The best writing guides, according to hackers
6 writing guides were recommended on Hacker News between November 2025 and November 2026. We rank them by how many separate people recommend each one. None of them earns the Hacker Approved badge yet.
All 6 writing guides, ranked
Select a column heading to sort. Approval share is recommenders out of everyone who gave an opinion; the tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs. Months counts the months, out of 13, in which someone recommended it.
| Rank | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Elements of Styleby William Strunk, Jr. and E. B. White | 12 | 10 | 55% | 8 | — | — |
| 2 | On Writingby Stephen King | 9 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
| 3 | On Writing Wellby William Knowlton Zinsser | 4 | 1 | 80% | 3 | — | — |
| 4 | The Sense of Styleby Steven Pinker and José C. Vales | 3 | 1 | 75% | 2 | — | — |
| Tied 5 | Writing for Developersby Piotr Sarna and Cynthia Dunlop | 2 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| Tied 5 | The Chicago Manual of Styleby Chicago Editorial Staff | 2 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
How we rank
Rank is the number of separate people who recommend a product in a Hacker News comment over the past year. Someone who praises the same writing guide in five threads counts once.
The badge goes to writing guides that at least 10 people recommend, with recommenders outnumbering critics at least 2 to 1, recommended in at least 4 of the 13 months.
Rankings are never for sale. We may earn a commission when you buy through our links. It never changes the order.