From the Preface: Anyone who sets out to write for publication will soon discover the plethora of instructional materials available to writers. There are, in fact, so many helps on the market-books, maga-zines, on-line courses, MFA programs, even shirts and mugs for writers-that it would be easy to cast the people behind these aids as professional wannabes: "Those who can write; those who can't teach English." My own experience counsels otherwise. If space allowed, I could tell of books and articles that have given my writing (or my understanding of the publishing process) a much needed lift. Often this help has come in the form of a quote that encapsulates what I have been learning by trial and error but have never put into words. Over the years I have collected these quotes in file folders, on scraps of paper, in books and magazines marked with sticky notes. They are the bits of writing wisdom I return to time and again. I bring them together here for the edification of budding scribes. Chapters: First Principles Truth Learning the Craft The Reader Getting Started Voice Style Simplicity Language Beginnings Endings Revision Editors Money The Writing Life Critics and Criticism A Sample Query Letter The Elements of Lincoln's Grammar 17 Figures of Speech The Anglo-Saxon Element The Cumulative Sentence It Should be Thrown With Great Force puts the budding writer in the shoes of the professional writer, demystifying to some degree the writing process. It is an ideal book for classroom use, a witty counterbalance to the often "dry and irksome" English handbook.