Stylish Academic Writing

Written by Helen Sword

Narrated by Virginia Wolf

Elegant data and ideas deserve elegant expression, argues Helen Sword in this lively guide to academic writing. For scholars frustrated with disciplinary conventions, and for specialists who want to write for a larger audience but are unsure where to begin, here are imaginative, practical, witty pointers that show how to make articles and books a pleasure to read—and to write.



Dispelling the myth that you cannot get published without writing wordy, impersonal prose, Sword shows how much journal editors and readers welcome work that avoids excessive jargon and abstraction. Sword's analysis of more than a thousand peer-reviewed articles across a wide range of fields documents a startling gap between how academics typically describe good writing and the turgid prose they regularly produce.



Stylish Academic Writing showcases a range of scholars from the sciences, humanities, and social sciences who write with vividness and panache. Individual chapters take up specific elements of style, such as titles and headings, chapter openings, and structure, and close with examples of transferable techniques that any writer can master.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Aug 14, 2018
• ISBN: 9781977386328

Reviews for Stylish Academic Writing

[ddrysdale-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

There's a lot of awfully good advice here. If nothing else, it's a good reminder that academic writing can still be good writing. While some of her advice is, I think, commonsensical (at least to anyone who writes to inform rather than to show off), it's definitely worth a look. I will try to implement some of Sword's techniques and suggestions as I revise my next article.

[the7ken7petersen · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

OK, I'll say it before anyone who knows me chips in; I am neither academic, or stylish but this book does exactly what its title leads one to expect. It is both of these traits, in spades!

My writing is of a more mundane level ("Two pints today, please" is one of mine) but I still found some useful tips in this little opus and, were the writers of supposedly high-brow articles to even glance at this book, the world would be a better place. I would not know where to begin upon a work such as this; each person's style is different. Fortunately, and wisely, Harvard University Press did not offer the job to me, they chose Helen Sword, who knew exactly how to go about the task - and accomplished the desired effect admirably.

I would suggest that this is a useful addition to the reference section of anybody who writes, at any level: it is a MUST for any academic writer. Now, I feel the creative muse......"Two pints and a pot of cream, please" - by george, that book has had an effect!