A short while ago, Mignon Fogarty (aka Grammar Girl) sent me a copy of her new book, Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing, for review. Here’s my thoughts on her work.

First, every college student and every college-bound student should get a copy. If you’re an admissions director, if you’re an English professor, if you’re a parent – get a copy of this book and give it to your kid(s). It’s terrific, well-written, with clear explanations of why certain forms of usage are appropriate and not appropriate. Call it the 21st century style guide for the busy student.

A couple of things I wish were better (maybe for the next edition?):

First, I wish the index was in the front of the book. While it defies convention, it would make the book instantly more usable. When someone goes to write a blog post, they can pop open the book and decide whether affect or effect is correct.

Second, the book doesn’t really do a good job of explaining WHY grammar is important, why it’s useful, and why good grammar will make you more effective in whatever you do. Here’s my take on it – perhaps it’ll make it into the second edition, too.

Grammar, and its subset syntax, are the rules of language. If you’ve ever studied a computer language like C++ or PHP, you already know that syntax and grammar require exceptional precision – one misplaced semi-colon, and you’re out of business. It’s a tribute to the human mind that even with terrible grammar and syntax, our languages don’t immediately break down.

That said, grammar and syntax matter even with humans because communicating clearly is no longer optional. Our world is evolving from the Industrial Age to the Information Age, and the bedrock of the Information Age is the ability to communicate clearly. If you have terrible grammar, your writing is at best difficult to read. If you have terrible grammar, you can often end up sticking your foot in your mouth over and over again, forcing you to lose productivity and energy. Grammar matters. Usage matters.

Two examples of how grammar matters: if you apply for a job with the Student Loan Network, and your cover letter & resume are littered with spelling and grammar errors, your resume goes straight in the trash. Bad grammar will have cost you a job at an outstanding company, because as an Information Age company, we value outstanding communication skills above most other skills.

Second example. Back in 1997, I was working at Sony Electronics in Park Ridge, New Jersey. One Thursday afternoon around 2 PM, the Vice President of Digital Imaging came out of his office, red-faced. He called the entire office to attention, shouting, “Tokyo has just sent us the advertising copy for the Mavica’s Stamina Battery!” Typically when the VP made such office-wide announcements, it meant everyone would have to scramble to implement the new marketing campaign.

Instead, he climbed on a nearby desk and read out loud the copy for Sony’s new lithium ion batteries.

“When you are at the climax of your shooting, you need STAMINA!”

The entire office burst into tears of laughter. We pretty much ended up canning work for the rest of the afternoon. The Vice President promptly had his administrative assistant email Sony Tokyo and told them to fire whoever wrote that ad slogan.

Usage of language matters – rolling out that campaign with that slogan could have cost Sony millions of dollars in lost revenue, not to mention the ire of conservative parents and media critics. That’s why you need Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing.

Buy a copy of Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing at Amazon today.

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