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Writing is like weightlifting. The more you do the stronger you get. But woe to those who don’t heed the cry of the Gym Bro “Don’t skip leg day!” Leg day builds your foundation, gives your upper body and core a rest, and strengthens the small muscles that connect your muscular systems together. For writers, our foundation is the sentence level, and even deeper than that the grammar and punctuation that forms the structure of our stories. Which means that some deliberate practice with grammar and punctuation is an essential part of the writer’s routine.
The good news is grammar books have gotten a lot more fun to read since you were last in school. No need to muscle through these reps, these books are just as entertaining as they are a workout for your writing.
List criteria: Recreational grammar and punctuation books.
The Glamour of Grammar - Roy Peter Clark
Clark brings his sparkling wit and modern examples to a grammar book designed for working writers. With deep dives into picking the right word, the niceties of modern punctuation, how grammar makes meaning in sentences, and when and how to break the rules for effect. This is both a comprehensive grammar guide for the modern age, and an entertaining weekend or evening read.
Eats, Shoots & Leaves - Lynn Truss
A classic of the “recreational grammar” genre. This punctuation book is just as funny as it is educational. With a passionate advocacy for the continued relevance of grammar in the modern age and a historical bent towards the whys and wheretofores of each punctuation mark, Truss takes you on a journey that will have you reading with sharper eyes and with a better understanding of your commas and colons.
The Quotable Guide to Punctuation - Stephen Spector
This is one of those books that does what it says on the front. Punctuation. Taught through over 500 highly entertaining quotes. Good for reading through for a fast and witty review, or for keeping deskside as a quick-reference.
The Elements of Eloquence - Mark Forsyth
If you’ve forgotten what a zeugma is, or maybe never learned, this book is for you. Based on the ancient “gardens of rhetoric” formula, Mark Forsythe walks you through rhetorical forms you will certainly recognize, but maybe didn’t know there was a name for. Full of eye-opening moments and modern examples, this is essential reading for filling your writing toolbox with all of the tricks and flourishes available to you. Read it. Read it. Read it! (an example of Epizeuxis!)
The Sense of Style - Steven Pinker
Pinker’s book is the one I wish I had been assigned before writing my master’s thesis. Aimed at academic writers, it makes an impassioned and effective plea for writing in clear and simple prose about complex subjects. It also contains some of the best grammatical explanations I’ve ever encountered, including an explanation of sentence diagrams that actually makes sense. If you are writing nonfiction of any kind, Pinker’s book will vastly improve the readability of your prose. And I would argue his premise is valuable to the fiction writer as well.
The Elements of Style - E.B. White & William Strunk
Hear me out. When was the last time you actually read Strunk and White? Have you ever taken the time to read the fantastic introduction by Roger Agnell? If you haven’t read this book since your school days it is worth taking it down off your shelf (you know you probably have a copy somewhere) and reading it with new eyes. You might find you have a new appreciation for it now that it is not a homework assignment.
Stylized: A Slightly Obsessive History of Strunk & White's The Elements of Style - Mark Garvey
And speaking of Strunk and White, this history of their little writing book is a fantastic read if you can find it. Written with love and humor it tells the story of how E.B. White (yes, the writer of Charlotte’s Web) and William Strunk, Jr. revised his “little writing book” used in his Cornell freshman composition classroom into the juggernaut it is today. It’s out of print so I am linking to its WorldCat page, remember that interlibrary loan is a thing!
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