Roy Peter Clark

Having the urge to write is one thing; acting on it is another.

— Roy Peter Clark

“If the writer wants to create suspense, or build tension, or make the reader wait and wonder, or join a journey of…

— Roy Peter Clark

“Punctuation comes from the Latin root punctus, or “point.” Those funny dots, lines, and squiggles help writers point the way. To help…

— Roy Peter Clark

Everyone should read, we say, but we act as if only those with special talent should write.

— Roy Peter Clark

“The ability to read, society tells us, contributes to success in education, employment, and citizenship. Reading is a democratic craft. Writing, in…

— Roy Peter Clark

“To understand the difference between a good adverb and a bad adverb, consider these two sentences: “She smiled happily” and “She smiled…

— Roy Peter Clark

“Good readers may struggle with a difficult text, but struggle is not the goal of reading. The goal is fluency. Meaning flows…

— Roy Peter Clark

“As you listen to political speech, notice those occasions when politicians and other leaders use the passive voice to avoid responsibility for…

— Roy Peter Clark

I may have grown up in the Age of Aquarius, but I'm growing old in the Age of the Acronym.

— Roy Peter Clark

“If you want to write, here's a secret: the writer's struggle is overrated, a con game, a cognitive distortion, a self-fulfilling prophecy,…

— Roy Peter Clark

“But doesn't add something to what has come before; but takes something away. At its most daring, it can feel like a…

— Roy Peter Clark

Writing is not magic. It’s a craft, a process, a set of steps. As with any process, things sometimes break down. Even…

— Roy Peter Clark

“Poorly written reports, memos, announcements, and messages cost us time and money. They are blood clots in the body politic. The flow…

— Roy Peter Clark

Riffing on language will create wonderful effects you never intended. Which leads me to this writing advice: 'Always take credit for good…

— Roy Peter Clark

“I promise you a case of writing paralysis if you think about too many of these tools when you sit down to…

— Roy Peter Clark

Express your most powerful thought in the shortest sentence.

— Roy Peter Clark

For what good is freedom of expression if you lack the means to express yourself?

— Roy Peter Clark

If a period is a stop sign, then what kind of traffic flow is created by other marks? The comma is a…

— Roy Peter Clark

“Whether the vessel is a legal document or a rap song, language is often chosen ot exclude. To use a scholarly phrase,…

— Roy Peter Clark

A teacher of mine once said there are no true synonyms.

— Roy Peter Clark

Without a serious study of journalism, there can be no understanding of citizenship, democracy, or community.

— Roy Peter Clark

“All of us possess a reading vocabulary as big as a lake but draw from a writing vocabulary as small as a…

— Roy Peter Clark

“I once learned that only three behaviors set literate people apart. The first two are obvious: reading and writing; but the third…

— Roy Peter Clark

“For dramatic variation, write a sentence with subject and verb near the end.”

— Roy Peter Clark

“The bridge between the words glamour and grammar is magic. According to the OED, glamour evolved through an ancient association between learning…

— Roy Peter Clark