Anita Ojeda <small>Whether you already blog or write for a Christian audience, or whether you want to start blogging or writing for a Christian audience, this book is for YOU! This is the best book for Christian writers that I’ve ever read. Find out why.</small>
Write Better: A Lifelong Editor on Craft, Art, and Spirituality
by Andrew LePeau, IVP Books, October 2019, 256 pages.
Looking for a Writer’s Guide?
Andrew LePeau brings thirty years of wisdom garnered from working in the publishing industry to aspiring writers. Better yet, he targets Christian writers who desire to write well and also struggle with questions of calling.
He divides the book into three sections that cover the craft of writing, the art of writing, and the spirituality of writing. For LePeau, craft includes finding the right opening, knowing your audience, and creating the best structure for the message.
In the Craft of Writing section, LePeau warns Christian writers to take care to persuade with honesty, and to be “…truthful about contrary viewpoints.” In other words, we should guard against seeing and reporting on the world from only our point of view. When writers forget to include other viewpoints, they fail to persuade with honesty. As Christians writing in an often-polarized world, this advice proves especially valuable.
I appreciated LePeau’s clear directions on using ethos, logos, and pathos in our writing—terms I’ve heard but never really understood until reading his book. Write Better includes helpful chapters on writing persuasively, crafting dramatic non-fiction, and using proper grammar.
The second section, dedicated to the art of writing, covers ideas for maintaining a creative edge, advice on using metaphors and similes, and the best explanation of tone and voice that I’ve ever read. He includes advice I wish more writers would follow: “Avoid passive voice.”
As an English teacher, passive-laden prose irks me beyond measure. I’ve spent 30 years trying to wean my students from peppering their prose with forms of the verb ‘to be.’ Reading someone else’s passive writing induces a swift, involuntary grab for my purple correcting pen.
For Christian writers (or aspiring writers), the third section provides affirmation, caution, and wisdom about discovering one’s calling and submitting to spiritual authority.
The Best Guide for Christian Writers
This book deserves a prominent place on every Christian writer’s shelf. While it doesn’t take long to read it cover to cover, it merits further study. The appendix holds valuable information about publishing (what every Christian writer secretly aspires to), agents, and platform.
This book would make the perfect gift for an aspiring writer or blogger—even if the aspirant hasn’t ‘gone public’ with their aspirations yet. It has information on all the tools writers of all levels will need to move on to the next level. The reader has only to practice writing using the guidelines in order to improve.
The one book every Christian writer needs to read and reference. #amreading #bookreview #IVP Click To Tweet
With a recommendation this good I must look into this book. Thanks for the heads-up, Anita!
Update: I bought this book last week! I’ve started reading it, but haven’t gotten very far since I’m doing more writing than reading this month. 🙂 But I look forward to it.
Your glowing review deserves a further look at this book. Thank you, Anita.