It Was the Best of Sentences, It Was the Worst of Sentences

It Was the Best of Sentences, It Was the Worst of Sentences

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  • Author: June Casagrande
  • Publisher: Ten Speed Press
  • ISBN: 1580083781
  • Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 226

In this wickedly humorous manual, language columnist June Casagrande uses grammar and syntax to show exactly what makes some sentences great—and other sentences suck. Great writing isn’t born, it’s built—sentence by sentence. But too many writers—and writing guides—overlook this most important unit. The result? Manuscripts that will never be published and writing careers that will never begin. With chapters on “Conjunctions That Kill” and “Words Gone Wild,” this lighthearted guide is perfect for anyone who’s dead serious about writing, from aspiring novelists to nonfiction writers, conscientious students to cheeky literati. So roll up your sleeves and prepare to craft one bold, effective sentence after another. Your readers will thank you.


The Joy of Syntax

The Joy of Syntax

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  • Author: June Casagrande
  • Publisher: Ten Speed Press
  • ISBN: 0399581065
  • Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 274

Language columnist June Casagrande presents a fun and breezy guide to everything a grown-up interested in grammar needs to know. When it comes to grammar, it seems like everyone—even die-hard word nerds—feel they "missed something" in school. The Joy of Syntax picks up where sixth grade left off, providing a fresh foundation in English syntax served up by someone with an impressive record of making this otherwise inaccessible subject a true joy. With simple, pithy information on everything from basic parts of speech and sentence structure to usage and grammar pitfalls, this guide provides everything you need to approach grammar with confidence.


Mortal Syntax

Mortal Syntax

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  • Author: June Casagrande
  • Publisher: Penguin
  • ISBN: 1101221283
  • Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 257

The only fun, friendly, and surefire defense against the grammar snobs Having already made a name for herself with Grammar Snobs Are Great Big Meanies, now in its fifth printing, June Casagrande returns with Mortal Syntax, taking on the 101 most frequently attacked usage choices. Dedicating one short chapter to each, Casagrande brings her subject to life, teaching English usage through lively and amusing personal anecdotes. Mortal Syntax includes such chapters as: ? "I wish I was taller" ? "I am continuously watching Simpsons reruns" ? "Was it Horton that heard the Who?" Casagrande's clear and concise lessons-with entertaining titles and themes-make a potentially prickly subject go down like a spoonful of sugar.


Several Short Sentences About Writing

Several Short Sentences About Writing

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  • Author: Verlyn Klinkenborg
  • Publisher: Vintage
  • ISBN: 0307279413
  • Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 226

An indispensable and distinctive book that will help anyone who wants to write, write better, or have a clearer understanding of what it means for them to be writing, from widely admired writer and teacher Verlyn Klinkenborg. Klinkenborg believes that most of our received wisdom about how writing works is not only wrong but an obstacle to our ability to write. In Several Short Sentences About Writing, he sets out to help us unlearn that “wisdom”—about genius, about creativity, about writer’s block, topic sentences, and outline—and understand that writing is just as much about thinking, noticing, and learning what it means to be involved in the act of writing. There is no gospel, no orthodoxy, no dogma in this book. Instead it is a gathering of starting points in a journey toward lively, lucid, satisfying self-expression.


Artful Sentences

Artful Sentences

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  • Author: Virginia Tufte
  • Publisher: Conran Octopus
  • ISBN:
  • Category : Authorship
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 316

"In Artful Sentences: Syntax as Style, Virginia Tufte shows how standard sentence patterns and forms contribute to meaning and art in more than a thousand wonderful sentences from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The book has special interest for aspiring writers, students of literature and language, and anyone who finds joy in reading and writing."--Publisher's description.


The Best Punctuation Book, Period

The Best Punctuation Book, Period

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  • Author: June Casagrande
  • Publisher: Ten Speed Press
  • ISBN: 1607744945
  • Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 258

This all-in-one reference is a quick and easy way for book, magazine, online, academic, and business writers to look up sticky punctuation questions for all styles including AP (Associated Press), MLA (Modern Language Association), APA (American Psychological Association), and Chicago Manual of Style. Punctuate with Confidence—No Matter the Style Confused about punctuation? There’s a reason. Everywhere you turn, publications seem to follow different rules on everything from possessive apostrophes to hyphens to serial commas. Then there are all the gray areas of punctuation—situations the rule books gloss over or never mention at all. At last, help has arrived. This complete reference guide from grammar columnist June Casagrande covers the basic rules of punctuation plus the finer points not addressed anywhere else, offering clear answers to perplexing questions about semicolons, quotation marks, periods, apostrophes, and more. Better yet, this is the only guide that uses handy icons to show how punctuation rules differ for book, news, academic, and science styles—so you can boldly switch between essays, online newsletters, reports, fiction, and magazine and news articles. This handbook also features rulings from an expert “Punctuation Panel” so you can see how working pros approach sticky situations. And the second half of the book features an alphabetical master list of commonly punctuated terms worth its weight in gold, combining rulings from the major style guides and showing exactly where they differ. With The Best Punctuation Book, Period, you’ll be able to handle any punctuation predicament in a flash—and with aplomb.


Sin and Syntax

Sin and Syntax

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  • Author: Constance Hale
  • Publisher: Three Rivers Press
  • ISBN: 0767908929
  • Category : Reference
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 311

Today’s writers need more spunk than Strunk: whether it's the Great American e-mail, Madison Avenue advertising, or Grammy Award-winning rap lyrics, memorable writing must jump off the page. Copy veteran Constance Hale is on a mission to make creative communication, both the lyrical and the unlawful, an option for everyone. With its crisp, witty tone, Sin and Syntax covers grammar’s ground rules while revealing countless unconventional syntax secrets (such as how to use—Gasp!—interjections or when to pepper your prose with slang) that make for sinfully good writing. Discover how to: *Distinguish between words that are “pearls” and words that are “potatoes” * Avoid “couch potato thinking” and “commitment phobia” when choosing verbs * Use literary devices such as onomatopoeia, alliteration, and metaphor (and understand what you're doing) Everyone needs to know how to write stylish prose—students, professionals, and seasoned writers alike. Whether you’re writing to sell, shock, or just sing, Sin and Syntax is the guide you need to improve your command of the English language.


Writing Into the Dark: How to Write a Novel Without an Outline

Writing Into the Dark: How to Write a Novel Without an Outline

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  • Author: Dean Wesley Smith
  • Publisher: Wmg Publishing
  • ISBN: 9781561466337
  • Category : Reference
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 118

With more than a hundred published novels and more than seventeen million copies of his books in print, USA Today bestselling author Dean Wesley Smith knows how to outline. And he knows how to write a novel without an outline. In this WMG Writer's Guide, Dean takes you step-by-step through the process of writing without an outline and explains why not having an outline boosts your creative voice and keeps you more interested in your writing. Want to enjoy your writing more and entertain yourself? Then toss away your outline and Write into the Dark.


Grammar Snobs Are Great Big Meanies

Grammar Snobs Are Great Big Meanies

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  • Author: June Casagrande
  • Publisher: National Geographic Books
  • ISBN: 0143036831
  • Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 0

What do suicidal pandas, doped-up rock stars, and a naked Pamela Anderson have in common? They’re all a heck of a lot more interesting than reading about predicate nominatives and hyphens. June Casagrande knows this and has invented a whole new twist on the grammar book. Grammar Snobs Are Great Big Meanies is a laugh-out-loud funny collection of anecdotes and essays on grammar and punctuation, as well as hilarious critiques of the self-appointed language experts. Chapters include: I’m Writing This While Naked—The Oh-So Steamy Predicate Nominative Semicolonoscopy—Colons, Semicolons, Dashes, and Other Probing Annoyances I’ll Take "I Feel Like a Moron" for $200, Alex—When to Put Punctuation Inside Quotation Marks Snobbery Up with Which You Should Not Put Up—Prepositions Is That a Dangler in Your Memo or Are You Just Glad to See Me? Hyphens—Life-Sucking, Mom-and-Apple-Pie-Hating, Mime-Loving, Nerd-Fight-Inciting Daggers of the Damned Casagrande delivers practical and fun language lessons not found anywhere else, demystifying the subject and taking it back from the snobs. In short, it’s a grammar book people will actually want to read—just for the fun of it.


How to Write a Sentence

How to Write a Sentence

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  • Author: Stanley Fish
  • Publisher: Harper Collins
  • ISBN: 0062006851
  • Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 180

A New York Times bestseller—“Part ode, part how-to guide to the art of the well-constructed sentence” (NPR). Some appreciate fine art; others appreciate fine wines. Stanley Fish appreciates fine sentences. The New York Times columnist and world-class professor has long been an aficionado of language. Like a seasoned sportscaster, Fish marvels at the adeptness of finely crafted sentences and breaks them down into digestible morsels, giving readers an instant play-by-play. In this entertaining and erudite gem, Fish offers both sentence craft and sentence pleasure, skills invaluable to any writer (or reader). How to Write a Sentence is both a spirited love letter to the written word and a key to understanding how great writing works; it is a book that will stand the test of time. “Both deeper and more democratic than The Elements of Style” —Adam Haslett, Financial Times “A guided tour through some of the most beautiful, arresting sentences in the English language.” —Slate