Writing Style 8

Buried within the chapter on concision in Williams and Colombs’ book Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace (10th Edition) is a transformative writing principle—perhaps one of the most important of all!

To become a good writer, you need to read the best writers.

Read the best and model your writing after theirs. Don’t think for a moment that great writers didn’t do the same. Scot McKnight, who I think is one of today’s good evangelical writers, told me he reads a portion of C. S. Lewis every day before he writes. You become a good writer by reading good writing.

Question: Who do you consider the best evangelical writers today both in the academy and the church?

I’ve mentioned Scot already who crosses over both. I would certainly add Tom Wright  (who also crosses over) to this list along with Gordon Fee and Dick France (academy) and Eugene Peterson (church). One writer whose work I greatly appreciate, but whose writing is in my estimation overly dense is Kevin Vanhoozer. I wish Kevin would write more accessible books!

I’ve named a few what about you?