Synopses & Reviews
You’ll never be perplexed by punctuation again! With 19 easy rules of thumb and hundreds of illuminating examples, Punctuation at Work shows you how to wield commas, semicolons, dashes, quotation marks, apostrophes, and more with the precision you need to get your message across—clearly, accurately, and instantly.
Advance Praise for Punctuation At Work
“No longer is ‘painless punctuation’ a contradiction in terms. Richard Lauchman makes it not only painless, but actually fun, to think of commas, colons, semicolons, and apostrophes not as mysterious volatile substances that are likely to explode in your face, but rather as useable and helpful navigational tools, a global positioning system for the bewildering thicket we call English syntax.” — Michael E. Geisler, Ph.D., Vice President for Language Schools, Schools Abroad, and Graduate Programs and C.V. Starr Professor in Linguistics and Languages, MiddleburyCollege
“Who would ever have thought that a book on punctuation would make one laugh out loud!?! Dr. Lauchman has produced an important (and entertaining) guide for those who wish to write clearly. Well done!” — Paul M. Hottle, Vice President of Human Resources and Dean of Retail Leadership Programs, Chevy Chase Bank
“Here at last is a book that explains punctuation in the way it should have been explained all along. It clarifies many matters of style I now realize I had never truly understood. Reading it is like listening to a patient blacksmith explain his craft—simply, thoroughly, and most of all, practically. I recommend Punctuation at Work to all who care about the clarity and precision of their writing.” — Peter Zou, Vice President of Planning, Forecasting & Analysis, Freddie Mac
Through his company The Lauchman Group, Richard Lauchman has trained professionals in the area of business writing for over 25 years. He is the author of Plain Style and Write for Results, as well as The Plain Language Handbook, a resource widely used by both government agencies and corporations. He lives in Rockville, Maryland.
Review
"The book made me laugh out loud a number of times - something I thought impossible for a book about punctuation. Launchman employs powerful examples that make proper punctuation easy to understand and to put into practice." -- About.com Online Business/ Hosting
Synopsis
Through his company the Lauchman Group, author Richard Lauchman has trained professionals in the area of business writing for over thirty years. Now, in this essential guide, he reveals how good punctuation is the key to clear written communication and to emphasizing ideas without the help of vocal tone or facial cues. Using eighteen common-sense grammar principles to live by, he teaches readers how to improve their business writing and provides them with the tools to make the whole process go a lot faster--doing away with time-wasting fretting over the placement of a mark and any confusion or accidental unprofessionalism in your compositions. In Punctuation at Work, you'll discover how to utilize all of the most important marks--from hyphens to semicolons to brackets to quotation marks . . . to ellipses--as well as how to overcome the eternal struggle between using "that" and "which," and much more. With hundreds of examples taken from today's workplaces, this book explains the many ways correct punctuation makes successful business writing a breeze.
Synopsis
Are drafting memos, composing emails, and other forms of written communication taking up too much of your workday? Discover the 18 commonsense punctuation principles that convey your meaning in a timely and professional manner.
Synopsis
In the workplace, good punctuation is much more than a matter of correctness. It’s a matter of efficiency. Professionals who aren’t sure how to punctuate take more time than necessary to write, as they fret about the many inconsistent and contradictory rules they’ve picked up over the years. Good punctuation is also a matter of courtesy: In workplace writing, a sentence should yield its meaning instantly, but when punctuation is haphazard, readers need to work to understand – or guess at – the writer’s intent. Weak punctuation results in time-wasting confusion, questions about professionalism, and some times even serious and costly miscommunication.
Without using the jargon of grammar — and providing 18 common sense principles to live by — Punctuation at Work shows busy professionals exactly how the marks can be used to make meaning clear and emphasize ideas. All the marks are covered, with hundreds of examples taken from today’s workplace. From hyphens and semicolons to brackets and quotation marks...all the way to ellipses (and the eternal struggle between “that” and “which”), this book explains the many ways punctuation makes things plain.
About the Author
RICHARD LAUCHMAN through his company The Lauchman Group, has been training professionals, in the area of writing, for over 25 years.
Table of Contents
CONTENTS
Introduction
Author’s Note
Definitions
What You Need to Know First: 19 Principles
1. Punctuation can’t rescue sense from nonsense.
2. The main reason to punctuate is to clarify your intent.
3. One of punctuation’s tasks is to supply the various signals given by the voice.
4. In workplace writing, a sentence should yield its meaning instantly.
5. Punctuation should be invisible.
6. Punctuation follows the arrangement of words.
7. Punctuation indicates how ideas relate.
8. Punctuation suggests how much emphasis an idea deserves.
9. Punctuation slows the reading.
10. Don’t count too much on context to make your meaning plain.
11. Know the difference between restrictive and non-restrictive expressions.
12. Respect the distinction between that and which.
13. When is punctuation optional?
14. Use the serial comma.
15. When do I separate adjectives with a comma?
16. Use the hyphen to clarify “improvised usage.”
17. Sometimes, no matter how you punctuate, a reader is going to think it’s wrong.
18. Feed your head.
19. When you see an odd usage, consider the source.
The Marks
• Apostrophe
• Brackets
• Colon
• Comma
• Dash
• Ellipsis
• Hyphen
• Parentheses
• Period
• Question Mark
• Quotation Marks
• Semicolon
• Slash
• Punctuating Common Sentence Structures
Appendix: How to List Ideas
Notes
Index