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As Lauren Kessler and Duncan McDonald say in WHEN WORDS COLLIDE (Wadsworth Publishing Company), which is available on Amazon
for—ahem—a whopping $5$ to $98, “We feel the same way about this as we do about
cracking open fresh eggs with only one hand. Do it as long as you don’t make a mess. Scrambling a sentence to
put a preposition in the center of it often creates an awkward construction.
Example:
“This is a sentence up with which a writer will not
put.
“You’re looking for clarity, right? Isn’t that what
good writing is about?”
Their point is well taken.
The book is considered a media writer’s guide to
grammar and style; but to me, it’s the
guide to grammar and style. (Of course, I bought it back in the stone ages when
ink wasn’t so costly.)
Now many of you know, THE CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE is
the first book I recommend when anyone mentions wanting to learn the breath of
a copyeditor. But have you seen that book? Held it UP? It’s probably half my
weight (and if you believe that, I’ve got a car you might be interested in.).
The CMS is heavy. If you’re thinking of hiking down to the park while you edit
a few pages, this is not the book you’ll want to tote along. But WHEN WORDS
COLLIDE is a paperback, spiral bound and easy to lift.
What’s more, it isn’t filled with such scholarly
language that you picture a thin-nosed, persnickety old man wearing spectacles and
sharing his superior wisdom as you study. It’s filled with logic about sentence
clarity, but in a way that everybody gets. Like the comment about cracking
fresh eggs, it’s entertaining. If readers are entertained while they learn,
they might take the time and effort to learn a tad more. Along with the giggle
some of the comments will give you, the concise language and interesting
examples are ones that will stay with the reader, rather than be forgotten at
the turn of the page. That makes the resource worth more than the cost of ink.
Would I pay 98 bucks for it today? Yeah, as long as
my husband wasn’t looking.
Note: I'd probably opt for the used price, if the book was in good condition.
Note: I'd probably opt for the used price, if the book was in good condition.
Happy writing!
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