No more conclusions, please
Every inch of your article, white paper, or other publication is valuable real estate. Don’t waste it by using a heading like “Conclusion.” Why skip saying “conclusion” Your readers scan your publications to see if they’re worth reading. This is especially true of your blog posts and other online publications. Readers look at headings to […]
MISTAKE MONDAY for April 2: Can YOU spot what’s wrong?
Can you spot what’s wrong in the image below? Please post your answer as a comment. Here’s a key piece of information: I viewed this item when I was buying something from a website in February 2018. Without this information, you might not realize that anything is wrong with this week’s Mistake Monday item. I […]
Let’s visit apostrophe hell
I’m not the only person who dislikes misplaced apostrophes (or should I say apostrophe’s?). There’s a Flickr page called Apostrophe Hell with photos of apostrophe abuse. Misused apostrophes turn up frequently on Mistake Monday on this blog. Below you’ll see some examples. I share them to remind all of us—including me—to pay attention to apostrophes when […]
MISTAKE MONDAY for March 26: Can YOU spot what’s wrong?
Can you spot what’s wrong in the image below? Please post your answer as a comment. Want a clue to this week’s big mistake? Read my post on “Bloggers’ top two punctuation mistakes.” It doesn’t discuss this exact mistake, but it’ll point you in the right direction. I post these challenges to […]
Stinging quotes from “Do I Make Myself Clear?”
Harold Evans wrote some great lines against bad writing in Do I Make Myself Clear? Why Writing Well Matters. Here are some of them, organized by topic. If you can avoid making the mistakes he highlights, you can live up to his statement that “Good writers breathe a kiss of life into old dead facts.” I love […]