Writing

Handbook for Writing

I borrowed this from my father and definitely need a copy for myself to markup and keep on my main bookshelf. 

Clean, Well-Lighted Sentences: A Guide to Avoiding the Most Common Errors in Grammar and Punctuation by Janis Bell is an excellent handbook for writing, and has easy-to-understand explanations, samples and quizzes to illustrate and answer questions about common errors in English.

I found the following particularly helpful:

  • who v.s. whom

  • why there is an "ing" after "helping" in "we appreciate your helping us with..."

  • explaining gerunds

  • "I wish I was" or "I wish I were"?

  • common mass nouns (no s on the end, e.g., feedback, advice, homework).

I put a period after that last item on the list to mark the end of the sentence, as shown in an example in the book :)

The explanations are not highly technical, making the book approachable and enjoyable to read. Highly recommended!

Link to Amazon

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