Pros know that chunking related text in their documents makes it easier for readers to get their message. Writers have been using visual signals to create textual chunks since the ancient Greeks. The photo is a page from Ælfric’s Grammar, written in the second half of the 11th century, with large initials and both Latin and Anglo-Saxon script. I found it…
Today is filled with tasks related to my day job — AGAIN. So I’m sharing a quick (and dirty) punctuation lesson in honor of my friend, Charles White. Chas and I are both nerdy enough to be fans of the Oxford comma. The illustration is a slightly edited version of the original by Jeff Bishop. (I’m trying…
I could not stop myself. Food and editing! This photo of a pilcrow pretzel by Windell Oskay is too funny. Since a pilcrow is the symbol editors use to say “start new paragraph here,” it’s appropriate for today’s post. Here’s a pic that might make the symbol more recognizable. If not, you learned something new today! I…
My last post argued that the use of prescribed minimums does our students a disservice. They learn to fluff up their prose to make documents longer. When those students enter the workplace, their prose style is entrenched. That means, as a writing teacher who attempts to build a bridge between school and work, most of…
One of the saddest practices in academic writing is prescribed minimums. I’m talking about teachers’ requirements for no less than 500 words, 5 pages, etc. (For a funny take on this, see I can write 600 words about anything from The Onion.) Of course, teachers prescribe minimums when their students have no real NEED to communicate…
To celebrate Friday the 13th (and keep in touch while I work to meet a deadline), I’m sharing a link to a 2010 article that appeared in The Onion. Nation Shudders At Large Block Of Uninterrupted Text is one of my favorites. And it reinforces the importance of one of my video tutorials. Enjoy! Related articles…
No time to write much here until I finish some tasks related to my day job. So I’ll get right to it. Today’s brief video tutorial focuses on how to use transitions to guide workplace readers through a document. Small words make a BIG difference. Related articles Amateurs suffer from directile dysfunction (proswrite.com)
The prevalence of directile dysfunction in men is well established, at least by women in North America. (I’m talking about the inability to ask for directions when traveling in unfamiliar locations.) But, while working on a lecture-tutorial devoted to transitions (e.g., “however,” “because,” etc.), it occurred to me that amateur writers also suffer from a version of this malady. Except their…
Here (finally) is the tutorial on analyzing a workplace audience. I’ve been distracted for a few days, playing nurse for my 17- year-old son after oral surgery. Whew! More later . . . Related articles Pros don’t settle for platitudes about audience (proswrite.com)
Know your audience! The most common platitude about workplace writing. Well . . . duh . . . who could argue with that? It certainly doesn’t describe what pros have learned. What amateurs need is GUIDANCE for getting to know the right things about their readers. My guidance, based on a chapter new to the third edition of Revising Professional Writing, focuses…