Write with Excellence 201: a lighthearted guide to the serious matter of writing well--for Christian authors, editors, and students

by Joyce K. Ellis

The precision of a college textbook.
The delight of effervescent humor.

A fun grammar book? Sure, why not? What else would you expect from this author, editor, and writing instructor--with more than 45 years in the business--who delights her workshop goers with her inimitable humor and infectious laugh? In this book you'll find

- three major sections, covering grammar, punctuation, and style
- forty-six chapters on everything from defibrillating verbs to avoiding apostrophe abuse
- special helps for those writing for Christian publications
- quizzes at the end of each chapter to apply knowledge to one's own writing
- lots of humor, actually making grammar fun.

This book is both a "pleasure read" and a user-friendly reference work.

307 pages, Paperback

Published March 18, 2017

About the author

Joyce K. (Krohne) Ellis, popped onto this world's scene in St. Louis, Missouri, born into a family with a strong faith and--obviously--a great sense of humor. "I loved the laughter at home and at extended-family gatherings," she says, "where uncles tried to outdo each other with the funniest jokes and puns." So it's no wonder that faith and humor permeate much of what she has written in more than five decades of writing articles and books, including The 500 Hats of a Modern-Day Woman. And it's that quirky sense of humor that makes what she teaches in her writing classes and seminars stick with the attendees, they tell her. One conferee recently told Joyce, "Only you could write a grammar book that's a great 'beach read.'" This woman was referring to Joyce's book Write with Excellence 201: a lighthearted guide to the serious matter of writing well for Christian authors, editors, and students.

In 1968 Joyce's family moved to the "tundra of Minnesota," whereupon her St. Louis relatives quipped that "the only reason there are any people in Minnesota is that people move there, their brains freeze, and they don't have the sense to move back." She married Steve Ellis, a civil engineer ("at least most of the time he's civil," she says), in 1969. They have three grown children, seven extraordinary grandchildren, and one adorable great-grandson. Currently living in suburban Minneapolis, they love sitting by a lake, river, or ocean--reading.

Joyce K. Ellis has published hundreds of magazine articles and short stories and 18 books. Her writing has garnered numerous awards, including the ECPA Gold Medallion Award for The One-Minute Bible for Kids. And her picture book, The Fabulous World That God Made was chosen by Focus on the Family as one of their Top Ten Family-Friendly Picture Books. She loves travel, needlework, and making short-term mission trips whenever she has the opportunity.

Reviews

[W. Whalin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Writers can’t break the rules if you don’t know and study them in the first place.

For many years I've known Joyce as a magazine editor. Originally we met through our involvement in the Evangelical Press Association. What I didn't know about Joyce is that she has written a column about grammar for years for The Christian Communicator magazine and she has a passion for excellent writing. Write With Excellence 201 is a detailed examination of grammar rules.

How do you write strong engaging sentences? Some of that comes from experience but also understanding the difference between active and passive tense. Write With Excellence is a clarion call for writers to learn the rules then use them to improve their writing. Ellis engages her readers with vivid examples and insights. The chapters are short and each ends with a quiz to help you absorb the details on adverbs or the use of hyphens or italics versus quotation marks. The book has three main sections: Grammar and Related Matters, Punctuation and Related Matters, and Style, Usage and Other Considerations.

As Ellis writes, “Writers have a responsibility to communicate clearly. And excellent Christian writers strive for clarity, especially in the spiritual realm. We enrich the reader's takeaway value—if we vigilantly guard against being jargonauts.” (Page 246–-the chapter cautioning about use of jargon). Write With Excellence 201 is realistic and doesn't pull punches: “Yes, all this is a lot of work. No one said it was easy (How many times have I written that in this book?) But if you take the time to “sweat” your titles and subheads, you'll show editors you're a professional, right from the start.” (Page 264) I've given you a small sample of the wisdom packed into these pages.

I highly recommend this book.

[Kathi Bloy]

When a writer friend lent me her copy of Ellis's book, I opened to the Introduction, creatively titled: "Start Here" because, as Ellis writes, many people don't read introductions. Of course, that doesn't include writers/bibliophiles like myself. Before I'd even finished the introduction, I emailed the author to tell her how thrilled I was with her book and how much I looked forward to digging into it. She promptly sold me a copy for my library, knowing I would refer to it often and would need a permanent copy. Now when I make suggestions to my writers' critique group on their manuscripts, I refer to the specific page in Ellis's book that explains why I suggested the particular change. I check grammar, punctuation, usage, and style. Write With Excellence 201 has helped me and my writer friends improve our writing, and I recommend this as the most enjoyable grammar book I've found. Ellis set out to write a grammar book that reads alm0st like a novel, and she has achieved the goal of making a great reference book fun to read! I will never finish reading this book--I will always need it!

[Dave Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally! A book about the rules of writing, written in a way writers like me can understand.

While the creative aspects of writing come relatively easy, I have always struggled with concepts such as passive voice and proper punctuation. I knew there were rules determining things like when to use whom rather than who, but I could never seem to process them efficiently. The problem is that memorizing rules without understanding how to apply them is near useless. Write With Excellence 201 is a gamechanger.

Rather than impress the reader with knowledge, which she clearly has, the author seems to write with the more noble goal of making real differences in how a writer writes.

Speaking for this writer, mission accomplished.

[Stephen Harvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is THE most helpful book on modern grammar rules for writing, especially for publication, that I have read. Joyce's examples are hilarious! I scoured this book for months as I helped a friend edit her proposal and book. At first, I picked the chapters and pages I needed to find the answer for a specific question, but then, it was so helpful and entertaining I just read the whole thing--and more than once! I was working with a borrowed book, but I just had to buy my own copy. While I try to be thrifty and just use the library's copies, this one was a keeper, for sure!

[Katharine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am grateful that Joyce K. Ellis published “Write with Excellence 201.” The timing couldn’t be better for this college student. I use this humor-filled grammar book to guide me through tricky grammar rules and improve my writing. Do I need to “defibrillate my verbs” or learn the proper use of the em-dash? “Write with Excellence 201” is my grammar book of choice.

[Cindy Huff]

Write with Excellence 201 A lighthearted guide to the serious matter of writing well for Christian authors, editors and students.
The 201 in the title is a hint. This book is for established writers. We know grammar but may have developed some bad habits. There are things we get confused over. This is a great resource.
Lots of easy instructions, fun examples and personal anecdotes help me remember the concept I forgot. Each chapter has a quiz at the end to help reinforce the lesson. (Yes, the answers are in the back of the book.) A wonderful reference book to keep near your keyboard or read through before you begin a new project. Joyce has been helping the writing community understand grammar for decades and this volume contains her very best tips. Buy it. Read it. Wear it out.