Reference Books on Writing

The books in this section are among the most useful books on writing and language that we have found. If you wish to suggest a book for this section, please contact us.

Simple & Direct
by Jacques Barzun

Language in Thought and Action
by S.I. Hayakawa, Samuel I. Hayakawa, Robert MacNeil

Plain Style: A Guide to Written English
by Christopher Lasch, Stewart Weaver (Editor)

The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language (P.S.) by Steven Pinker

The Elements of Style (4th Edition)
by William Strunk Jr., E.B. White, Roger Angell

On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction

by William K. Zinsser

Web Resources

http://www.yourdictionary.com
YourDictionary.com provides the most comprehensive and authoritative portal for language & language-related products and services on the web with more than 1800 dictionaries with more than 250 languages.

www.copyeditor.com
Excellent reference for up-to-date information on word choice, punctuation and other elements of copy editing.

http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting
Writing for the Web - a comprehensive guide to the art of online writing.

http://www.plainlanguage.gov
The Plain English Network (PEN) is a government-wide group of volunteers working to improve communications from the federal government to the public. We believe better communication will increase trust in government, reduce government costs, and reduce the burden on the public.

http://www.sec.gov/pdf/handbook.pdf
The Securities and Exchange Commission has produced this excellent Plain English Handbook for finance professionals.

https://www.msu.edu/~defores1/gre/roots/gre_rts_afx_tab2.htm

Here is a long list of Greek and Latin roots with their meanings. The list also includes sample words that contain the roots.