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Content writing errors

March 5, 2013 by Rosemary Leave a Comment

Content writing for business

Yes great content writing

Common content writing errors in business documentation.

Content writing is the coalface of your business and online presence. There are some errors in content writing that keep presenting themselves. It is useful to keep reminding ourselves of these – after all it makes good writing sense. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business writing, Grammar Tagged With: business documentation, business writing, content writing, copywriting, grammar, online writing, writing

Never know when to use that pesky comma?

February 10, 2012 by Rosemary Leave a Comment

A comma can be tricky in these days of minimal punctuation.

In the old days, we stuck them anyway to show we really knew how to use a comma. Get as many in as you could seemed to be the motto.

These days we like our work to look cleaner and slick.

A comma is like the orchestra of our words.  They put expression and meaning where you really want them.

Consider:

Slow, children crossing –  means slow down, children are crossing the road.

Slow children crossing – means that slow dawdling children are crossing the road.

Getting it right can be tricky at the best of times. Try reading your words out loud to get your meaning, and think where you are pausing.

Use the comma:

  • Between items in a series of words, phrases or clauses.

Correct: We placed the books, pencils, paper, and the new tray on the desk ready for work.

Incorrect : We placed, the books, pencils, paper, and the new tray on the desk ready for work.

  • Don’t use a comma if an adjective is supporting another adjective

Correct: I love that rich chocolate cake.

Incorrect: I love that rich, chocolate cake

  • Use the comma after introductory words

In February 2012,  we agreed to finally go on an overseas holiday.

  • Use a comma when you are adding words that are not essential to your main meaning.

Correct: The agreement was, however unpopular, unanimous.

The word ‘however unpopular’ is not really needed, it is added only for additional information.

The sentence is really’The agreement was unanimous’.

Incorrect: The agreement was however unpopular unanimous. What are you saying?

  •  Use a comma  when speaking to someone

Correct: Let’s eat, Johnny.

Thank goodness  we put that comma in otherwise we would have been eating Johnny.

Incorrect:  ‘Lets eat Johnny’.  He wasn’t that tasty anyway.

  • Comma’s help out with numbers, dates and addresses

Correct: In 2012, 50,000 people attended the Sydney Festival.

The crowd that attended the footie final last Sunday numbered 20,000, far more than last year.

On February 12, 2012, Brad and Angie decided to get a divorce. 

  • Use a comma if words in a sentence are repeated

Correct: Whatever she did, did nothing to help the situation.

Incorrect: Whatever she did did nothing to help the situation

Spellcheck would probable pick that up and tell you to delete one of the ‘did’s’ which would leave you with’ Whatever she did nothing to help the situation’. Doesn’t make sense.

 

Some simple places NOT to use a comma:

  • Between a subject and its verb

A plan was announced.

Not ‘A plan, was announced’.

  • Between a verb and its object

They announced a plan for the whole school.

Not ‘They announced, a plan for the whole school’.

 Have a look at this comma and decide for yourself.

Which one of these do you prefer.

Eat here, and get gas.

Eat here and get gas.

I prefer the first one, but who knows, you may prefer the second. Happy eating.

 

 

 

Filed Under: Punctuation Tagged With: comma, commas, grammar, punctuation

Editing and Proofreading online helps produce perfect documents

Editing

Your professional online editing service

Editing and proofreading are skills that can be acquired

They are helpful tools when you are writing for business, academia or for personal use.

Computerised tools help to get your document to publishing standard although there are some things you need to be aware of.

The basic tools of producing a high standard document are perfect grammar, punctuation and spelling – there are no substitutes.

The rules for professional editing and proofreading are no different to editing hard copy.

Online Editing

Why Spell and Grammar Check Will Fail You

People do notice poor writing skills. It is not sufficient to rely on computerised spell check and grammar programs for your online proofreading and editing support.

One of the difficulties with relying on spell check is that some words sound the same but have different meanings, e.g. their/there, advice/advice. It does help to set your spell checker to your preferred spelling e.g. UK English, US English, Australian English.

The computer’s grammar resources are equally inadequate as they comment on active and passive voice, complex sentences and repeated words without consideration for context, meaning or required tone and sometimes, they change a sentence to pure nonsense.

There are however, considerable advantages to editing and proofreading online.

Online Editing Resources

Track changes

Track changes and comments are most useful tools for  editing and proofreading online. The system needs to be switched on and switched off when no longer needed and the editor may insert, delete or make comment without disrupting the whole document. The corrected text can be read and the changes can be accepted individually or as a whole.

Global corrections identified through good  editing and proofreading can be changed throughout the document by the Find and Replace mechanism. This means that if you identified that ‘copy editing and proofreading’ should be ‘editing and proofreading’, you can change this throughout the document with a few clicks of the mouse.

Typography

Typography makes online editing and proofreading so much easier and in the control of the professional proofreader and editor. Typefaces, font sizes and spacing are just some of the advantages of using online proofreading and editing resources.

Paragraph marks

No online proofreading and copyediting would be complete without checking spacing. Spacing is perhaps the most difficult when editing online. Get used to working with the paragraph marks and other formatting marks turned on. This will assist with consistency and visual presentation. Good online editing will identify inaccuracies in the document and each space has to be painstakingly reviewed.

Formatting

Good formatting can showcase a document beyond its potential and is normally associated with online proofreading. Online  editing using formatting tools gives the editor or writer the opportunity to present the document consistently and professionally.

Cutting and Pasting

Online editing allows text to be manipulated easily by selecting and cutting script, and then pasting in the appropriate position. This is far superior to hardcopy editing where the editor marks the document and another person makes the changes on the document.

Methods of Citation

Finally, the referencing systems and bibliographies. Electronic functions make these tasks easier.

Online Proofreading: A word of advice.

Always print out a document for final proofreading, just to be sure. The eyes do play tricks.

Contact us for further information

 

 

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