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The Lively Art of Writing Mass Market Paperback – March 1, 1969

by Lucile Vaughan Payne (Author)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 249 ratings
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An essential refernce for writers—both new and experienced—that will help improve your writing skills and style and help you say exactly what you want to say.

Students, teachers, businessmen, aspiring authors, and complaining consumers all have one thing in common—the need to express successfully ideas, opinions, arguments, problems, explanations, or instructions through the medium of the written word. And The Lively Art of Writing is the perfect guide to the mastery of this essential skill. It will answer all of your questions, provide you with the best techniques, and offer important information about:

• Choosing a subject
• Working with words
• The sound of sentences
• The power of paragraphs
• Essentials of style
• Essays, theses, and term papers
• And much, much more...
Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. Print length
    192 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Berkley
  4. Publication date
    March 1, 1969
  5. Dimensions
    6.89 x 4.13 x 0.46 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    9780451627124
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0451627124
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lucile Vaughan Payne is the author of The Lively Art of Writing.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0451627121
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Berkley; unknown edition (March 1, 1969)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Mass Market Paperback ‏ : ‎ 192 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780451627124
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0451627124
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.52 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.89 x 4.13 x 0.46 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 249 ratings

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
249 global ratings
To start writing your essays!
5 Stars
To start writing your essays!
Concise guide, pocket size. It's great to take the first steps to write short essays. Delivered on time. Thanks Amazon!
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Top reviews from the United States

Ryan Gardner
5.0 out of 5 stars The end result of this book: Write without thinking
Reviewed in the United States on December 22, 1999
Verified Purchase
There tend to be two levels of achievement in everything we do: the functional level, and the superb level. In school, we are taught the functional level; in life, we admire the superb level. Drivers education will not make you a race car driver, and your english class will not make you a good writer.
In this book, however, are the skills and techniques necessary to take your writing and expression beyond the current level. Since I've read the words in that book, the words in my papers have suddenly been lining up for me and saying things in clever ways.
The book talks about specific ways, and gives specific examples, of how good writers write. There is no bull in this book. If you read it, apply it, and write a lot - you will improve your writing.
It used to take me about eighteen hours to write a single page paper because my mind would go off in so many directions trying to get my idea on paper. It now takes me about twenty minutes, because I am able to think through an entire paper before I write it.
It sounds rather fanciful, but in reality it isn't. The book helps select what literary methods to use. It is your caddy. In your bag are many tricks which you use to drive ideas home or push thoughts along. Each trick, like a golf club, is useful in certain situations. The caddy helps you pick them.
Most other books give you the clubs but not the caddy. This book is different because it tells you how and when to use them - and it knows. This is not your pimple-faced 12 year old caddy... Oh no, this is the real deal. This is the caddy that will get you off of the torn up local greens and onto your neighbors TV screen... Leave the functional and join the superb. This book will help you get there.
84 people found this helpful
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Mimi Moore
5.0 out of 5 stars The Best!
Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2023
Verified Purchase
This book gets me so excited about writing. What a blessing to all of us who love words and the use of them. Bravo!
One person found this helpful
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Kai Ravandi
5.0 out of 5 stars The best purchase
Reviewed in the United States on August 14, 2023
Verified Purchase
I bought this book from the Amazon store and I'm very happy. It's great and worth the money, so that's a plus!
Read books to have a second brain !!!
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Robert L. White
5.0 out of 5 stars Good advice, smartly written
Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2015
Verified Purchase
We read this in high school in the 70s. The examples she gives are dated, but the advice on essay structure, shaping the argument inside the essay, ordering one's persuasive points, is timeless. Some of the lessons carry over into speech construction, but with speech one has the ability to make eye contact, gesture, speak with emotion, move about and seize the audience's attention. With speech, one is limited in time, but with the essay, one must do without the advantages of visual presence and accomplish one's persuasion strictly through words -- well-planned, crafted essay paragraphs. And, unlike extemporaneous speech, one can edit, rewrite, revise and perfect one's words.

I can't help wondering what Mrs. Payne would have made of our search engine world -- how much easier our high school essay assignments would have been with the cornucopia of sources available at our fingertips today. But the richness of our content is for naught if we do not shape our essays properly and do what we can to craft instruments of persuasion. For facts are useless if one cannot present them in a lively way that convinces the reader that your argument is worth reading to the end.
7 people found this helpful
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apoem
4.0 out of 5 stars Helpful and Interesting
Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2014
Verified Purchase
I heard of this book as a homeschooler. I thought it might be useful for teaching a high school English credit to my oldest (age 15) son. I have decided to use parts of this book rather than use it completely.

One of the things that is a bit of a turn off is that it is dated. You can see this in some of the language used and in some of the examples. The fact that it's dated is not a bad thing, but for a fifteen year old son the information is overlooked for this very fact.

One of the things that I liked about this book is that it had some very good examples for common mistakes students make when writing. For example, the word very. This author provides a basic example of using the word very and then essentially has you reread the same sentence substituting some better words into the sentence. This is a very concrete way of teaching and it is helpful. I think it will help my son understand what I am saying when I talk about the word Then.... which is another common mistake.

Overall, if you are trying to improve your writing prior to taking a class or a test, this would be an excellent review book. If you are trying to educate yourself and you are an adult and willing to be a little bit bored at time, this is a great book with lots of concrete examples that is sure to be helpful.

Well worth the money. Enjoy.
6 people found this helpful
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Buyer of Stuff
5.0 out of 5 stars This is a fantastic resource. The author gives clear instruction on building ...
Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2018
Verified Purchase
This is a fantastic resource. The author gives clear instruction on building an essay for beginners or those who need a refresher. Writing concepts such as structuring an essay, developing a thesis, and using active voice are broken down into easily understandable steps. I intend to use this book and the included assignments at the end of each chapter in a homeschool literature and composition class. So glad I found it; absolutely perfect for my needs.
5 people found this helpful
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Tai Corraggio
5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely useful
Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2013
Verified Purchase
This book is wonderful! It's a bit dry in places, but every now and again I began giggling at some witty turn of phrase. It explains the art of writing more clearly than I have seen anywhere else. I found myself saying, "Oh, now it makes so much more sense!" dozens of times, even though I consider myself well-educated in this subject. It also has many useful exercises. My brother will use this for his homeschool English course next year; I'm glad I borrowed it to read ahead of time!
2 people found this helpful
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Tracy P
5.0 out of 5 stars Clear strategy, easy to understand.
Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2019
Verified Purchase
Using this to teach high school essay writing. The author makes a very easy to understand, easy to follow plan and strategy for writing. I love it . There's not a lot of unnecessary fluff. Some other comments referred to "old fashioned" examples and there are a few, but they are not so outdated that my kids can't comprehend the point she is making. Definitely recommend it.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Ideal for essay writing
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 20, 2022
Verified Purchase
Best guide for essay writing.
Suitable for college and Uni students
Small pocket size you can take it everywhere with you to read it.
STRONGLY RECOMMEND IT
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Vivek Ramakrishnan
5.0 out of 5 stars This is my second copy of the book! - It is that good!
Reviewed in India on October 8, 2018
Verified Purchase
If you want to improve writing, starting with words, sentences, paragraphs and pages, this is the book you should reach out for. Don't be put off by this humble, mass market paperback with yellow cover - it is a powerhouse of good advice on writing. It takes the advice, "show, don't tell", to a whole new level. Ms. Payne shows you sentence by sentence how to craft good prose. She gives you wonderful examples for everything she discusses. But most importantly, her own writing is a clear example of how she has used her language gracefully. Unlike Strunk and White, which stops at giving rules, she encourages you to put pen to paper and write.

Who can use this book?
Pretty much everyone who has anything remotely to do with writing, which is all of us.
5 people found this helpful
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UNNIKRISHNAN P S
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in India on November 16, 2015
Verified Purchase
THANKS
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INSTINCT FINDER
4.0 out of 5 stars Must for writers
Reviewed in India on September 3, 2019
Verified Purchase
A must for writers like me.
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Mattise
4.0 out of 5 stars Helpful
Reviewed in Canada on January 24, 2020
Verified Purchase
I bought this for my daughter with a passion for English. She loves it.
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