by Trent Lythgoe
For most of my 22 years in the US Army, I thought I was a decent writer. However, graduate school taught me a bitter truth: I wasn’t. But after accepting my failings, I found a powerful tool to help me improve—writing guides. From understanding grammar and mechanics to developing style and voice, writing guides can help writers of all skill levels get better. They helped me get through graduate school. Now, as an academic who writes professionally, writing guides are indispensable.
I recently immersed myself in the world of writing guides while researching a new writing manual for the US Army Command and General Staff College. I read scores of books on writing. Many were excellent; some, not so much. But I came away with a better sense of what makes a good one. Here are my favorites.
1) Brandon Royal’s The Little Red Writing Book. This concise, practical guide describes twenty principles and thirty grammar rules for effective writing. Instead of trying to cover too much—as lesser guides often do—Royal focuses on the most important ideas. The result is a guide that’s easy to read, understand, and apply. For these reasons, it’s the first one I recommend to struggling writers. The Little Red Writing Book will improve your writing from the moment you open it.
2) William Zinsser’s On Writing Well. Despite its age, Zinsser’s classic remains atop many writer’s lists. On Writing Well declares war on clutter, “the disease of American writing” that suffocates prose with extra words that serve no purpose. The cure? Simple, clear, confident writing. “The secret of good writing,” Zinsser declares, “is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components…Look for the clutter in your writing and prune it ruthlessly.” Writers will benefit from Zinsser’s timeless advice while enjoying his quotable quotes and warm but unapologetic tone.
3) Steven Pinker’s The Sense of Style. Pinker explores why most writing stinks and how to fix it using an active, concrete, conversational approach called Classic style. Pinker eschews rules and lists of dos and don’ts. Instead, he guides writers through the underlying theory of communication that makes Classic style effective. While some readers may chafe (“just give me the dos and don’ts!”), be patient. The Sense of Style will reward you with a deeper understanding of how humans communicate.
Although these are my favorites, several others merit honorable mention. Foremost is William Strunk and E.B. White’s venerable handbook The Elements of Style which famously exhorts writers to “omit needless words.” Other worthwhile picks include Stephen King’s On Writing, Helen Sword’s The Writer’s Diet, Roy Peter Clark’s Writing Tools, Diedre McCloskey’s Economical Writing, and Benjamin Dreyer’s eponymous Dreyer’s English.
Lastly, a shameless plug for Professional Writing: The Command and General Staff College Writing Guide. Although it’s not in the same league as the guides above, it draws on many of them to help Army professionals meet the Army writing standards. And the price is right—it’s free to download.
Writing is hard, and it always will be. But learning from the best by reading their writing guides makes it a bit easier.
Dr. Trent J. Lythgoe is an associate professor of military leadership and the Fox Conner Chair of Leadership Studies at the US Army Command and General Staff College. Dr. Lythgoe earned his PhD in political science at the University of Kansas. He served 22 years as a US Army aviation officer. Dr. Lythgoe’s research has appeared in Armed Forces & Society, Political Research Quarterly, Joint Force Quarterly, and Military Review. He is the author of three published or forthcoming book chapters and co-editor of a forthcoming book from Army University Press on civil-military relations.
