized in William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White's "Elements of Style have been "de rigueur for decades, they won't exactly set your writing free.

To the rescue comes "Spunk & Bite, a guide to bold and radiant language and style. The secret, according to bestselling author and former publishing executive Arthur Plotnik, is to embrace those qualities that composition rulebooks sidestep-among them, surprise, personality, engagement, edge, and fearlessness. Drawing on selections from today's most exciting writers-Jonathan Franzen, Sandra Cisneros, Bill Bryson, Maureen Dowd, and many dozens more-Plotnik reveals the tricks and techniques that make prose fresh, forceful, and publishable.

For all types of writing-novels, articles, poems, ad copy, blogs, and even e-mail-this uncommon handbook reveals how to make your words so fetching that readers beg for more.

Arthur Plotnik is an author, and former publishing executive. Two of his works have been featured as Book of the Month Club selections: "The Elements of Editing and "The Elements of Expression: Putting Thoughts into Words . Reviewers have consistently praised Plotnik's writing for its accuracy, style, and wit, often ranking it with Strunk & White in practicality.

Plotnik studied under Philip Roth and Vance Bourjaily at the Iowa Writers Workshop . As a publisher, he brought five national awards to the American Library Association's book imprint. He also won numerous honors as editor of ALA's flagship magazine, "American Libraries.

Drawing on selections from today's most exciting writers, Plotnik reveals the tricks and techniques that make prose fresh, forceful, and publishable, whether the end products are novels, articles, poems, ad copy, blogs, or e-mail.

Arthur Plotnik is a former publishing executive and author of the Book of the Month Club selections The Elements of Editing and The Elements of Expression: Putting Thoughts into Words.