Write Right!: A Desktop Digest of Punctuation, Grammar, and Style

by Jan Venolia

The newest edition of Jan Venolia's best-selling guide, Write Right! is an essential resource for writers with 500,000+ copies sold since publication.

In this age of electronic correspondence and self-produced documents, we need a useful and reliable writing guide more than ever. Write Right! covers the essentials of good writing in a concise and easy-to-follow format. The new edition of this classic handbook takes you through the entire writing process, from understanding the parts of speech to constructing a correct sentence to fine-tuning the mechanics. And with clever drawings and amusing quotations to illustrate its points, Write Right! shows that language can be fun as well as an effective communication tool. Whether it's used to find a quick answer to a nagging question or to develop stronger writing skills, this handy reference is the ideal resource for writers of all levels.

Includes a resource section with a list of helpful websites and a glossary to quickly define difficult terms.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Reference, Language, Self Help, Education

225 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

Reviews

[Greg]

She says to use this book instead of grammar checkers then leads off the first chapter with this error:

If you can put a, an, or the in front of a word, it's a noun.

Uh, you can put them in front of adjectives. Her comma error tip in the back of the book conflicts with what she writes about 2 independent clauses. She explains things properly earlier but the quicker reference confuses. I'm sure there are more errors but reading the book made me drowsy. The reason programmers have trouble making grammar checks is because of logic errors. Grammarians like this explaining the rules; which, they don't even understand; the job becomes more difficult. Linguists are cool. Grammarians are like Catholic priests from the Inquisition trying to torture you to submit to their religion.

[Miruna]

Loved this book. It's an interesting read and I can see myself referencing it. It refreshed my memory on many grammar issues that I forgot about since school.

I have to say, for a grammar book it's quite entertaining with quite a few funny examples that will make you laugh out loud.

[Jen Grogan]

I bought this on a whim (it was probably on sale for $1.99, because that's usually what happened when I think "Why do I have this book on my Kindle?"), and... eh. I'm sure it would be useful to someone who doesn't already have a pile style guides. Silly me, I had gotten the impression it was a book on how to write, not a layperson's shallower, less detailed version of the Chicago Manual of Style. Oh well.

[J.L. Slipak]

This is another resource book I keep on the shelf for referring to when I have an issue about grammar or style. It covers a lot that the others do, but it's still a great reference and resource, so I'll keep it!

[Cathy]

More like a 3.75 -- I mean, it is a grammar book, after all, but I kinda like that sort of thing as it helps remind me of Mrs. Rager's 7th grade rules and Dr. Channell's fish taco sentence diagramming. Hopefully, I got the commas right in this review. If not, please downgrade to 2 stars.

[Bobby H]

Was not anticipating much, but it was well written. Quotes throughout which illustrate grammatical and punctuation usage help keep what could be a boring topic interesting.
It rekindled my interest in writing.

[Nikki]

A quick and readable refresher with a light-hearted tone. Some topics I felt could have used a bit more coverage, while the frequently misspelled words list (~10pgs) seems pretty useless when the author already recommends getting a good dictionary. 4 humorous quotations out of 5.

[Amy Cox]

Very informational. I will keep it around to reference.

[Edgar Moran]

What an excellent book!

[Mook]

When you feel the need to brush up on the basics and what you have on hand is the second edition (1985) of Write Right.

[Angelique]

Good for reference and refresher

[Catamita]

Fancy. Useless nowadays

[W. Forbes]

This one fills a weird spot. It'll be a great reference tool for later.

[Djrmel]

Great little (really, it's a small book with lots of white space) book on the basics of written American English grammer. It's more accessable than Strunk and White, but what you gain in ease of use you lose in the details. The book notes when a particular rule is more of a guideline and also takes into account that language is fluid and what was once shockingly bad grammar can now sometimes be the norm. I'd recommend this book as a gift to a young or new writer who wants to get it right, but doesn't want to be overwhelmed by the techinical details.

[Joe Sabet]

I wouldnt go out your way to buy this book, since there are a lot of other books on grammar and writing effectively. I got it for 50 cents or so. Every section was worth reading and the book covered a lot of ground. I'll hold on to it for reference, since many things will slip my mind still

[Kevin J.]

I have used this book for many years in college, business, and personal writing. It is easy to follow and always helpful.

[Eric]

Great reference. This should be next to your keyboard (or pen) at all times.

[Betty]

Recommended by my teacher in a short (1 page) story class for seniors: 6 day class, meant for writing life vignettes. I didn't read it but keep it for reference.

[Hope]

I love this little thing. I keep it next to me while writing if I'm ever in doubt of some Grammar or can't remember a certain rule of punctuation. Just a nice little handbook to have around. :)

[A.D.]

A very straight forward book on grammar with some sweet quotes and great writing samples.

[Melissa Starr]

Informative for the writer.

[Iami Menotu]

A very nice book for writers

[TK Keanini]

The book is a classic. Its been a good reference but I still have so far to go with writing.