After much deliberation, I decided to post this question here rather than on any of the other forums, despite it fitting reasonably well under general, student, career or books. If I made the wrong decision - my apologies.Over the past few years I have done a lot of reading financial literature, and a smaller amount of writing (in the form of a thesis, many reports for work, and a number of posts/rambles to Wilmott and other forums). It is clear that there are a number of brilliant writers out there, who can make their topics more interesting to the reader than your average thesis.There is obviously a degree to which some people have the knack and some people don't, but I'm sure there is a reasonable degree to which one can improve. I'd like to improve the way I can communicate in writing, to enable me to write that book or journal or magazine article once I finally have something worth saying, and was wondering if some of the wiser and more talented members of the forum might be able to offer some suggestions.I'm not so much after minor technical advice (eg you should have used this word instead of that word), but rather any advice on good books to read, strategies to try, etc, that might allow me (and others) to improve my writing skills over the next few years. Many thanks.

My advice is to practise oral storytelling. The difficulities in holding an audience teach you a lot about self-expression. An analogy is a band. A band that only produces cds and never plays to a live audience will never be any good. Instead bands that play in clubs get instantaneous feedback and adapt accordingly. Related to this another piece of advice I have, is to read things you have written out loud to yourself. MJ

Advice:There are many, many books to start with but, for a neophyte, your best bang for the buck is EFFECTIVE WRITING by Bruce Ross Larson and EDIT YOURSELF by Bruce Ross Larson. Both available at Amazon.com.After that, we'll talk. I also strongly recommend HOW TO READ A BOOK by Mortimer Adler.

Related to this another piece of advice I have, is to read things you have written out loud to yourself. I would go one better. Buy Reid Buckley's book on public speaking; read poetry out loud [particularly Shakespeare].Reid Buckley runs a very much sought after school for executives -- its big bucks, but he's the best that there is.

One of the most fertile writers of this forum had initiated a similar thread a year ago with handful of suggestions for further writing skill exercises. Here is the link to Exceptional writingBy the way, he has just posted before this post.

Writing well is simple. I use the following rules when I want to write well:A) Keep it in Norwegian (especially if it is a love letter).B) If you have to write in English, write formulas instead of text (how do you think I came up with the idea to write a formula collection)C) If you want to publish in Chinese get a translator. He am a good writer, butts a terribles good rewriter.I am a terrible writer, but a excellent rewriter!An option writer runs a book and his pen is volatility! Talent alone cannot make a writer. There must be a collector behind the book! about Paul Wilmott: "He is a writer who drinks, not as so many of us belive, a drunk who writes" James Lundquist (slightely rewritten by Collector)"Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self."Cyril Connolly"That's not writing, that's typing"Truman Capote "One man is as good as another until he has written a book"Benjamin Jowett "Many suffers from the incurable disease of writing, and it becomes chronic in their sick minds"Juvenal"I suffer from the disease of writing books and being ashamed of them when they are finished"Baron de MontesquieWhy did I write all this shit?The Collector

"And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh."Ecclesiastes 12:12 The King James Version"Hey, Collector, buddy, the making of many books is endless, and their study makes you tired."Ecclesiastes 12:12, The Trader James Version

Russell's advice

<< about Paul Wilmott: "He is a writer who drinks, not as so many of us belive, a drunk who writes" James Lundquist (slightely rewritten by Collector) >>Yeah, my writing is quite effective, only when I'm half asleep. Otherwise, I am just abusing the English language.

I have on occasion written for money, and I've learned that the first question to ask yourself is "who is the audience ?".Each type of reader requires a different style.

Reading aloud is good as a discpline, but dangerous as a goal.We each add value, emphasis and content to text by reading it.Text has "low emotional bandwidth", a sarcastic, or amusing witticism can be interpreted as a literal statment.The feedback you get from 'live' work is excellent. However, it often takes place at a subconscious level. We canall tell when someone we are speaking to is not engaged, and adapt accordingly. This usually doesn't feed backinto the material we speak from.Sentance structure that is good for speeches sounds like err umm speeches when written.There is also a class of words that are only ever written, and almost absent from the spoken word.Hands up those who've said heteroskedacity in the last week ?It is also the case that pronouns work much better vocally than on paper. Emphasis can guide the listenerto resolve "I throw the brick at the window and it broke", to window not brick. Silly example but in a sentence of the form "Duration decreases with coupon and it changes over time"is potentially ambiguous. Recall (of course) that fixed income also covers bond with variable coupons.Point to remember is that anything you are explaining is going to someone who doesn't know as much as you, soyour duty is to ward off confusing items. Naturally this differs from a thesis, where you're trying to make it sounddifficult.

Aristotle's Rhetoric as reference for audience appeals

Be a Clear Writer

Economist's Style Guide

Economist's Style Guide Bruce Ross-Larson's software, ClearWriter, as well as his company does a great deal ofsubcontracted editorial work for the same magazine. Also, most of his examples in his books are from The Economist newsweekly.