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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Mid-year sale – buy one online course and get one free Buy one course and choose another (excludes Write to Govern). How this offer works: Buy your first course online at Online Writing Training – you will receive this course automatically. Email me and let me know what additional course you would like – I will add […]
Dangling, misplaced and squinting modifiers I sometimes wonder who invents grammar terms. This month I looked at dangling, misplaced and squinting modifiers. What’s wrong with these sentences that Liz Boulter gives in her Guardian article, Excuse me, but I think your modifier is dangling? ‘Hopping briskly through the vegetable garden, John saw a toad. Gently warmed in the […]
Sum it up: how to write a summary A summary is a concise account of the main points in a document. Some of the terms used to describe summaries in business writing are: ‘executive summary’, ‘overview’, ‘key points’, ‘issues’ or just ‘summary’. Short and long summaries How you approach writing a summary depends on what […]
Commas in court Commas can be costly. Take a look at these three comma court cases. US$10 million overtime dispute hinges on the Oxford (serial) comma The first comma case is about the Oxford comma (also known as the serial comma). First a definition. A comma is sometimes added between the last two items in a list […]
Exclamation marks What are your views on exclamation marks? People seem to either love them or hate them. I was interviewed on 2UE breakfast radio this month – listen and see who you agree with! Reader’s question Question: Would you use a dash or colon with the following? Workplaces are constantly changing. Their dynamics can […]
Name change I have decided to change the name of my newsletter to ‘All about Words with Mary’. The next issue you receive will no longer be called ‘The Grammar Factor’. Reader’s apostrophe question Question: Which is correct? Every parent’s nightmare. Every parents’ nightmare. Answer: The correct phrase is: Every parent’s nightmare. The reason is […]