The Ithaca Manual of Style

Writing Fiction and Nonfiction That Is Clear, Concise, and Captivating

The Ithaca Manual of Style: Writing Fiction and Nonfiction that is Clear, Concise, and Captivating. Most traditional style guides are mere reference books containing countless tedious rules and reminders about SPUG: spelling, punctuation, usage, and grammar. The Ithaca Manual of Style is not about the fanatic obsession with correctness. In a lively style, The Ithaca Manual illuminates how attentive writers write with precision, power, energy, and passion. From the book: "What is style? ... It is more, vastly more, than the sum of the diction (the choice and use of words), the syntax (the arrangement of words in phrases and sentences), and the careful crafting of sentences to transmit an idea or evoke a feeling. Style, in great writing, is the sincerest expression of the author’s inmost self. Great style is clear, concise, and captivating — nothing is lacking, nothing is superfluous. Whenever we read great writing something genuine in it moves us, in waves of resonance and recognition, with rays of wonder and delight."