Robert's Rules of Writing, Second Edition

Bestselling author Robert Masello guides working and aspiring writers alike with the hard-won advice, tricks of the trade, and indispensable encouragement that only a seasoned professional can provide.

Although there’s no shortage of books on writing and publishing, there’s none quite like Robert’s Rules of Writing: 111 Unconventional Lessons Every Writer Needs to Know. Drawing on his many years of experience as an award-winning journalist, TV writer, and the author of over twenty books published by mainstream houses and translated, to date, into nineteen languages, Robert Masello addresses all the issues that confront, and all the problems that beset, writers of all stripes.

Whether you’re working on a novel or a script, a memoir or a blog, an epic poem or a newspaper piece, you’re going to have to find the best way to express yourself clearly, persuasively, and entertainingly. You’ll have to find your own personal voice (much harder than it sounds) and use that unique voice to convey your story, your thoughts, and your opinions, to the many readers out there that you’re eager to reach; with complete candor and welcome irreverence, Robert’s Rules of Writing offers the inside knowledge that will help you do just that. As provocative as they are amusing, these rules are purposely designed to challenge the old axioms and get you thinking afresh about your work.

In well over a hundred short but pithy takes, Masello guides you over hurdles, around obstacles, and through the seemingly insurmountable barriers to completion and ultimately publication—hooray!—of your writing. It’s a lively, thought-provoking, and often downright funny addition to any veteran, or fledgling, writer’s shelf.

ROBERT MASELLO is a prolific journalist, whose work has regularly appeared in prominent publications ranging from the Washington Post to New York Magazine. His novels of historical suspense and nonfiction books on such varied topics as the television business and the art of romance have appeared on several national bestseller lists. He has also lectured on writing and literature from Claremont McKenna College to the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. A longstanding member of the Writers Guild of America, he lives and works in Santa Monica, California.