Penguin Writer's Manual

by Martin H. Manser, Stephen Curtis

The Penguin Writer's Manual is the essential companion for anyone who wants to master the art of writing good English. Whether you're composing an essay, sending a business letter or an email to a colleague, or firing off an angry letter to a newspaper, this guide will help you to brush up you communication skills and write correct and confident English.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Reference, Linguistics, Language

352 pages, Paperback

First published March 28, 2002

About the author

Martin Manser is a professional reference-book editor. Since 1980 he has compiled or edited nearly 200 reference books. He has also compiled and edited many titles that encourage Bible reading.

Reviews

[moi, k.y.a.]

aynı formattan Türkçe yapıp sözde yazarlara vermek lazım 😇

[Gearóid O'Connor · Rating 5 out of 5]

A grammar and how to guide to writing. Informative and detailed with some excellent insights. Recommended.

[Annette Beatwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part One of this book is excellent; it is arranged in sensible sections on grammar, usage, vocabulary, spelling, punctuation and abbreviations. I refer to it often, and can usually find what I want quickly. It does exactly what it is designed for, although it is a little dry.

The early chapters of Part Two are also helpful, giving solid advice on the process of producing a piece of writing and on good style.

The last eighty or so pages are of limited use because they are at least twenty years out of date. They are meant to address the most important forms of writing. The chapter on reports, essays and theses still has relevance, and people still grapple with agendas and minutes (my sympathies). But social media is not mentioned at all, the internet receives a rather quaint paragraph on how to look things up on it, and email (still styled ‘e-mail’) gets a page and a half. Writing letters receives a whole chapter, and I can’t remember the last time I sent one of those.

A useful book, in dire need of a new edition.

You can read my more in-depth review here:
https://www.beatwelleditorial.co.uk/p...

[Will · Rating 3 out of 5]

Useful reference guide, with some very interesting sections on the origins of the English language, as the merging of old Saxon English and Norman French, and how this persists in contemporary speech and writing (more complicated words often being latin in origin, while simpler ones are Saxon). Longer sections on writing meeting notes, memos, letters emails etc in the latter third of the book are not super useful or interesting.

[Siteri R · Rating 3 out of 5]

A helpful reference book on English grammar, usage, vocabulary, spelling, punctuation and abbreviation, particularly for non-native English speakers, and for writers of all caliber.

[Matthew White · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be referred to in a moment of vacancy of activity for its alleged usefulness rather than any kind of value of interest. To be fair it may well be useful if applied appropriately rather than simply absorbed. Obviously this gains points for its practical benefit rather than artistic or entertainment value.

[Daniel Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

While not always the clearest book itself, it does pack a lot of useful information into its pages. Any writer or person who needs to write regularly for work will find the book a useful reference, but it's not an essential one.

[Seymour · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm never far from this book and use it both as a bed-time "devotional" and as a working reference during the day. It goes a long way to presenting things clearly and briefly at the expense of losing some detail in the explanations, so it functions well as a "reminder" to be regularly chewed upon.

[James Piper · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good reference and something you should read every day to reinforce the concepts.

[Benjamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fine reference book!