Arthur Plotnik (1937–2020)
Author of The Elements of Editing: A Modern Guide For Editors And Journalists
About the Author
Image credit: via author's website
Works by Arthur Plotnik
Better Than Great: A Plenitudinous Compendium of Wallopingly Fresh Superlatives (2011) 61 copies, 3 reviews
The Elements of Authorship: Unabashed Advice, Undiluted Experience, Unadulterated Inspiration for Writers and… (2000) 28 copies
Honk If You're a Writer: Unabashed Advice, Undiluted Experience, Unadulterated Inspiration (1992) 8 copies, 1 review
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Other names
- Plotnik, Art
- Birthdate
- 1937
- Date of death
- 2020-08-28
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
- Places of residence
- White Plains, New York, USA
- Education
- State University of New York, Binghamton (Harpur College|BA)
University of Iowa (MA|English)
Members
Reviews
Lists
Awards
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Statistics
- Works
- 10
- Members
- 2,272
- Popularity
- #11,297
- Rating
- 3.7
- Reviews
- 17
- ISBNs
- 33
- Languages
- 1
- Favorited
- 1
I was at a loss to find any new insights in this book. It seemed that the book rehashed advice I've read time and again in other style guides and how-to manuals, sometimes to the point where Plotnik directly quoted them (for example, his quotes from Lynne Truss and Stephen King). I may be personally biased here as I find [b:Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation|8600|Eats, Shoots & Leaves The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation|Lynne Truss|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1309285488s/8600.jpg|854886] and [b:On Writing|10569|On Writing|Stephen King|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166254200s/10569.jpg|150292] to be two of the most invaluable books in my reference library. In fact, I would suggest that instead of Plotnik's book, which quotes from these and then picks them apart, to just go straight to the source.
The final jarring note was that there were so many spelling errors in the book. 'Black Horse' instead of 'Black House', by Stephen King, or 'Annie E. Proulx' instead of 'E. Annie Proulx' (in fact, this appeared as 'Annie E. Proulx', 'Annie Proulx', and 'E. Annie Proulx' at different points in the text). I realise proofreaders can miss things at times, but Plotnik lists amongst his other works 'The Elements of Editing'. I don't think I'll read it if this finished product is anything to judge its advice by.… (more)