preview

Ten Ways To Think About Writing Shelly Reid Summary

Decent Essays

Summery
In E. Shelly Reid's book Ten Ways to Think About Writing she expresses the thought we have all had; writing is hard. It's hard to follow the rules and still be passionate about what you are writing. These rules turn writing to a chior instead of an expressive art form. Reid suggests that we rid ourselves of the rules and focus on three key principals instead, write about what interests you, show don't tell and adapted to the audience. It is this consideration of both the author and the audience that defines rhetoric writing. Reid uses several examples to back up her key principles, but in the end it all comes down to the writer. The author has the power to replace the rule with an idea and pick which ones to use and chose which ones …show more content…

In the section "Pink Houses and Choruses" Reid discusses the importance of not leaving your reader behind. In the first paragraph Reid explains why teachers are so found of thesis statements. She takes the example away from writing into scenario everyone can understand in the second paragraph of page eleven. She describes a scene in which a group of people are driving in a car and out of no where someone shouts "Hey look at this pink house" Due to the little warning most of the passengers only catch a glimpse or miss the house entirely. Shouting to look for something as you pass it is like a essay without a thesis statement, you might miss the whole point. In the fourth paragraph of page eleven Reid urges writers to think of a thesis statement like a chorus, something to be repeated with slight variation in order to solidify ones point and keep the reader engaged. Reid applies this concept of the pink house and the chorus in her own writing. In the last paragraph of the tenth page Reid introduces the importance of not loosing your reader. She continues to stress this point threw ought the passage just as she suggests. She does this by offering many varying examples that all boil down to the same thing. She practices what she preaches and in the end the reader knows exactly the point she is trying to

Get Access