Category: writing advice

writing advice

5 Commonly Abused Words and How to Respect Them

1. only — It’s known as a modifier. How you place it in a sentence affects its meaning:

  • I watched only the nightly news. (The nightly news was the only program I watched.)
  • I only watched the nightly news. (I watched the nightly news, and didn’t do anything else during the program.)

2. that/who — Sometimes, when referring to other people, some people use that in place of the pronoun who. Use that when you refer to objects.

  • The girl that drives the Porsche honked at me yesterday. — incorrect
  • The girl who drives the Porsche honked at me yesterday. — correct

3. what/which — It’s more grammatically correct to use what in sentences about something that needs to be identified. Use which when you refer to something that involves making a choice from a limited number of options, and what if you have several choices.

Examples:

  • What time is it? — correct
  • Which time is it? — incorrect

What color do you like? — You can use what, but it’s not as exact; “What colors…” or “Which colors…” work better. Which color do you like? This is a more specific, and more correct form.

4. affect/effect — These two words sound the same and can easily be misused. Affect often refers to how something has influenced something else.

High humidity and low pressure affect my arthritis.

In most cases, effect is more about the accomplishments or the results of something:

Larry’s “can do” attitude has had a positive effect on his employees.

Grammar Girl offers a trick to remember their differences: The arrows affected the aardvark. The effect was eye-popping.

5. impact — Some people use this word as a verb rather than as a noun. An example from the National Weather Service (NWS) website: “Severe weather is possible in the Great Plains and critical fire weather conditions continue to impact portions of the southwest.”

According to The Oxford English Dictionary, as a noun, impact means “The action of one object coming forcibly into contact with another.” Its meaning as a verb changes:

  1. “To come into forcible contact with another object.”
  2. “To have a strong effect on someone or something.” (have an impact on) A meteor can “impact” or “have an impact on” something, but not every word can be used as a noun and as a verb in that context.

Grammarians suggest that affect is a shorter and better word choice. A correction to the NWS prediction: “Severe weather is possible in the Great Plains and critical fire weather conditions continue to affect parts of the southwest.”

See below for more information about nouns being used as verbs.

Quotes

“Verbing weirds language.” ~ Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes

“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter — it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” ~ Mark Twain

Comments? Suggestions? Need help with your writing? Feel free to contact me.

Michelle Troutman
Classy Writing
207.332.8379
classywriting.com

capitalization, capitalization rules, capitalization tips, capitalize, capitalizing, caps, writing advice

5 More Business Writing Capitalization Rules

1. Degrees — Among the many business writing capitalization rules, capitalize all academic degrees following a person’s name, whether or not they’re abbreviated.

Examples: Hunter S. Thompson, Ph.D., Sigourney Weaver, Master of Fine Arts

2. Titles — Capitalize all academic and religious titles, or other titles of rank, honor, or respect before a name.

Examples: Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, President Wilma Smith, Dr. John Henry

3. “Federal” — Capitalize it when you refer to the U.S. Government.

Example: Federal Government

4. Directions — Capitalize points of the compass when they refer to specific parts of the country.

Examples: The Northeast, the West

5. Quotations — Capitalize the first word of every complete quotation.

Example: The soldier cried, “Halt! Who goes there?”

Source: The Elements of Grammar by Margaret Shertzer

Advice from someone who knows business writing capitalization rules can help you improve your writing and make you look smarter and more skilled in your field.

BOOK FREE A COACHING SESSION

Quotes

“I love you. You are the object of my affection and the object of my sentence.”  ~ Mignon Fogarty, Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing

“A man’s grammar, like Caesar’s wife, should not only be pure, but above suspicion of impurity.” ~ Edgar Allan Poe

editing, editing your writing, Uncategorized, weak writing, writing, writing advice, writing better

How to Strengthen Your Sentences

Do you like reading writing that rambles like a senator filibustering to block a vote? If you need some NoDoz before you read a work, it’s obviously a little weak.

“Punchy” writing gets people’s attention, however, it can, but doesn’t necessarily need to clobber them. It keeps them reading, an important aspect of selling ideas, products, or services. (For more information on this topic, read my e-newsletter.) But, it’s easy to get lazy and not want to put the effort in, however, a lack of effort can show. Here’s an example of weak writing, followed by a stronger counterpart:

“Off-base Solutions, LLC is a multi-disciplined real estate consulting firm serving a variety of industries and project types. Since its inception in 1986, Off-base has been committed to offering best-in-class consulting services to contractors, owners and financial institutions. Specializing but not limited to construction, loss mitigation and site acquisition consulting, Off-base’s philosophy is to strategically assess and report the facts of each project and to consult clients with informative information. We assist our clients by providing impartiality and a deeper industry understanding resulting in real solutions to complicated real estate related problems.”

Major reasons why it’s weak:

  • cliches (best-in-class)
  • overuse of big words (assist, strategically, etc.)
  • too many unnecessary words (informative)
  • lack of specific words

A stronger approach:

“Since 1996, Off-base Solutions, LLC has been committed to delivering best-in-class real estate consulting services to contractors, property owners, and financial institutions.

Specializing in — but not limited to — site clean-up, construction, loss mitigation, and acquisition consulting, Off-base assesses facts fairly based on evidence and experience. The results give our clients a deeper understanding of their problems and reveal solutions for improving their operations and increasing their revenue.” (And a link to testimonials or case studies of successful client transactions would provide evidence to back up these claims.)

It doesn’t take much to add a dash of sass to your copy to bring it more to life. If you lack time or the skills, I’m ready to help, so don’t hesitate to contact me for a free consultation.

What do you think? Which one is better? How would you change this passage?