Grammatically Correct: The writer's essential guide to punctuation ...

Writing With Finesse
BEN . ... But tell me, how come that you've known [about Anne
and Tom} for some time?
JOEY Well, actually I got it from Reg.
BEN. From Reg? Yes? (Pause.) You know I think we're building
up a case here for a conspiracy theory of personal relationships.
Go on.
JOEY (sits). Tom's meeting Reg had nothing to do with me. It
was something professional, I don't know what, but they got on
very well and Tom told Reg and Reg told me, and then Tom
phoned Reg and told Reg not to tell me or if he had told me to
ask me not to tell you until he or A nne had told you.
BEN. Yes, I recognize Tom's delicate touch there in your sentence
structure.
-SIMON GRAY, Butley
Using the language well involves a lot more than just applying
the rules of grammar and punctuation. Following those rules is
necessary but not sufficient, and a passage that contains no overt
errors of language may still be considered badly phrased or difficult
to follow for more elusive reasons. (Reasons having to do with form,
that is. Content is another matter.)
Compared to the issues discussed elsewhere in this book, the matter
of style is a large gray area-intangible, subjective, context-dependent.
It is beyond the scope of this handbook to delve deeply into the topic;
the following sections simply touch on a few aspects of style that are
generally acknowledged to be consistent or not consistent with good
writing. These aspects should be viewed not as hard-and-fast do's and
don'ts, but as factors that are worth bearing in mind.
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