What we’re about
Welcome magicians and would be magicians of prose. We're an online group dedicated to improving our writing, no matter our level, by exploring the texture, structure, and rhythm of well-written, beautifully crafted sentences from our favorite contemporary writers.
We take it as axiomatic that the often overlooked and often neglected English sentence is the bedrock from where good prose style emerges; we take it, the sentence, to be the base unit, the fundamental thing, "the granular element that must got be right or nothing will be right."(Joe Moran)
We will follow the advice of experienced, successful writers: "Don't romanticize your "vocation". Either you can write good sentences or you can't" (Zadie Smith) . We will turn our attention to writing better, more engaging prose by learning to read, identify, and explore the sentences that capture us, our attention and, having gained a deeper insight into the mechanics of powerfully written sentences, bring this into our own writing.
Who should join?
- Maturing writers who want to have more confidence and certainty in their stylistic choices; who want a "writer's tool box" to help them confront the blank page.
- Experienced writers who want a greater appreciation and understanding of what they do naturally and what they know intuitively.
- People who simply enjoy reading, thinking and talking about prose.
Praise for Prose Mechanics:
Rashmi T.K., Published Author:
I always thought that I wrote well, till David showed me how I could write even better. He is an excellent teacher: well prepared, knows his students, and pushes them to achieve. If there is only one workshop you attend to improve your writing skills, this is it.
Naheed Malik, C.E.O. and Co-Founder of The Loop:
I was part of a writing group David led. He called it Prose Mechanics, and that’s exactly what it was. David took us back to our learning days and refreshed our memories of English grammar and structural tools, hugely improving our writing in the process.
He came ready with meticulously prepared exercises at each session, and in his gently way pushed our group to write and critique better. I would wholeheartedly recommend David if you are looking to improve your writing skills.
Tanya Jospeh, Training Consultant:
Thank you so much David for a brilliant learning session. It was insightful and informative. The techniques used to explain the concept of creative sentence construction made it easy for me to comprehend and apply them.
Ibrahim Mohammed, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Guelph:
I thought writing was all about content. David changed this perception. After completing David’s course, Prose Mechanics: Style through Syntax, I see writing differently. Gone are the days when I read for content. Now I read paying attention to the choices the writer makes in each sentence. Now I see writing as art, as a puzzle that can be deconstructed and assembled, as a dance that can change in cadence and speed, as a substance with texture, and a structure that can be modified.
In Prose Mechanics course, every lesson was about discovering the primacy of the base clause; every exercise was about honing skills in layering and modifying sentences; every homework was about embodying movements and texture in prose.
In a nutshell, David’s Prose Mechanics course was a journey on becoming a magician of prose. Would I do it again? Yes. A million times, yes.
Khalid Asser, Graduate of American University in Dubai
I gained a system oriented approach to literature – an analytic method of reading and writing. It was creative and cleverly constructed to be adaptive to our (the students’) existing thought, rather than completely new. There was clearly a great deal of effort put into the research and organization of the course material, and that’s without mentioning the mentoring, support, as well as extra effort and time that the instructor willingly and so generously provided to each one of us.
Furthermore, we were exposed to a variety of texts from different writers over a wide time frame and a range of backgrounds; it was interesting to observe the differences in style and understand it better.
