Just last week, my mind was having a little battle between the words “maximum” and “maximal,” and it was driving me crazy. I had typed each word out a few dozen times as I wrote and rewrote a story. I had stared at them both for so long that they no longer even looked like words to me. So, to end the battle, I turned to the best resource I know for answering tough grammar questions: my colleagues here at Hammock.
To me, there is no better resource than the smart folks around me for hammering out the proper use of a hyphen. We talk about it over lunch, from opposite ends of the hallway. And, as you’ve heard us mention before, we use Instant Messenger to talk about pronouns and dependent clauses as much as we use it to discuss last night’s episode of LOST.
But when some of us are up to our necks in a project or out of the office for lunch (or sleep), where do we go when our deepest thoughts about the subjunctive mood just won’t rest?
Online, you’ll find us logged on to:

• AP Stylebook online
• Grammar Girl
• Your Writing Guru
• Dr. Grammar

Off the shelf, you might find us grabbing:

• Strunk and White’s Elements of Style (I’m surprised my copy is still in one piece.)
• Basic English Revisited: A Student’s Handbook
• The Associated Press Stylebook
• The dictionary

There are dozens of other great resources out there. What’s your favorite?