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Article: Woe is I: The Grammarphobe's Guide to Better English in Plain English.
- Article from:
- Technical Communication
- Article date:
- November 1, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 Society for Technical Communication. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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If Don Bush has taught us anything, it's that the primary skill of the technical writer is writing. If we don't know how to write and how to write well, we won't be able to cover it up with desktop publishing, online help, or Web design. That's why it's refreshing to read a book like Woe is L Patricia O'Conner's purpose is to teach us something about the foundation of writing, which is grammar.
Most of us flinch a little at the mention of grammar, perhaps because we're not sure of it ourselves or we think it boring. But O'Conner has written a lively book for people just like us, or "grammarphobes," as she calls them. She writes,
Woe Is I is a survival guide ...