Most popular searches on Online Writing Training I occasionally look at what terms people search for on my website. The top items are always: Plural of status Staff of staffs At the time of writing this, ‘prepositions in and at‘ was in third place, followed by ‘disorganised vs unorganised‘. Eggcorns The term ‘eggcorn’ was coined by […]
Finding the right word can be difficult ‘The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter – ’tis the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning.’ (Mark Twain) The English language has a wealth of words to choose from, yet sometimes we struggle to find the ‘right’ word. […]
Word choice The English language has a wealth of words to choose from, yet sometimes we struggle to find the ‘right’ word. As Mark Twain said: ‘The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter – ’tis the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning.’ The English language has […]
All about Words is back. During my break from this newsletter, I continued with my board-paper work, took an overseas trip and revamped my online courses. I will tell you more about the courses in the coming months. Parallelism Parallelism, often called parallel structure, refers to matching structures in a pair or series of related words, phrases or […]
Parallelism Often called parallel structure, parallelism refers to matching structures in a pair or series of related words, phrases or clauses. When parallelism is used for effect, the writing can be powerful. For example: ‘Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal.’ T.S. Eliot, ‘Philip Massinger’ ‘Today’s students can put dope in their veins or hope in their […]
Use parallel structures Parallelism, often called parallel structure, refers to matching structures in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses. When parallelism is used for effect, the writing can be powerful. For example: ‘Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal.’ T.S. Eliot, ‘Philip Massinger’ ‘Today’s students can put dope in their veins […]
Titles and headings help make your writing engaging Journalists understand the power of the title in an online article. Titles are the first thing you read and they must engage your attention. Take these examples from online newspapers on 18 August 2017. Rare butterfly spotted in Scotland for the first time since 1884 (Read more) How […]
Take time with your titles Journalists understand the power of the title in an online article. Titles are the first thing you read and they must engage your attention. Take these examples from online newspapers on 18 August 2017. Rare butterfly spotted in Scotland for the first time since 1884 (Read more) How do you paint […]
Online writing classes and courses I often take online classes and courses out of interest and to keep up with what’s happening in the online space. I am currently doing a class with writers.com, the first writing school on the internet. I’m enjoying it. In the best online classes, you receive feedback from the tutor and other […]
Watch for pronoun problems We often use pronouns to refer to noun we’ve previously mentioned. They’re short-cut words that help us avoid repetition. Jacob is a director on numerous boards. Jacob is also a keen swimmer. Jacob is a director on numerous boards. He is also a keen swimmer. The word the pronoun refers back to […]