Oct 16, 2019 | Editing, Effective Writing
People often sit at the keyboard, staring at the screen, hearing voices from the past. “You can’t start a sentence with and, because, or however,” old Miss Grumplebee cautioned them. Well, relax, folks. Such “rules” are mythical. We...
Sep 27, 2019 | Communication, Editing, Effective Writing
People take writing criticism personally, but being receptive to criticism is the way you grow as a writer. It keeps you focused on what you need to work on. Because writing is a personal creation, people are sensitive to criticism, so they won’t ask others to...
Sep 23, 2019 | Editing, Effective Writing, Punctuation and Grammar
Where to use commas and semicolons can be challenging in many sentences, but how to punctuate around because and however can cause considerable head scratching. A comma before “because” Punctuation marks are not little black marks that we randomly sprinkle...
Sep 4, 2019 | Communication, Editing, Effective Writing, Punctuation and Grammar
Excessive capitalization is widespread in business, particularly in job titles. Know when it’s appropriate to capitalize. People frequently uppercase a word because they saw it capitalized elsewhere, because it “looks right,” or because they just...
Aug 22, 2019 | Communication, Effective Writing, Persuasion
A simple “thank-you” can go a long way. It is more than a polite gesture; it makes the other person feel more valued and competent. We tend to think of gratitude as an emotion that affects the receiver: The person’s face lights up because you were...
Aug 21, 2019 | Editing, Effective Writing, Punctuation and Grammar
Many people think that whether to put a comma before “and” in a series is a trivial issue, but two judges disagreed. For decades, people have bickered about the need for a comma before “and” in a series of three or more things. Some people insist on it,...