Recommended reading
1. Bruce Ross-Larson, Edit Yourself: A Manual for Everyone Who Works with Words
(reissue, 1996).
Reviewed by Ed Serenson
Told me things I did not know before.
The first part solves common problems of everyday writing. The second part is a useful checklist of common edits. Concise, practical, and insightful.
2. Robert Hartwell Fiske, The Dictionary of Concise Writing: 10,000 Alternatives to Wordy Phrases (2002).
Reviewed by Ed Serenson
Helped me cut unneeded words.
Fiske is a guru on concise writing. This book is a valuable reference for professional writers.
3. Richard Kallan, Armed Gunmen, True Facts, and Other Ridiculous Nonsense: A Compiled Compendium of Repetitive Redundancies (2005).
Reviewed by Ed Serenson
Made me laugh and taught me a thing or two.
Richard Kallan's book is a wonderful little book of tautologies.
Nicely illustrated, the book would make a good gift.