I can spot a run-on sentence a mile away. Show me a poorly worded sentence (not from this blog, please) and I can tell you a million ways to fix it. But I have trouble explaining and defining the various concepts that are vital to writing. I recognize that a sentence using a comma splice is incorrect and I can fix it–I just might not be able to say, “That’s a comma splice.” It’s the shame of who I am. I know the rules, I just can’t talk about them.

Enter Charles Gulotta’s book, “Writing Rules!” (one of the only times I find an exclamation point charming). Gulotta writes the blog “Mostly Bright Ideas,” and the humour he displays in his blog is fully evident in this book. “Writing Rules!” combines important rules of grammar and spelling with humourous examples, incredible insight and plenty of practice questions.

What I love about this book is that you don’t feel stupid for not knowing or understanding a rule. Some books on grammar and spelling can leave you feeling entirely inadequte, but Gulotta’s book avoids that by identifying with you. You get the impression that Gulotta sympathizes with you, not that he is trying to fix you.

But the real hook is Gulotta’s humour.

Who can resist an introductory paragraph as charming as this:

“Whether you’re dealing with an unbreakable rule, a vague or debatable rule, or a rule that isn’t a rule at all, it helps to be aware of them. Then, if you choose to violate or ignore one, you can do it with confidence, not to mention a little elegance.”

Or examples such as these:

(on you’re vs your) “Frank, you’re the hairiest person I’ve ever met.”

(on they’re meaning they are) “I hope they know what they’re doing with those hand grenades.”

(on then referring to sequence) “First you pay your rent, then I give back your blender.”

Gulotta’s book includes commonly misspelled words, word endings, usage, sentence fragments, infinitives and redundancy, all with the same humour evident in the above examples.

Although he’s dealing with grammatical rules, which can be complex, Gulotta manages to explain them with ease. He uses wonderful illustrations to break up the text and his discussions of the rules aren’t overly long. And even though Gulotta is explaining rules that may seem elementary to some people, he never comes across as condescending.

Who can benefit from this book? Everyone. It’s nice to have a book about the rules of writing that isn’t ridiculously dry and boring. Even a quick read of his examples makes me smile and gives me new appreciation for grammar.

It’s a nice book to quickly reference if you have a question about a particular word or rule. You can use the book on an as-needed basis or read the entire thing. People who are just learning the rules of grammar can benefit from the book because its explanations are easy to understand. They can also use the practice questions and essays at the back to ensure they understand the rules.

People who teach writing courses should consider this book if they’re looking for a textbook on rules of writing. I think students would enjoy it more than they would enjoy many of the other books out there.

I highly recommend this book. I really enjoyed reading it, which seems strange to say considering I’m talking about a book on writing rules. Did anyone think participles could be interesting? I didn’t, but with “Writing Rules!” I’ve been proven wrong.

“Writing Rules!” can be purchased from the website Mostly Bright Ideas or from Amazon. The cost is $12.95, (I assume that price is American). Gulotta has written other reference books, including “500 Key Words for the SAT,” “100 Math Tips for the SAT,” “Learn This,” and “One Thousand Words.” If they are all written with the same humour and insight that “Writing Rules!” is written with, I’d expect they are all fantastic, too.

Disclaimer: I was given a PDF copy of this book for free to review.