Tag: Grammar & Mechanics
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Seven Frequently Ignored Habits for Improving Your Professional Writing
A writer at work who stands out from their colleagues can always answer one question without hesitation: What’s it like working with you? (If you’re pausing right now, even briefly, that pause is worth paying attention to.) I’d like to introduce a framework. Not the software kind. A different kind of SaaS: Skills Adaptability Attitude…
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Polish Your Drafts With the Traffic Light Editing Method
As a born-and-raised Angeleno, I’ve logged more hours in traffic than some people have logged at their jobs. The kind where you’re not moving, the AC is struggling, and you start having deep philosophical conversations with yourself about whether you actually need to get to your destination. But here’s the thing about traffic jams that…
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Mastering the Comma: Expert Guidance for Cleaner Punctuation
The comma is the brave little toaster of the punctuation family. Stalwart, unassuming, essential. And apparently two-thirds of the internet has forgotten it exists. Somewhere along the way, web writers decided commas were optional, an annoying interruption they could just leave out because “nobody cares about that stuff anymore.” Then, possibly regretting their previous choices,…
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Is Professional Editing and Proofreading Really Necessary for Your Blog?
You might expect me, a career content editor, to recommend thorough proofreading and editing for every blog on the internet. I don’t. I don’t know enough about your blog to make that blanket recommendation. What I can do is give you a framework for evaluating your own publication and deciding whether more rigorous editing would…
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Forty Fast Revision Strategies Every Writer Should Know
I watch an unreasonable amount of YouTube videos about how to clean a bathroom. Not clean my bathroom, that would be productive. I watch other people clean bathrooms. I study their techniques. I admire their product recommendations. I absorb their satisfaction at a gleaming tile. Then I do nothing. My bathroom remains exactly as it…
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Eleven Frequent Grammar Errors Writers Keep Making
Let’s get something out of the way: I’m not here to be your grammar scold. Writing that’s conversational and engaging will always serve you better than writing that’s technically flawless but stiff enough to crack. Some of the best sentences ever written break rules on purpose. Outside of academic and professional contexts, writing that’s easier…
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Drop the Fluff and Start Producing Sharper Prose Today
“Composition is a discipline; it forces us to think. If you want to ‘get in touch with your feelings,’ fine, talk to yourself; we all do. But, if you want to communicate with another thinking human being, get in touch with your thoughts. Put them in order; give them a purpose; use them to persuade,…
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Distinguishing Between Metaphor, Simile, and Analogy Once and for All
A friend of mine was presenting to a board of directors when someone interrupted to say, “That’s not a metaphor, that’s a simile.” He froze. He stumbled. He lost the room over a distinction he couldn’t articulate. He never made that mistake again. Neither should you. Here’s the thing: these three tools are cousins, not…
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Coping With Proofreading Fatigue After a Career of Catching Errors
Me: “Hey, Brain, time to proofread.” My Brain: “We don’t want to.” Me: “This article isn’t complete until we proof it.” My Brain: “Our eyes are tired.” Me: “There might be a mistake I want to correct. Or I might find ways to make it even better.” My Brain: “We want to eat chocolate chips.”…
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Editing Techniques That Turn Rough Drafts Into Compelling Masterpieces
I used to think writing was the hard part. Then I became an editor and learned the truth: writing is the first part. Editing is where the work actually happens, where you take the raw ore of your thoughts and hammer it into something that gleams. The content people share, bookmark, and email to friends…