March 2026!
Starting where The Elements of Style leaves off, Good Writing can improve your book, your essay, your memo, your blog post, speech, or script. These essential rules for persuasive language work on any type of writing, and anyone can learn them quickly.
Each rule is accompanied by examples and a lively pair of essays, from Neal and Annie. They don’t always agree on the specifics, but they are passionate about making better sentences.
These rules economize, favor the plainspoken and the specific, keep the reader’s attention sharp, and in other ways show respect for the audience’s time and desire for novelty.
Some rules are fundamental: Use strong verbs. Remove the boring stuff. Twist clichés. Some are more subtle: Draw on all five senses. Give your sentence a finale.
Whether you're a novice writer or a seasoned author, this essential and entertaining guide will revolutionize your approach to crafting sentences. Read about it here; order it from your favorite bookstore!
Break free
Through simple and engaging exercises and explorations, Neal’s latest book Better Days can lead you through meeting, confronting, and ultimately quieting that voice that tells you you’re not good enough.
“If you’re ready to stop being an asshole to yourself and need more than fluffy affirmations, this book is for you.” ~ Nadia Bolz-Weber, author of Shameless
“Neal Allen writes as a friend and guide ready to put an arm around you and say, ‘Let’s see if we can get the neighbors to pipe down a bit.” ~ Kate Bowler, author of No Cure for Being Human
“… a remarkably accessible and effective method for dismantling the critical voice that has convinced almost all of us that we are separate and doomed.” ~ Mirabai Starr, author of Caravan of No Despair
BETTER DAYS: TAME YOUR INNER CRITIC
Neal Allen presents tools for wrestling down the punishing voice of your inner critic. It’s not you; it’s a parasite that should have retired years ago, but insists on running the show. What if you did just as well without that voice? Through several repetitive exercises that helped Neal shift his own critic to the side, you can discover a more objective, less dramatic self who doesn’t need a snarky voice to navigate the world. Available in bookstores and online.
Better Days: Tame Your Inner Critic is published by Namaste Publishing.
Shapes of Truth: Discover God Inside You is the title of Neal’s first book, published in 2021.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT SHAPES OF TRUTH HERE
Coming March 2026: Good Writing: 36 Ways to Improve Your Sentences by Neal Allen and Anne Lamott (Penguin/Avery).