Last month, I read Write Well: A Grammar Guide by Rachelle Rea Cobb and I’m here today to share my thoughts on it with you all!
I decided to read this book because The Young Writer’s Workshop (the program I’m in) allowed us students to read an ebook copy for free!
Before we get into the review, I’d like to tell you what this book is all about. As you probably picked up from the title, Write Well: A Grammar Guide is all about grammar!
Here’s the book blurb:
The writing guide that won’t bore you to tears.
Learn to be a better writer in one sitting.
Do you want to learn how to write better books, blog posts, even emails? Then you’ve stumbled upon the perfect guide.
In Write Well, I outline the tools and techniques you need to truly master grammar–in an un-overwhelming way. That’s right. You won’t be yawning or weeping as you read these writing rules, just rejoicing that you’ve finally found the answer to your prayers.
So, go ahead, become the writer you’ve always dreamed of, and catapult yourself to the career you’ve always wanted. Because once you know how to make your words work for you, the world’s your oyster.
Hi there, I’m Rachelle Rea Cobb. and I have history with words. I’m a grammar geek with a knack for storytelling. I help authors (traditionally and self-published), bloggers, students, and ESL writers polish their pages until their words shine–so that they then can sign their own publishing contracts. Did I mention I signed my own book deal at age 22? And now I’d like to share my expertise with you.
Write Well is a short ebook designed to walk you through what you need to know so you can get back to the real work: actual writing.
This Book Is For You If…
You’ve been writing for years, but you can’t seem to make any headway. You dream of the day when you’ll sign your first book contract, get published, hold your book in your hands…and you know all you need to get you there are the tools that will equip you to write better so that you can resonate with your readers.
Or maybe you’re already a published author or a successful blogger, and you feel pretty confident about your writing abilities. Do you know for a fact you can wield a comma confidently every single time? Do you know the one thing an em-dash can do that no other piece of punctuation can? If you want all your deepest, darkest writing questions answered, I’ve got you covered.
Check out Write Well for the perfect tool that will propel you on the path to publication. In it, you will find advice on how to craft your novel, blog post, and emails with precision. Understand the rules of writing so that you can get back to the real work: actual writing!
Now, I know grammar might not be the most interesting of topics for some of us—and many writers would rather focus on refining their craft than on the mechanics of grammar. But what this book does a great job of is not only teaching the basic rules of grammar, but also explaining why grammar is important.
Cobb writes:
“You couldn’t write at all clearly, concisely, or compellingly without grammar.”
And it’s true. Without grammar, you probably wouldn’t even be able to understand this review! Or perhaps you could understand it, but without grammar it would be difficult—not to mention frustrating.
Grammar is important. And it isn’t something we should ignore.
This applies to all types of writers: bloggers, journalists, poets, screenwriters, etc. It even applies to people who wouldn’t consider themselves writers—because if you ever have to write a quick email, you need grammar!
Now, onto the main content of the book.
The subjects explored in this book are very basic, but I don’t mean that in a bad way. Cobb mainly writes about the different pieces of punctuation: commas, periods, semicolons, and dashes. But she also touches on some other helpful topics, such as when to capitalize and when not to, as well as how to write transitions.
Each section is short, concise, and to the point, and Cobb writes in an easy-to-understand way—it took me less than a day to read the entire book.
My only critiques for this book would be that I wish it touched on a few more topics or went into a little more detail. I felt like each section only scratched the surface of what it could have explored. However, I understand this book is supposed to be very basic and easy to read, so I guess if it did go into more detail, it might not serve that purpose anymore.
I would recommend this book to anyone (whether or not you consider yourself a writer) who wants a better understanding of basic grammar rules, and usage. If you don’t struggle too much with grammar, this book may not be as helpful to you as it only explores the most basic grammar concepts.
Personally, I don’t struggle too much with grammar. My grammar isn’t perfect, but it’s not atrocious either (at least, I think). I’m still glad I read this book, however, as it cleared up some misconceptions in my mind, and explained some rules that had never been written out for me before. In the end, I gave it a rating of 4/5 stars.
That’s all I have for my review! Do you like grammar? Do you hate it? Let me know!