Exercise Book for Working with Words : A Handbook for Media Writers and Editors

Rating:
Summary: This Book Rocks
Review: I first bought Working With Words in 1991 as a journalism student at University of Missouri, where the authors are profs. This book is as responsible for preparing me for my current job as section editor at a major metropolitan newspaper as was any class I ever took.

Executives, assistants, sales reps -- anyone who needs to write and speak like an intelligent human being -- should own this book.

The first thing I do when get a new copy editor is buy them a copy of Working with Words. Buy one yourself and you'll be amazed at how much you don't know.

BTN, Chicago Tribune, MU BJ '92

Rating:
Summary: Extremely helpful reference
Review: In many ways, "Working with Words" differs little from other grammar books. It accomplishes its task very well, though. A highlight of this book has to be its organization. The book is divided into 11 chapters and 4 appendixes. All the basics are covered: sentences, phrases and clauses; the parts of speech; punctuation, etc. Other sections cover tight writing, muddled language and "sexism, racism and other '-isms.'"

But the absolute best parts of this book are the lists and appendixes. "What to Tighten A-Z" offers a quick guide to getting rid of phrases that are wordy, redundant or cliche. "Confused words" helps you decide whether to use continual or continuous, fortuitous or fortunate among many others. Sections on common mistakes and frequently misspelled words also help you avoid errors. But my favorite section has to be the one called "One word, two words or hyphenated?" It is a fabulously quick and easy reference.