Help your readers by linking to definitions
Using words that your audience doesn’t understand can cut your readership. That’s why I recommend using plain language or defining terms by writing parenthetically. But what if 95% of your readers prefer terms like “quantitative easing” and “duration,” but you want to accommodate the remaining 5%? Link to online definitions, but cautiously Glossaries can help […]
Do your grammar, punctuation, and usage affect your credibility?
Does the quality of your writing matter? It looks like it does. When I asked “Does a writer’s grammar, punctuation, or usage errors damage that writer’s credibility in your eyes?”, an amazing 100% of respondents said “yes” in response to the survey on my blog and in my newsletter. Specifically, they gave the following answers […]
Break your writer’s block with Robert Benson and Eric Maisel
What can you do when writer’s block paralyzes you? Sitting down at your desk and going through the motions of writing is one place to start, according to Robert Benson in Dancing on the Head of a Pen: The Practice of a Writing Life. Benson suggests that you establish a daily routine of turning on […]
“Say one thing”: a great reminder for bloggers
Online readers have even less patience than people reading on paper. This mean bloggers should embrace journalist Donald M. Murray’s advice to “say one thing.” In Writing to Deadline: The Journalist at Work, Murray says: The greatest problem in news writing is the story that lacks focus. The writer tries to say too many things […]
Blog topics: Break the 3-S rule on your blog
This rule is made to be broken, I thought when I read about the “3-S rule” of Marella Agnelli, wife of Fiat’s Gianni Agnelli in “Marella & Me” in The New York Times Style Magazine (Sept. 28, 2014). According to Marella, you should never discuss in public the three Ss of sogni (dreams), salute (health), […]