How Not to Write: An Office Primer for the Gramatically Perplexed (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "You may have surprised yourself by buying (or are you just "browsing" and thinking of buying?) a grammar book..." (more)
Key Phrases: parenthetical commas, cat licks

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

In today's fast-paced workplace—where e-mails fly at lightning speed—precision and brevity are essential for good communication. But most of us just run spell check and hope for the best, because we've forgotten the simple grammar rules we learned in school. In How Not to Write, Terence Denman, an instructor with the U.K.-based Plain English Campaign, sets out the top 10 grammar myths and the 10 grammar rules to live and work by. Readers will learn how to:- Position prepositions - Chop off unwanted auxiliaries - Root out passivity - Eliminate extraneous adjectives - Punctuate with impunity With a breezy, wry, and accessible tone that never scolds but always enlightens, How Not to Write is an indispensable guide to clear, concise, and correct language in the workplace.

About the Author

Terence Denman is a Cambridge-educated instructor with the U.K.-based Plain English Campaign, an international organization of over 6,000 members in 70 countries that fights for the use of the crystal-clear language in business and government communications. (Plus, he's British, so you know he speaks good English.)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Quirk Books (August 4, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594740712
• ISBN-13: 978-1594740718
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #801,849 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Educational and entertaining, September 29, 2005

By	Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Terence Denman is an instructor with the Plain English Campaign, a U.K. based, but world-wide organization dedicated to improving writing skills and promoting the use of crystal-clear language in business and government communications. In this wonderful little book, Mr. Denman lays out ten grammar tips on better writing and ten writing myths that will foil your attempts at clear and concise writing. Using a great deal of wit, he educates the reader on many common errors that people make while writing, and steers you quite handily towards better English.

This is a great book, one that should be read over and over again, and studied like a school book. Indeed, this would make a wonderful foundation for a class on clear writing given to all office workers! The author does an excellent job of writing in a fun and easy to read manner, which makes reading the book both educational and entertaining. I greatly enjoy this book, and hope that studying it will improve my writing skills. My hat's off to Mr. Denman for writing such an excellent book!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More than Office Communication, May 12, 2008

By	K. L. Reddick "Editor & Author's Assistant" (Centennial, CO) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

You don't need to only write office communication to find value in this handy little guide. It's full of sound grammar advice written in a concise manner. Keep it next to your computer for quick and easy reference.
Karen Reddick, author of Grammar Done Right!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential guide for business writers, February 3, 2008

By	J. H. Young "The Confident Writing Coach" (Scotland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How Not to Write: An Office Primer for the Gramatically PerplexedQuirk Books (Hardcover)

I'd recommend this book for anyone who needs to write as part of their work - and that includes most of us!

It's packed full of simple writing tips to get you writing in plain English - but what I really liked was the debunking of the grammar myths. These are "rules" that you might remember from school or college (or heaven help you, a grammar book) that get in the way of writing clear, concise, conversational writing at work.

This is good value book and well worth the investment, not just for the grammatically perplexed but for anyone who wants to be a master of plain English.