We know from folk wisdom and fables that appearances can be deceiving. Wolves sometimes wear sheep’s clothing, and good books sometimes have bad covers. Nevertheless, when it comes to your writing, appearance as well as content will shape your readers’ opinions of your work. The conventions of spelling and grammar may be mere conventions, but they are conventions that facilitate communication. Readers will notice if you fail to observe the rules. Sometimes a misspelled word or misused punctuation mark will alert your readers that you did not take the time to proofread. More seriously, an error may leave readers unsure of what you meant: content and style are not easily separated.
Following the conventions and rules of grammar and style is a skill that takes practice. What better time to practice than during your college career, when you have the ability to get feedback and and learn from your mistakes, so that you can improve the next time?
This section of the handbook includes guidelines in just a few areas:
I encourage you to make use of the following additional resources, as you hone your writing abilities:
- Common Errors in English Usage, by Professor Paul Brians, Washington State University
Writing Handbook for History & Humanities by David J. Voelker is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
