For my students

Michael Leddy, whose blog Orange Crate Art is well worth reading regularly, also write a great monthly column on writing at lifehack.org. His most recent column on “How to Punctuate a Sentence” is something you all should read. Mastering proper punctuation is a must for you at this stage, especially if you’re an English major. If you’re unclear about how to use commas or semicolons, there’s no better time in your life than right now to figure those out once and for all.

I also recommend Leddy’s columns on “How to unstuff a sentence,” Granularity for students, and “Beware of Thesaurus.” The latter is especially helpful. Take, for instance, how he ends the article:

What student-writers need to realize is that it’s not ornate vocabulary or word-substitution that makes good writing. Clarity, concision, and organization are far more important in engaging and persuading a reader to find merit in what you’re saying. If you’re tempted to use the thesaurus the next time you’re working on an essay, consider what is about to happen to this sentence:

If you’re lured to utilize the thesaurus on the subsequent occasion you’re toiling on a treatise, mull over what just transpired to this stretch.