: Re: Any recommendations on books to assist with prose/style? I’m currently in my third edit of my novel and focusing on particular scenes. One particular scene I am happy with the beats and

@Chiappetta298

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Strunk and White - The Elements of Style.

Master that and everything else becomes orders of magnitude easier.

That book, all on its own, will improve your confidence and competence.

Next, find a critique group for your genre, something like critters.org for Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror writers. Critique groups are great, but have one major flaw - people go there to get their own stuff critiqued. Yeah, that's nice, but it's a very minor part of the value of the services - what really helps is reading other people's work, and critiquing it. You will sharpen your tools best on those who ask for it, lol

Here's a template - critters.org/c/outline.hodges.txt
Try walking through it and actually writing out a blunt, frank critique of some of your own shorter bits for practice. It's a great exercise for perspective.

Then lastly, READ, READ, READ. Get the typical structures and cadences of authors you admire in your genre in your head. GIGO, so don't read bad writing unless it's to actively critique it, even if it's a guilty pleasure. Devour the classics of your chosen genre and emulate them.

Then you will begin to notice that the unique bits of your own style will begin to sort to the surface, and you'll recognize them, and can consciously work on guiding them toward better habits.

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