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 Economical Writing Second Edition
Deirdre N. McCloskey
A valuable short guide for mastering the
craft of academic writing! Students and young professionals who care about
direct, clear expression should read this lucid, delightful gem by an author who
practices what she advises. McCloskey’s systematic treatment provides a range of
insights and practical advice for better writing by scholars in every field. $12.50 list, 98 pages 10-digit ISBN: 1-57766-063-3 13-digit ISBN: 978-1-57766-063-7 © 2000 “Deirdre McCloskey’s Economical Writing, originally aimed to help economists write better, is in this second edition clearly a book that should be read by scholars in every field. Her thirty-one rules, offered with wit and delightful brevity, include the essential warning that though rules can help, bad rules hurt. McCloskey’s are all of the helpful kind.” —Wayne Booth, University of Chicago
“Professor McCloskey has written the best short guide to academic prose in the language. Is this language English and not the Academic Official Style? Does McCloskey write with a sense that is also a sense of humor? All true. Buy and believe.” —Richard Lanham, University of California, Los Angeles
“If you want to be read (and who doesn't) and be remembered (better yet), Economical Writing is for you. This entertaining volume will teach you how to write meaningful and joyful economics. A dose of McCloskey banishes the dismal from the ‘dismal science.’ McCloskey is the Strunk and White of economics, and Economical Writing should be required reading for all economists.” —Claudia Goldin, Harvard University
“McCloskey tells economists to say what they have to say clearly and economically, and then shows them how. Students can learn to write so that the professor will know what they mean and, more important, professors can learn to write so that the rest of the world will know what they mean.” —Howard S. Becker, University of Washington
“Deirdre McCloskey's lively and conversational style is sure to engage students and professional scholars alike. Economical Writing should be required reading for students at the dissertation stage. Professionals should read and reread it to keep the bad habits from creeping back into their writing.” —William Polley, Bradley University
Table of Contents
Why You Should Not Stop Reading Here 1. Writing Is the Economist’s Trade 2. Writing Is Thinking 3. Rules Can Help, But Bad Rules Hurt 4. Be Thou Clear; But for Lord’s Sake Have Fun, Too 5. The Rules Are Factual Rather Than Logical 6. Classical Rhetoric Guides Even the Economical Writer 7. Fluency Can Be Achieved by Grit 8. Write Early Rather Than Late 9. You Will Need Tools 10. Keep Your Spirits Up, Forge Ahead 11. Speak to an Audience of Human Beings 12. Avoid Boilerplate 13. Control Your Tone 14. Paragraphs Should Have Points 15. Make Tables, Graphs, and Displayed Equations Readable 16. Footnotes Are Nests for Pedants 17. Make Your Writing Cohere 18. Use Your Ear 19. Write in Complete Sentences 20. Avoid Elegant Variation 21. Watch How Each Word Connects with Others 22. Watch Punctuation 23. The Order Around Switch Until It Good Sounds 24. Read, Out Loud 25. Use Verbs, Active Ones 26. Avoid Words That Bad Writers Love 27. Be Concrete 28. Be Plain 29. Avoid Cheap Typographical Tricks 30. Avoid This, That, These, Those 31. Above All, Look at Your Words If You Didn’t Stop Reading, Join the Flow
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