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kmontgomery writes,
Grant Davison has a problem with either his writing style or his boss
(text of message below). On the chance that it is the former, I highly
recommend the following text:
Williams, Joseph M. _Style - Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace_. Harper
Collins, 1989.
This book is entertaining reading, as well as darn useful.
I'll second that recommendation. However, the fourth edition (1994)
is now out. Haven't had a chance to work with it yet--got the desk
copy just today--but so far I like the new organization of it
better than the old. The fourth edition starts off with two lessons
that attempt to isolate the causes of bad writing, giving some
historical perspective on the problem and a meditation on the role
of correctness.
=================================================================
Chuck Campbell, PhD cpc -at- nmt -dot- edu
Technical Communication Program 505-835-5284
Humanities Department, New Mexico Tech
Socorro, NM 87801
=================================================================
"Despite advances in descriptive and theoretical linguistics in the last
100 years, the American public still believes in what [Charles C.] Fries
has called the doctrine of original sin in grammar, and language planning
remains in America to a large extent in the hands of the self-styled expert,
the untrained pop grammarian, with predictable results."
--Dennis E. Baron, _Grammar and Good Taste_ (1982)
