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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 8, 2007)
BY LOIS WADSWORTH Disciplined Development Better writing through A WRITER’S COACH: An Editor’s Guide to Words That Work by Jack Hart. Pantheon Books, 2006. Hardcover, $24.95. J ack Hart’s practical writing guide drives home the value of an unpre- tentious, well-structured writing style. Highly readable, succinct and infor- mation-packed, A Writer’s Coach reveals practices that help struggling writers with writing problems and craft tips for experi- enced writers seeking mastery. “I like to remind people that Dorothy Parker said she hated writing but loved hav- ing written,” Hart says. “Writing is the most disciplined form of thought.” Hart’s more than 30 years as a writer and award-winning newspaper and magazine editor impelled him to create a book that would make writing less painful, he says. Working for The Oregonian as a manag- ing editor has given him an “advantageous perspective,” he says. “I’m very lucky. I’ve been exposed to so much good writing for so many years.” I reached Hart by phone in his Portland office. As the only senior editor present that Friday, he was busy running the second-largest daily newspaper in the Pacific Northwest. Hart earlier served as the paper’s writing coach, staff development director, editor of its Sunday magazine and as a general as- tion garnered from experience, the book verges on selling out its first printing. Vintage Press will issue it as a trade paper- better thinking back this summer. Hart characterizes the book’s affirmative critical response as “fab- signment reporter. He has edited four ulous.” Pulitzer Prize finalists, two of them winners At readings, writers sometimes question of the coveted award. his notion that a story’s first draft As a self-described “Portland should be free, easy and fast, Hart downtown type,” Hart wears says. He advises writers to leave a suit and tie for work. polishing until the last draft and From his fourth floor win- then to “question everything.” dow he views the ever- All the book’s tips and sugges- changing cityscape. In tions “have been tested in the the distance, two brand real world,” he says. “They new buildings rise up, work.” while close by an old, Although Hart presents his empty apartment building ideas in chapters with abstract titles awaits demolition. such as “Structure,” “Force,” Hart crossed the room to read Jack Hart “Brevity,” “Clarity” and a quote from President John “Rhythm,” don’t be misled. The Kennedy posted on his office content is specific and the goals realistic, door. “In a democratic society, the highest not theoretic. Detailed examples jump out, duty of the writer, the composer and the while constructive “Cheat Sheets” summa- artist is to remain true to himself and to let rize chapters’ most important points. the chips fall where they may.” Nearby, a As a former editor, I’m drawn to share cartoon St. Peter addresses a man detained Hart’s advice on the force of a potent syn- at heaven’s gates with, “We’ve been taking tax. “All it takes to make a sentence is a little harder look at journalists these days.” what’s called a ‘basic statement,’ a subject- Hart’s desk is “very neat,” he says. Not verb combination that describes someone cluttered. Orderly. Photographs of his — or something — performing an action,” grown children and only granddaughter and he writes. of him hunting and fishing grace his per- A deceptively simple concept, its inte- sonal space. gral significance is that the basic statement Hart wrote A Writer’s Coach sitting at “tells a story.” Linguist Noam Chomsky this desk between 8 and 9 every workday calls the basic statement “the core of human morning for three years. An orderly collec- 5BEST THAI RESTAURANT 2005-2006 5BEST NEW RESTAURANT 2003-2004 5BEST SOUTHEAST ASIAN 2004-2005 5BEST TAKE OUT 2004-2005 2 6 L u n c h S p e c i a l s • Lunch & Dinner, Dine In or Take Out H u g e V e g e t a r i a n S e l e c t i o n s • Family Owned & Operated. 580 Adams St., Eugene (across from Red Apple) • 344-1706 MON-FRI Lunch: 11am-3pm, Dinner: 4:30-9pm • SAT 12-9pm • SUN 4-9pm For Delivery Call Pony Express 485-2090 36 FEBRUARY 8, 2007 thought,” Hart notes. Such clarity opposes the “bastard form of English we call jour- nalese,” he writes, in which long, convo- luted opening sentences “back into the main thought” with extraneous clauses and phrases. Hart shares tips to achieve livelier writ- ing through active voice and action verbs. Abstain from passive sentence construction, he urges. I laughed at his colorful, clever ad- monition against “verbicide, the killing of live verbs,” for example, by burying verbs such as “support” in “supportive” or “use” in “usage.” A frequent writing consultant and speaker for news organizations, Hart holds a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin. He wrote a national newsletter for years and was a regular columnist for Editors and Writers magazine. He’s taught at six univer- sities, including the UO, where he was named 1988 Ruhl Distinguished Professor of Journalism. He has also taught at the Poynter Institute and Harvard’s Nieman Program on Narrative Journalism, and he served as a juror for the 2002 and 2003 Pulitzer Prizes. If you’re a serious writer, this master ed- itor’s guidebook can bolster your confi- dence and motivate you to be both more careful and more joyous in your writing life. I heartily recommend Hart’s book and his only scheduled Eugene reading for writers of all ages and persuasions. ew Jack Hart will read from and talk about A Writer’s Coach at 7 pm on Thursday, Feb. 15 in Eugene’s Borders.
