DailyWritingTips

Why We Need Paragraphs

Reading a blog post or a web article should be easy. Some web pages have large blocks of text with very few breaks between them. When I see those, my brain does the TMI (too much information) dance and my eyes move on until they find something easier to look at. When you try to … Read more

The Art Of Writing News

News writing is a key skill for journalists, but it helps with other types of writing as well. That’s because news writing is about telling a story quickly and concisely. Anyone can learn to do this, with a bit of help. Here’s how you can write the news and get your story across. The technique … Read more

August 2007 Most Popular Posts

Write First, Edit Later: Well, it is important to write correctly. It makes your communication clearer, and your reputation brighter. But it’s usually better to say what you mean poorly than to say nothing. Passive vs. Active Voice: English teachers like myself love to warn new writers against the evils of passive voice. Here at … Read more

Word of the Day: Pedantic

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Pedantic (pÉ™-dăn’tÄ­k) is an adjective that represents an excessive concern for precision and formal rules. It can also refer to the ostentation of knowledge.

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Voice: An Opportunity to Scream without Opening Your Mouth

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Voice suggests the sound or feeling communicated in your writing. Just as you communicate with your tone of voice and word choice in everyday conversation, the same concept applies to writing. Voice goes hand in hand with the all-important consideration of audience. You must choose your words and adjust your writing voice with a high level of sensitivity so as to communicate effectively with your chosen audience. Instead of my yammering on about voice in abstract terms, take a look at the following examples.

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Word Subtraction

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We all know you can form new words by adding existing words together, such as combining boat and house to make boathouse or houseboat. But did you know that a lot of common words are also formed by subtraction or taking a piece away from a longer word?

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Not Nice At All

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My high school English teacher banned the use of the word nice. She said it was a lazy adjective. Although she was a bit harsh, there was some truth in what she said.

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Coordinating Conjunctions

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Coordinating conjunctions are some of the handiest, dandiest words in the English language. Essentially, they help us string our thoughts together in a way that is complex and meaningful, and without them writing would be very short and choppy.

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Say What?

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If you’re telling a story, you can use two journalism training mnemonics to check that you have covered all the bases. These are the 6Ws and the WHAT formula.

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Principle, Principal

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Principle and principal are easily confused. It doesn’t help that they are homophones, which means they sound alike. Here’s a guide to what they mean and how you can tell them apart.

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The Right Climate

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With some words, a single letter can completely change the meaning. Take the letter ‘c’ and the words climactic and climatic. There’s not much difference in spelling and the words even sound the same, but there’s a world of difference in meaning.

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The Elusive Ellipsis

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The ellipsis seems to be one of the most alluring punctuation symbols, and I see it misused everywhere. From student papers to billboards to everyday e-mails and chat logs, the ellipsis is tossed in willy-nilly and often extends to four, five, or even six dots.

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