Originally published June 2020, Updated September 2024 With the pandemic and people working from home, we’ve all heard about the empty highways and lack of traffic. At my house, I have probably heard more about it than most because my husband was commuting each day—and enjoying the easy drive. (He works in aircraft maintenance, so WFH was not an option.) As our stay-at-home order ends and people hit the road once more, my husband’s commute is clogging up again, and that got me thinking about paragraphs. Yes, paragraphs. When...
I’m a little irritated, as you’ll see as you read this post. Why? Because I’ve come across another example of worthless writing that makes all of us who care look bad. As the amount of information inundating us daily continues to increase and our ability to pay attention to it continues to decrease, it becomes ever more important to communicate well…if we want to communicate at all. This is especially true when writing at work as well as writing for sales. Yet I continue to see countless examples of what I call word puking. What is...
What’s the easiest writing tip ever? Don’t start with “we” or “I.” This makes me crazy in copywriting, because any time a marketing piece–be it an email, a web page, a print piece–starts with “we” or “I,” we’ve turned off the potential customer. Why? Because people only care about themselves, and that includes you and me, so I’m not dissin’ on anyone here. We are all only human. But, here’s the deal: This is also a turnoff in business...
Originally published June 2020, Updated June 2024 Successful writing at work requires more than typing a lot of emails. It requires solid writing skills and a focus on clear and concise communications. And it’s harder than it sounds. In part, that’s because you might be lacking the three business writing skills no one taught you, as I’ve said before. But you’re also up against the culture of our time—a culture that worships busy-ness and task saturation. And you know what kind of work writing comes out of a culture like that? Sucky...
Originally published October 2019, Updated June 2024. Have you ever realized you’ve been making the same mistake over and over, unaware it was a mistake? And I don’t mean business writing mistakes, not yet… Growing up I had a friend who would say “for all intents and purposes.” I thought she kept saying “for all intensive purposes.” I didn’t know what it meant but she is smarter than me so I figured I just didn’t understand her fancy lingo. I was in my mid 20s before I figured out my error—and her saying made sense....
I love to read. I always have. I still remember being six-years-old and the first time I read a whole “chapter” book by myself. It was a library book and I was tucked into bed with it at bedtime. I realize now it was a very short book, but it seemed very grownup to me at the time because it didn’t have any pictures. I was so excited to finish it that I hopped out of bed and ran into my parent’s bedroom to announce my triumph. That is one of my most vivid memories from my childhood. That is the impact reading has always had on me....
