A Writer's Grammar is a lively, engaging, and writing-intensive introduction to grammar from a rhetorical and stylistic perspective. A Writer's Grammar makes clear and interesting the relationship between good writing and grammatical knowledge. Presenting grammatical concepts in a hierarchical manner, it builds logically from basic elements to more advanced concepts, showing how grammar affects a writer's style. Writing instruction within each section gives students guided practice to help them apply their knowledge and integrate a new and deeper understanding of language.
This lively textbook on grammar helps writers of all abilities understand how the English language functions in contemporary life. It begins with a close examination of sentence patterns, word classes, and syntactical transformations, laying a structural base for understanding usage. Examples from a variety of published writers further your understanding of writing well from a rhetorical and stylistic perspective. Whether youre a beginning student, an advanced grammarian, or someone who wants to know more about how language works and how to use it, this textbook gives you what you need. Learn how to manipulate, join, and transform patterns that undergird sentences; write sentence patterns, transformations, and figures to establish habits of strong and varied sentence building; compare kinds of grammatical and rhetorical structures and their effects on readers; and analyze sentences and chunks of text for grammatical underpinnings and rhetorical effect. Become a better writer by understanding grammar, usage, and punctuation with the explanations, examples, and exercises in Grammar for Writers.
Not your same old boring grammar guide! This book is fun, fast, and focused on writing amazing fiction. The world of grammar is huge, but fiction writers don't need to know all the nuances to write well. In fact, some of the rules you were taught in English class will actually hurt your fiction writing, not help it. "Grammar for Fiction Writers" won't teach you things you don't need to know. It's all about the grammar that's relevant to you as you write your novels and short stories. Here's what you'll find inside: Punctuation Basics including the special uses of dashes and ellipses in fiction, common comma problems, how to format your dialogue, and untangling possessives and contractions. Knowing What Your Words Mean and What They Don't including commonly confused words, imaginary words and phrases, how to catch and strengthen weak words, and using connotation and denotation to add powerful subtext to your writing. Grammar Rules Every Writer Needs to Know and Follow such as maintaining an active voice and making the best use of all the tenses for fast-paced writing that feels immediate and draws the reader in. Special Challenges for Fiction Writers like reversing cause and effect, characters who are unintentionally doing the impossible, and orphaned dialogue and pronouns. Grammar "Rules" You Can Safely Ignore When Writing Fiction Each book in the "Busy Writer's Guides" series is intended to give you enough theory so that you can understand why things work and why they don't, but also enough examples to see how that theory looks in practice. In addition, they provide tips and exercises to help you take it to the pages of your own story with an editor's-eye view. Most importantly, they cut the fluff so you have more time to write and to live your life."
The author examines the topic of grammar, suggesting ways of teaching grammar rules that should never be broken, and identifying what he calls "myth rules" that are commonly taught but infrequently followed, and that can hinder students' interest in writing.
A police lieutenant with the elite "Red Dogs" until she retired at twenty-nine , Aud Torvigen is a rangy six-footer with eyes the color of cement and a tendency to hurt people who get in her way. Born in Norway into the failed marriage between a Scandinavian diplomat and an American businessman, she now makes Atlanta her home, luxuriating in the lush heat and brashness of the New South. She glides easily between the world of silken elegance and that of sleaze and sudden savagery, equally at home in both; functional, deadly, and temporarily quiescent, like a folded razor. On a humid April evening between storms, out walking just to stay sharp, she turns a corner and collides with a running woman, Catching the scent of clean, rain-soaked hair, Aud nods and silently tells the stranger Today, you are lucky, and moves on—when behind her house explodes, incinerating its sole occupant, a renowned art historian. When Aud turns back, the woman is gone.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A sharp, funny grammar guide they’ll actually want to read, from Random House’s longtime copy chief and one of Twitter’s leading language gurus NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY O: The Oprah Magazine • Paste • Shelf Awareness “Essential (and delightful!)”—People We all write, all the time: books, blogs, emails. Lots and lots of emails. And we all want to write better. Benjamin Dreyer is here to help. As Random House’s copy chief, Dreyer has upheld the standards of the legendary publisher for more than two decades. He is beloved by authors and editors alike—not to mention his followers on social media—for deconstructing the English language with playful erudition. Now he distills everything he has learned from the myriad books he has copyedited and overseen into a useful guide not just for writers but for everyone who wants to put their best prose foot forward. As authoritative as it is amusing, Dreyer’s English offers lessons on punctuation, from the underloved semicolon to the enigmatic en dash; the rules and nonrules of grammar, including why it’s OK to begin a sentence with “And” or “But” and to confidently split an infinitive; and why it’s best to avoid the doldrums of the Wan Intensifiers and Throat Clearers, including “very,” “rather,” “of course,” and the dreaded “actually.” Dreyer will let you know whether “alright” is all right (sometimes) and even help you brush up on your spelling—though, as he notes, “The problem with mnemonic devices is that I can never remember them.” And yes: “Only godless savages eschew the series comma.” Chockful of advice, insider wisdom, and fun facts, this book will prove to be invaluable to everyone who wants to shore up their writing skills, mandatory for people who spend their time editing and shaping other people’s prose, and—perhaps best of all—an utter treat for anyone who simply revels in language. Praise for Dreyer’s English “Playful, smart, self-conscious, and personal . . . One encounters wisdom and good sense on nearly every page of Dreyer’s English.”—The Wall Street Journal “Destined to become a classic.”—The Millions “Dreyer can help you . . . with tips on punctuation and spelling. . . . Even better: He’ll entertain you while he’s at it.”—Newsday
The Only Grammar Book You'll Ever Need is the ideal resource for everyone who wants to produce writing that is clear, concise, and grammatically excellent. Whether you're creating perfect professional documents, spectacular school papers, or effective personal letters, you'll find this handbook indispensable. From word choice to punctuation to organization, English teacher Susan Thurman guides you through getting your thoughts on paper with polish. Using dozens of examples, The Only Grammar Book You'll Ever Need provides guidelines for: Understanding the parts of speech and elements of a sentence Avoiding the most common grammar and punctuation mistakes Using correct punctuating in every sentence Writing clearly and directly Approaching writing projects, whether big or small Easy to follow and authoritative, The Only Grammar Book You'll Ever Need provides all the necessary tools to make you successful with every type of written expression.
This three-in-one guide is the perfect addition to any professional or amateur writer's bookshelf. Aimed at those who use language in their day-to-day lives, it is divided into three parts. The Grammar Guide provides clear, comprehensive guidance on sentence structure, parts of speech and punctuation; the Vocabulary Builder helps you choose the right word by listing commonly confused, misused and cliched words; the dictionary of Literary Terms provides concise definitions of linguistic forms. The budding writer can use this guide to quickly enhance their style and improve their word power. The rules and advice provided are accompanied by usage examples throughout.
Grammar Choices is a different kind of grammar book: It is written for graduate students, including MBA, master’s, and doctoral candidates, as well as postdoctoral researchers and faculty. Additionally, it describes the language of advanced academic writing with more than 300 real examples from successful graduate students and from published texts, including corpora. Each of the eight units in Grammar Choices contains: an overview of the grammar topic; a preview test that allows students to assess their control of the target grammar and teachers to diagnose areas of difficulty; an authentic example of graduate-student writing showing the unit grammar in use; clear descriptions of essential grammar structures using the framework of functional grammar, cutting-edge research in applied linguistics, and corpus studies; vocabulary relevant to the grammar point is introduced—for example, common verbs in the passive voice, summary nouns used with this/these, and irregular plural nouns; authentic examples for every grammar point from corpora and published texts; exercises for every grammar point that help writers develop grammatical awareness and use, including completing sentences, writing, revising, paraphrasing, and editing; and a section inviting writers to investigate discipline-specific language use and apply it to an academic genre. Among the changes in the Second Edition are: new sections on parallel form (Unit 2) and possessives (Unit 5) revised and expanded explanations, but particularly regarding verb complementation, complement noun clauses, passive voice, and stance/engagement a restructured Unit 2 and significantly revised/updated Unit 7 new Grammar Awareness tasks in Units 3, 5, and 6 new exercises plus revision/updating of many others self-editing checklists in the Grammar in Your Discipline sections at the end of each unit representation of additional academic disciplines (e.g., engineering, management) in example sentences and texts and in exercises.
