Book-Marketing Tip of the Day – May 9, 2016

"Never send off any piece of writing the moment it is finished. Take on something else. Go back to it a month later and reread it. Examine each sentence and ask, 'Does this say precisely what I meant? Is it capable of misunderstanding? Have I used a cliché where I could have invented a new and therefore asserting and memorable form? Have I repeated myself and wobbled around the point when I could have fixed the whole thing in six rightly chosen words? Am I using words in their basic meaning or in a loose plebian way?' … The English language is incomparably rich and can convey every thought accurately and elegantly. The better the writing the less abstruse it is. Say 'No' cheerfully and definitely to people who want you to do more than you can do well." Evelyn Waugh on Writing, The Wall Street Journal, May 4 2016, page A13