Sin and Syntax: How to Craft Wickedly Effective Prose by Constance Hale

This book is wickedly awesome! Easy to read and follow, Sin and Syntax is an entertaining tool to improve your writing and spoken word power. As a writer I've had many lessons on passive voice and punchy language, but something about the way Constance Hale explains and details these lessons really drove it home for me, and I finally learned much of what I didn't get from other teachers. Not to mention I loved the playful style Constance Hale used throughout the book and in the title, which led my dentist to believe I was reading an erotic novel. What's more fun than that!

First I think it's important to understand what syntax is and why it matters. I admit I had to look up the definition: Syntax is the order or arrangement of words. Yoda uses inverted syntax - "Qui-Gon's defiance I sense in you. Need that you do not. Agree with you, the Council does. Your apprentice young Skywalker will be." ―Yoda to Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Who cares about the order of words? Everyone knows how to order words properly, Yoda aside. Ah! But alas we are plagued by passive voice, the dangling modifier, and sentences  ruined by adjective abuse. The thing about the order of words is they can make sense but not be the best read. These are the wondrous revelations you will discover in Sin and Syntax.

This of course is only a few highlights because this enlightening book covers much much more. The book also covers how to best use each type of word (i.e. noun, verb, adjective, what the hell is a participle, etc.) Constance Hale not only advises on the right way to use and order words, she also describes how to break the rules – hence the Sin in Syntax.

I highly recommend you order Sin and Syntax from Amazon or your local library.  Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Sin-Syntax-Craft-Wickedly-Effective/dp/0767903099.