This spiral-bound handbook is designed to provide all writers with basic and in-depth guidelines to all stages of the writing process. It is designed with tabs to provide quick access to the various sections. The volume begins with an overview of the entire process of producing a finished written work, from what needs to be done “before the writing starts” all the way through to revision and proofreading. This section wraps up with a discussion of collaboration and research that comes after a given written work is completed.
Subsequent sections provide guidance for grammatical writing and word usage; organizing ideas; writing style (use of slang, wordiness, etc.); academic writing; use of visual images (charts and graphs); advice for writers whose native language is not English; punctuation and spelling; and documentation and research. The next three sections provide specific guidance on the most commonly used style guidelines: Modern Language Association (MLA) style, American Psychological Association (APA) style and the University of Chicago’s Chicago Manual of Style (CSE). The first two sections conclude with a complete sample essay demonstrating the use of the guidelines. Rather than a full sample essay, the CSE section ends with selected page examples illustrating important style points.
The section on academic writing deserves particular mention here. Unlike many other writing handbooks, this volume provides in-depth discussion of the various types of academic writing and their unique characteristics. This section will be useful to the college writer – who appears to me to be the primary audience of this Guide as a whole. In particular, the guidance and analysis provided in the Academic Writing section will be of use to the undergraduate student who is expected to write papers in a wide variety of disciplines. Sections on writing about literature, writing about science, writing about texts and writing across the disciplines will clear up confusion on the expectations and norms of these varied types of academic writing.
The book wraps up with three appendices: a guide to proofreader’s marks; a list of variations in English usage in Australia, Canada, England and the USA; and a 19-point checklist of things to look for in a completed essay, such as “Does this piece of writing have a clear purpose? Have I made that purpose clear to the reader?” The last few pages provide a serviceable, if not extensive, index.
While the primary use of such a handbook would be as a personal copy, I believe it would prove useful as a ready reference source at academic libraries. In particular, it would be a useful resource at reference desks that field a large number of questions relating to the mechanics of scholarly paper production – such as source citation, grammar, punctuation, etc. Of course, this is certainly not the only source for such information. The manuals produced by APA, MLA and the University Press of Chicago should stand as the authoritative sources on their respective styles. This volume, however, can certainly serve as a useful one-stop resource for a wide variety of common questions related to scholarly writing.
