Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace

Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace is a book, in many editions, principally by university professor Joseph M. Williams (1933–2008), with coauthoring and (later) posthumous revisions by university professors Gregory G. Colomb (1951–2011) and Joseph Bizup. The book aims to teach people how to write clearly and gracefully. Williams was a professor of English Language and Literature at the University of Chicago. He said, "It is good to write clearly, and anyone can."

In the nearly half a century since the first publication, Williams and his main collaborators and successors, Colomb and Bizup, produced at least 19 editions of 3 titles that are all broadly similar in content and purpose and all share a theme of having 10 to 12 chapters that each cover an aspect of clear and graceful writing. Unlike the content of the books, which is clear, the marketing of the books is opaque, as one cannot easily tell what the intended differences are among them without buying multiple copies and comparing them. The answer from that exercise turns out to be (1) that all of the books have broadly similar content and purpose and (2) that the new editions periodically aim to further improve and to update the content. The books are:

• Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace
  • Originally titled Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace
  • As of 2024, 13 editions through 2021
  • Williams, Colomb, and (later) Bizup
• Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace
  • As of 2024, 5 editions through 2014
  • Williams, Colomb, and (later) Bizup
• Style: Toward Clarity and Grace
  • As of 2024, 1 edition from 1990, reprinted in many print runs
  • Williams and Colomb (Colomb coauthored 2 of the 10 chapters in this book)

About the book series

The original book, first published in 1981, was based on a course, "The Little Red Schoolhouse," that Williams taught for many years at the University of Chicago. The book has since gone through numerous editions and has become a popular text for writing classes. The thirteenth edition was published in 2021.

Some idea of the usefulness of the book series can be gleaned from the fact that Geoffrey K. Pullum, in his 2024 introductory book on English grammar, included it among books that he recommends as worthwhile reading, unlike various other books from the past that he disrecommends.

Content

All of the tables of contents are broadly similar albeit superficially different, with the chapter count varying from 10 to 12, sometimes nominally called "lessons" and sometimes not. Below is a typical representative.

Front Matter

• Preface
• In Memoriam
• Introduction

Part One: Style as Choice

• Lesson One: Correctness and Style

Part Two: Clarity

• Lesson Two: Actions
• Lesson Three: Characters
• Lesson Four: Cohesion and Coherence
• Lesson Five: Emphasis

Part Three: Clarity of Form

• Lesson Six: Framing Documents
• Lesson Seven: Framing Section

Part Four: Grace

• Lesson Eight: Concision
• Lesson Nine: Shape
• Lesson Ten: Elegance

Part Five: Ethics

• Lesson Eleven: The Ethics of Clarity
• Lesson Twelve: Beyond Clarity

Back Matter

• Appendix I: Punctuation
• Appendix II: Using Sources
• Glossary
• Suggested Answers
• Acknowledgments
• Index

Editions in print

• Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace. 9th Edition. New York: Pearson Longman (2007) ISBN 0-321-47935-1 ISBN 978-0321479358 (paperback)
• Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace. 2nd Edition (2006) ISBN 0-321-33085-4 ISBN 978-0321330857 (paperback)
• Style: Toward Clarity and Grace (1990) ISBN 0-226-89915-2 ISBN 978-0226899152 (paperback)

Earlier editions

• Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace. Glenview, Ill.: Scott, Foresman (1981, 1985, 1989), New York: HarperCollins (1989, 1994), New York: Longman (1997, 2000, 2003), Toronto: Longman (2005), New York: Pearson Longman (2005)
• Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace. New York: Longman (2003)
• Style: Toward Clarity and Grace. Chicago: University of Chicago Press (1990) with two chapters coauthored by Gregory G. Colomb

Translations

• Korean: 스타일 레슨: 명확하고 아름다운 영어 글쓰기: ISBN 979-1188392018 (2018)
• Chinese (Traditional): 英文寫作的魅力: 十大經典準則: 人人都能寫出清晰又優雅的文章: ISBN 978-9866031564 (2014)

Online reviews

• Review of Style: Toward Clarity and Grace (archived 2012) (reviewed in 1999) by J. Bradford DeLong, a professor of economics at the University of California at Berkeley
• Review of Style: Toward Clarity and Grace (archived 2012) (reviewed in 2003) by Susan Stepney, Professor of Computer Science, University of York, UK

External links

• Style: Toward Clarity and Grace (archived 2007) on University of Chicago Press website
• Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity & Grace, 1st. ed., at Amazon
• Four steps to better writing, a handout based on the book from the EcoTeach Center, Duke University, prepared by Paul Dudenhefer, Writing Tutor