State of literacy If you live in Australia, you may have watched a Four Corners’ documentary about how so many young Australians are struggling with literacy in this digital age. If you have school-aged children, why not brush up on your own grammar so you can help them? Register now for one of my grammar courses: Grammar, Punctuation […]
Does adding extra information in the middle of a sentence work? Why do we find it hard to resist adding extra information in the middle of a sentence? Does it add colour? Is it something we really want the reader to know? Sometimes adding extra information is effective. Take the following two examples. But if […]
Emerging again Some of you may have noticed that you haven’t received my ‘monthly’ e-newsletter for a while. I have been busy writing a young-adult novel that I started a couple of years ago. Writing it has reminded me why I both love and hate writing. I love it because ideas float around my head […]
Business writing tips In January 2019, Harvard linguist Steven Pinker wrote 13 tweets on writing. I decided to do the same for business writing. Why write? What do you want to achieve and is writing the best way? Would a phone call or meeting be better? Think of your audience. Imagine writing as a conversation. […]
Sign in versus log in Years ago, I recall spending ages deciding whether to use ‘sign in’ or ‘log in’ (or even ‘log-in’ or ‘login’). I can’t remember what I decided at the time, but I was interested to read GOV.AU and find that ‘sign in’ seems to have won. GOV.AU says: ‘Consider using ‘sign in’ and […]
Monthly writing and grammar tips Numbers in business and technical writing In business writing, a generally accepted rule is to spell out numbers from one to nine and use numerals for 10 and above. Some organisations change at 11 rather than 10. Numerals are usually used in scientific and technical writing, and increasingly I am […]
When to use words or numerals for numbers In business writing, a generally accepted rule is to spell out numbers from one to nine and use numerals for 10 and above. Some organisations change at 11 rather than 10. Numerals are usually used in scientific and technical writing, and increasingly I am seeing some organisations […]
February edition, 2019 Seven tips to kick-start your writing From time to time, we need to stand back and re-assess our writing skills to make sure our writing is clear, concise and engaging. Just write It’s a truism that the more you write, the easier and quicker it becomes. Just don’t expect writing to be […]
Avoid comma errors Comma splices and run-on sentences are common problems in business writing. So what are they? They are both comma errors. Comma splice A comma splice occurs when you use a comma to join two independent clauses (also known as main clauses). An independent clause expresses a complete thought and can stand alone. […]
Seven tips to kick-start your writing ‘Simple English is no one’s mother tongue. It has to be worked for.’ Jacques Barzun, French-American historian From time to time, we need to stand back and re-assess our writing skills to make sure our writing is clear, concise and engaging. 1. Just write It’s a truism that the more […]