Get Your Writing Styled Here

Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style by Benjamin Dreyer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Like many, I suspect, I enjoyed Benjamin Dreyer's clever, opinionated, charming, informative tweeting before I ever got to read his book. I hoped to find more of the same here, and I was not disappointed. If you've followed him on twitter, you have a pretty good idea of what you'll find here. You're not wrong, but it's better than that.

This book is filled with useful, specific, detailed information for writers of all kinds. If it was only that, it would be worth any writer's time and money. Dreyer gives hundreds of ways to improve one's writing, from capitalization to word choice to style, and it's excellent, practical advice.

More than that, this book is entertaining. Yes, it's a style guide, but it's straight up fun to read. I laughed often enough my wife had to find out what I was reading, so I'd share bits with her. The author's voice--thoughtful, generous, and warm--comes through in every word, only partly disguised by his curmudgeonly tone. He doesn't take gratuitous shots or punch down, but he skewers some folks, and you can only laugh. It's okay; he's on your side. (I hope.)

Here is a typical example:

With all the nodding and head shaking going on, I'm surprised that half the characters in modern fiction haven't dislocated something. By the way, characters who nod needn't nod their heads, as there's really not much else available to nod. And the same goes for the shrugging of unnecessarily-alluded-to shoulders. What else are you going to shrug? Your elbows?

No comment necessary.

I appreciate his approach to grammar. I don't believe in strict prescriptivism, and he certainly does not either, though he shows many cases when it does no harm to follow the rules. Save yourself from unnecessary conflict. More often, he shows when you can safely dispense with old rules (split infinitives, sentence fragments, and the like) for greater clarity or smoother prose or some other authorial purpose. It is a practical approach to usage and one I happily support. I also benefitted from his humility, such as the cases where he confesses he still consults reference materials (and suggests you do too) and the complicated grammar terms he dispenses with because they're easily confused, not helpful, and hard to keep straight. He knows a great deal; his advice is good; he has all the relevant experience; but even he refreshes his understanding when he needs to. It's a relief (speaking as an old English teacher) to not have to pretend to know all the things.

But do look it up. No mercy once it's in print.

This book clarifies a number of questions I've had, and it drew my attention to flaws I hadn't noticed. (I'm gonna avoid the "letting out of the breath you didn't even know you were holding." Apparently that's a thing, and I've stepped in it before.) I won't lie--I'll need to reread parts. But I'm pretty sure this is a book I'll return to often, anyway, so it's all good.

Highly recommended. Even if you just want to read it and don't intend to do any writing. I think you'll enjoy it.



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