Writing Tools (10th Anniversary Edition) cover art

Writing Tools (10th Anniversary Edition)

55 Essential Strategies for Every Writer

 Preview
Try Standard free
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection.
Listen to your selected audiobooks as long as you're a member.
Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Writing Tools (10th Anniversary Edition)

By: Roy Peter Clark
Narrated by: Neil Kaplan
Try Standard free

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

About this listen

 A special 10th anniversary edition of Roy Peter Clark's bestselling guide to writing, featuring five bonus tools.

Ten years ago, Roy Peter Clark, America's most influential writing teacher, whittled down almost thirty years of experience in journalism, writing, and teaching into a series of fifty short essays on different aspects of writing. In the past decade, Writing Tools has become a classic guidebook for novices and experts alike and remains one of the best loved books on writing available.

Organized into four sections, "Nuts and Bolts," "Special Effects," "Blueprints for Stories," and "Useful Habits," Writing Tools is infused with more than 200 examples from journalism and literature. This new edition includes five brand new, never-before-shared tools.

Accessible, entertaining, inspiring, and above all, useful for every type of writer, from high school student to novelist, Writing Tools is essential reading. Words, Language & Grammar Writing & Publishing Fiction English Grammar

Critic Reviews

"Roy Peter Clark knows more about writing than anybody I know who is not currently dead." —Dave Barry, author of Dave Barry's History of the Millennium (So Far)
"Clark is a joyful, brilliant teacher who unlocks the mysteries of literary flow. This book is one to keep near the keyboard." —Anne Hull, national reporter for the Washington Post
"Roy is the Obi-Wan Kenobi of writing teachers....Like its author, Writing Tools is brilliant, openhearted, and indispensable; it's easily one of the best books ever published about our craft."—Thomas French, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of Zoo Story
"Clark is a national treasure that needs to be mined aggressively." —DeWayne Wickham, USA Today
"For all the aspiring writers out there--whether you're writing a novel or a technical report--a respected scholar at Florida's Poynter Institute for Journalists pulls back the curtain on the art."—Teresa K. Weaver, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"Pull out a favorite novel or short story, and read it with the guidance of...Clark's ideas....Readers will find new worlds in familiar places. And writers will be inspired to pick up their pens."—Boston Globe
"No matter what you write--a blog, a love letter, the next great American novel--Writing Tools offers practical advice that is a pleasure to read."—St. Petersburg Times
All stars
Most relevant
Pompous and US centric with laughable narration. However, if you're serious about writing you must read this book. It takes you through every aspect of the craft of writing. an invaluable resource.

Required Reading

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
So many great ideas that I’m using in my writing. The examples and activities are super helpful and applicable. Excellent. The narrator was great when using his normal voice but irritating in the way he used so many different voices in examples. His voice acting was often patronisingly stereotypical, ridiculous and cringeworthy. it seemed like he was doing the acting for his own entertainment, not for the listeners benefit.

Great tools and story, narrator irritating.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The writing tools themselves were good and the examples provided were interesting. I didn’t care for the workshop sections but that would certainly suit others. However, so much of the good content was distracted from by the ridiculous narration. This isn’t a radio play- in don’t need a different voice for every writer you’re going to quote. I often wasn’t processing what they were saying in these quotes because I was either figuring out what accent they were doing or laughing at the cheesiness of it.

Good content lost in silly narration

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.