Rules of Thumb: A Guide for Writers

This is aimed at those who love to write and those who have to write. "Rules of Thumb" is a quick reference guide that tries to reduce each writing problem to a few practical points - enabling the reader to write with confidence. It is a brief, inexpensive, and easy-to-use handbook written in plain English and exhibiting a friendly voice that is reassuring and stands out in a sea of grammar books that preach decorum. Part 1 - correctness, covers the most common mistakes. These rules are placed first because they are what most writers worry about and will want to have handy. Part 2 - meeting specific assignments, offers help with writing under time pressure and writing reports. Part 3 - putting a paper together, helps the writer with both content and style issues-such as if one needs to make a paper longer or is faced with choppy sentences. Part 4 - writing with elegance, offers ways to grow as a writer.

A graduate of Amherst College and the University of Virginia, Jay Silverman has received fellowhsips from the Fulbright-Hayes Foundation, the Andrew Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. He has taught at Vriginia Highlands Community College and at Nassau Community College where he received the Honors Program award for Excellence in Teaching.

Elaine Hughes came to New York City from Mississippi in 1979 to attend a National Endowment for the Humanities seminar at Columbia Uniersity. She has taught writing for more than 25 years--primarily at Hinds Community College in Raymond, Mississippi, and at Nassau Community College--and has conducted writing workshops for many organizations. She is the author of WRITING FROM THE INNER SELF.

As Chair of the English Department of Nassau Community College for six years, Diana Roberts Wienbroer coordinated a department of 150 faculty members and served on the Executive Council of the Association of Departments of English. Besides teaching writing for over thirty years, both in Texas and New York, she has studied and taught film criticism. She is also the author of THE McGRAW-HILL GUIDE TO ELECTRONIC RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION, 1997.