Writing Tips
Word choice matters. How you build your sentence with punctuation is about more than just decorating with ink squiggle confetti. We owe it to ourselves and to everyone who sees our written words to get it right. All right?
Writing Tip 448: “Statue of limitations” vs. “Statute of limitations”
I imagine a woman of stone with her arms crossed and her wide stance as unyielding as her disposition. Is this what a statue of limitations would look like? A force blocking your way? Or perhaps something headless, limited herself.
Writing Tip 447: “Team” vs. “Teem”
Teeming with chaos or teaming with chaos? And how does this change if we’re talking about ducks? Oh, a little letter makes all the difference. The world can feel overwhelming sometimes, but let’s at least ensure your spelling is under control.
Writing Tip 446: “Flouting” or “Flaunting” the Rules
Let’s talk rebels with an ostentatious cause, because whether we’re talking “flout” or “flaunt,” rebellion and arrogance are likely part of the conversation.
Writing Tip 445: “Sus” vs. “Suss”
Oh, spellcheck, “suss” is indeed a word, even though it seems to be flagged often. It’s red-flagged “spelling mistakes” like this that make you seem kind of “sus” yourself actually, spellcheck. See what I did there? Are you having “sus” vs. “suss” confusion, folks?
Writing Tip 444: “Persons” vs. “People” vs. “Peoples”
Okay, people! (Peoples? Persons?) Have you ever wondered when to use “persons” vs. “people” vs. “peoples”? Yes, all are proper plural forms in English. Let’s leave the singular “person” out of things for a moment. If we’re looking for the correct plural form, what is a writer/speaker to do?
Writing Tip 443: Ellipsis Rules You Should Know
Oh, ellipses, the confetti of punctuation marks. A little here, a little there, and it feels a little bit like a celebration, no? Wait, that’s not what you’re going for? Sure, I talk about ellipses (the plural form of “ellipsis”) in detail in Get a Grip on Your Grammar (Career Press, 2017; HarperCollins India, 2020), […]
Writing Tip 442: Catching “Flak” or “Flack”?
Should we talk about not catching “flak” when wearing your flak jacket? Is “flack” spelled similar to “quack”? Or else “flac” like “Big Mac”? “Flaque” like “plaque”? First things first, let’s narrow it down to just “flak” or “flack” for this conversation. Catching flak/flack Getting flak/flack Taking flak/flack As always, there’s a right answer, but […]
Authors on Editing Interviews
In celebration of the publication of Get a Grip on your Grammar: 250 Writing and Editing Reminders for the Curious or Confused (Career Press, 2017), I launched a blog interview series with talented writers working across multiple genres and forms, from fiction to nonfiction to poetry to business writing to journalism and more. No matter what you write, you’ll learn a lot from their insights on their editing processes.