Book summary of Good Writing 36 Ways to Improve Your Sentences by Neal Allen and Anne Lamott

Good Writing: 36 Ways to Improve Your Sentences (2026), by Neal Allen and Anne Lamott, is a practical, sentence-focused writing guide that picks up where classic manuals like The Elements of Style leave off. It offers tools for turning serviceable sentences into memorable, persuasive ones that keep readers engaged—whether in a novel, essay, memo, blog post, speech, or script.

Neal Allen, a former journalist, corporate writer, speechwriter, and spiritual coach, developed the 36 rules over decades of professional work. They began with advice from an early editor (“write with your verbs”) and grew into a personal “kit bag” of principles favoring economy, plainspoken specificity, reader respect, and novelty. Anne Lamott (author of the classic Bird by Bird), his wife, encountered the rules after they met in 2016, used them with her students, and contributes a companion essay for each rule. The result is a lively dialogue: Allen provides sharp, explanatory guidance; Lamott offers amplification, personal anecdotes, gentle pushback, or encouragement. They do not always agree, which gives the book its conversational energy.

The book’s core premise is that the sentence is the fundamental unit of writing. Allen focuses on what happens after a first draft exists—how to revise for elegance and persuasiveness in the broadest sense (convincing the reader to keep going). The rules are framed as flexible tips rather than rigid commandments; Rule 34 explicitly advises knowing when to break them in service of the story or voice. Overall themes include stripping away fluff and pretension, favoring concrete and active language, building rhythm and layering, engaging the senses and the reader’s intelligence, writing honestly about difficult material, finishing work, and valuing skilled editors.

Structure and the 36 Rules

Each short chapter presents one rule with examples, followed by paired essays from Allen and Lamott. The rules cluster roughly by theme:

Verbs and energy

1. Use Strong Verbs (prefer vivid, precise ones such as “trudged” over weak ones like “walked”).
2. Question “Being” and “Having” (these static verbs often deaden sentences).
3. Keep It Active (favor active voice, though passive can serve emphasis).
4. Stick with “Said” (the neutral attribution verb usually works best).

Voice, register, and audience

5. Don’t Show Off. 6. Prefer Anglo-Saxon Words (shorter, punchier Germanic roots over Latinate ones). 7. Sound Natural (“If it sounds literary, it isn’t”). 8. Trust Your Voice.

Economy and precision

9. Question Transitions. 10. Link Ideas with Semicolons. 11. Drop “Very” and Other Crutch Words. 12. Jettison [All Those] Tiny Words. 13. Dress Up “This” (clarify the referent). 14. Remove the Boring Stuff. 15. Refresh Your Words (avoid needless repetition of distinctive terms). 16. Know Your Words Inside and Out (etymology helps). 17. Stay In Tune (choose the precise yet unobtrusive word). 18. Find the Hidden Metaphor. 19. Twist Clichés.

Rhythm and shape

20. Knock Three Times (series of three create satisfying cadence). 21. Stretch Out (long, propulsive sentences can work). 22. Short Sells (short sentences provide punch and contrast). 23. Give Your Sentence a Finale (place the strongest element at the end).

Fiction-specific techniques

24. Crystallize Your Dialogue. 25. In Fiction, Archetype Your Characters. 26. Show, Then Tell. 27. Give Them a Hero’s Welcome. 28. Once Is Enough (distinctive initial description usually suffices).

Depth, senses, and trust

29. Smell the Roses (engage all five senses). 30. Don’t Filter (avoid distancing phrases like “he thought”). 31. Trust Your Reader. 32. Layer Your Sentences (each should do multiple jobs). 33. Write the Hard Stuff.

Process and collaboration

34. Break the Rules. 35. Finish the Damn Thing. 36. Worship (Talented) Editors.