Book Review: Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips For Better Writing

One of the reasons we write is because we have a love affair with words. There are so many from which to choose. On the flip side, there's such a variety of words, it's easy to get confused as to which ones are correct.

Enter Grammar Girl.

Writing as Mignon Fogarty, in Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing, the author helps writers wade through panic-inducing dilemmas, like using affect or effect. Who versus whom. And lay versus lie.

She also gives explanations of punctuation, word choice, and style. The book is a culmination of years of posts and podcasts on the Grammar Girl website. Check it out to get a feel for the tips and tricks Grammar Girl comes up with to help writers remember correct usage.

I like that Grammar Girl develops humorous mnemonics to help her tips stick in the mind. Some are accompanied by cartoons that further illustrate her point. She shares information important to writers like the difference between passive voice and active voice, and what it means to end a sentence with a preposition.

I also like her post on How to Write Your First Novel, and the well-explained Dashes Versus Colons.
Since I do editing for others, I like being able to refer to Grammar Girl's site when deciding if a particular usage is correct.

On the website, you can sign up for her free newsletter, or sign up for free podcasts (short audio posts). Her newest book, The Grammar Devotional, is also full of tips and tricks. Click the link to find a free four-week download of a sample from The Grammar Devotional.

You'll also find a sample of Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing on the site.


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What's your grammar reference source?