#benjamin dreyer

[drbennedict-writingadvice]

Writing Tip #280

Unless you are a master at signaling dialogue or you are experimenting with form, by far the best way to signal dialogue is through the use of quotation marks. Please just use them they are your friend, I promise!

[days-of-reading]

Benjamin Dreyer, Dreyer's English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style (2019)

[freckles-and-books]

[nprfreshair]

Random House Copy Chief: Stand Tall, Wordsmiths! (But Choose Your Battles)

Random House copy chief Benjamin Dreyer is not a fan of the word "very."

"It's not a dreadful word," he allows, but "it's one of my little pet words to do without if you can possibly do without it."

"Very" and its cousins "rather" and "really" are "wan intensifiers," Dreyer explains. In their place, he advises that writers look for a strong adjective that "just sits very nicely by itself" on the page. For example, "very smart" people can be "brilliant" and "very hungry" people can be "ravenous."

Dreyer gets the final say over questions related to grammar, style and clarity at Random House. Now he's sharing his writing advice in the new book Dreyer's English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style.

"Words are my business, and the meaning of words is my business," he says. "To watch language twisted and distorted — that gets under my skin and makes me unhappy."

[gramrgednangel]

Style Guides: A primer

Style Guides: A primer

I dare say everyone who writes at all regularly, even for casual purposes, knows that it’s vital to have access to a dictionary. And with so many of them now online for free, there’s really not much of an excuse not to use one.

But what about a style guide? Do you need to use one? And by “use,” I mean “have access to and perhaps own.” Isn’t that like a usage guide? No. A style guide is not a…

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[writerystuff]

Are These Bad Habits Creeping Into Your Writing?

Many writers rely more heavily on pronouns than I’d suggest is useful. For me this sort of thing comes under the heading Remember that Writing Is Not Speaking. When we talk, we can usually make our…

Good advice from an expert.

[jllongwrites]

Benjamin Dreyer on his lifelong appreciation for Shirley Jackson's work, and the unique experience of copyediting a favorite (and deceased) author.

Ben Dreyer loves Shirley Jackson the way I love Shirley Jackson, and so I can’t help but love Ben Dreyer at least a little too.

[drbennedict-writingadvice]

Writing Tip 274

If you have one subject outside of the parenthetical aside and a second subject in the parenthetical aside, your verb should still be plural. Parenthesis do not negate pluralness. So, the correct sentence would be: “I do not care what the queen (and her husband) think.” The sentence “I do not care what the queen (and her husband) thinks.” Is incorrect.