Without even trying, it seems I’ve had a bit of a theme in my writing posts recently: writing blunders on social media. Have you read my posts on alot vs a lot and the overuse of the ellipses? It seems I’ll be carrying on this theme with today’s post: the use of the apostrophe when… Continue reading Do you use ’s to make words plural? Please stop!
Category: Writing
Why you’re probably using . . . wrong
Back before social media took off and email was the most popular method of communication, something I saw a lot of was the ellipsis.
The problem with alot
Every once in a while, I see a “alot” pop up in writing (unsurprisingly, it’s often in Facebook comments). I saw it today, and it prompted me to write this post. When it is used, “alot” describes a large quantity or amount of something (e.g. alot of peppers, alot of heat, alot of pain). This… Continue reading The problem with alot
Starting sentences with conjunctions: another myth busted
One grammar rule you may have heard in school is to never start a sentence with a conjunction (such as “and” or “but”). This is actually another one of those made-up, recent inventions that has no basis in fact. Actually, English speakers have started sentences with conjunctions for 1,200 years.
6 tips to inspire others with your next speech
Every once in a while, I’m asked to give a speech. Sometimes it’s 15 minutes, and sometimes it’s 2 minutes. Regardless, I write out my speeches in advance. I know some people like to wing it, but I’m an introvert with anxiety, so winging it means I tend to ramble, use “um” a lot, and… Continue reading 6 tips to inspire others with your next speech
Difference between assume and presume
Last week, after reading another one of my difference between posts, Laura Crowe asked me to write a post about the difference between assume and presume. https://twitter.com/LCCopywriting/status/606412621659676672 While some people use “assume” and “presume” interchangeably, there’s a subtle difference between the two.
Why contractions are perfect for web writing
One rule I learned early on from my teachers is to never use contractions in writing. This was drilled into me during university as I wrote book reports and research papers. In fact, most formal writing abhors contractions. But there’s one place that loves contractions: web writing.
Why evergreen content is critical to your blog’s success
If you’ve been following my writing lately, you’ll notice I’ve given out a few tips on how to drive more traffic to your old blog content. I didn’t mention, however, that one thing ties all those tips together: evergreen content. Evergreen content is content that doesn’t expire. Evergreen content isn’t based on trends, recent events,… Continue reading Why evergreen content is critical to your blog’s success
10 stuffy phrases and how to fix them
If you’ve ever read a contract you had to sign, an academic paper, a court brief, or some similar document, you likely came across language that seemed difficult to understand. You may have found yourself rereading words to understand sentence meaning, or you might have even started dozing off. As my long-time readers know, I prefer… Continue reading 10 stuffy phrases and how to fix them
3 dead simple ways to drive more traffic to old blog posts
This summer marks 12 years that I’ve been blogging. I’ve learned a few tricks along the way to generate traffic and create awareness of old content. Here are 3 particular tricks I like to use that work particularly well on blogs with a lot of content.