Writing with Style: Conversations on the Art of Writing

“My hope is that this book—an informal, compact, practical little book styled after my own writing conferences—answers the wish for a ‘survival kit.’”

Trimble was spurred to publish Writing with Style because his undergraduate students lacked a clear guide on how to approach essay writing. High school writing courses had not prepared them sufficiently, and English textbooks were bulky and grammar-oriented. Writing with Style aims to be a quick, straightforward survival kit.

“A writer isn’t self-sufficient until he has learned to think well.”

Before a student or author can hope to craft a strong piece of writing, they first need to analyze the effectiveness of the ideas swirling around in their brain. Do they have a clear argument? Do they have passion for the topic? Is there something interesting to say? For Trimble, thinking well centers on a strong argument, stated with passion and backed by evidence. Conversely, poor thinkers can never write effectively.

“With good thinking comes good writing, as you will see; without it, no amount of technical expertise will save you.”

There is a reason that Trimble puts his critical thinking discussion at the beginning of the book and the grammar rules at the very back: good thinking matters much more to Trimble. An essay argued with passion and evidence, but riddled with grammatical errors, would fare better in Trimble’s classroom than one lacking a thesis statement but perfect grammar. A piece of writing may be grammatically correct, but if it lacks energy, passion, and a clear argument it’s not good writing.