Comments on: Books About Writing

By: zz

zz — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 03:41:17 +0000

Hi Daniel,

Is “Eats, Shoots and Leaves” really that good? I’ve had two copies sitting on my bookself for some time – to be honest I don’t really know where either of them came from – but can’t bring myself to read a book about commas!

By: Precise Edit

Precise Edit — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 23:37:22 +0000

I’ll add one that I read every year: “Style: 10 Lessons in Clarity and Grace” by Joseph Williams. A writing professor recommended it to me many years ago. Not only do I re-read this one every year but also I re-work the problems and do the exercises.

The book is a bit pricey, but it’s worth the cost. I have a link to it at the bottom of this page: http://hostileediting.com.

My second pick is “Line by Line” published by the Modern Language Association–very dense information, but presented well and thoroughly. This book is also linked at the URL above.

By: Laurie

Laurie — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:08:56 +0000

I would add “Common Errors in English Usage” by Paul Brians.

It covers commonly misused words that sometimes trip up the best writers. Completely indispensable.

“When Bad Grammar Happens to Good People” is one that I happen to like. It’s a bit more user friendly, IMO, than “Eats, Shoots and Leaves.”

Great post – I hope to see more like this one. Quite useful.

By: Iza

Iza — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 03:34:26 +0000

Great idea! For the ‘Business writing’ category, I’d like to recommend these titles by Don Watson:

“Watsons Dictionary Of Weasel Words” and “Death Sentence: The Decay of Public Language”.

Another one, just about to be published, is titled “Bendable Learnings: The Wisdom Of Modern Management”.

By: Travel Writers Exchange

Travel Writers Exchange — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:03:20 +0000

Thanks, always looking for a good read that potentially could enhance my writing.