Grammar Hammer: Each and Every One
Which is correct? To say that I write a blog post for Grammar Hammer each week or to say that I write a post for Grammar Hammer every week? “Every” is used to talk...
Category: Media Tools and Tips
27 Places To Go For Your Next Blog Post Idea
Having trouble thinking of your next blog post idea? We’ve come up with 27 places you can visit when the “idea well” runs dry.
Your 24-Point Checklist for Better Blog Posts
Utilize our checklist to save time and possibly your blog by ensuring you do everything necessary for success, the first time around.
Grammar Hammer: Shinny vs. Shimmy
Here’s our latest grammar explainer. This edition covers the difference between shinny and shimmy.
6 Storytelling Tips from BuzzFeed and Other Digital Storytellers
Everyone has an interesting story waiting to be uncovered. The challenge is finding the best way to tell it so your audience listens.
Reporting the Story Behind the Story: How Journalists Use Long-Form Publishing on LinkedIn
Journalists and bloggers are using LinkedIn to supplement their stories. It appears their audiences are listening.
Grammar Hammer: So, Do Writing Disfluencies Exist?
In public speaking, you are taught to watch your use of “disfluencies” – as in the crutch words where you um, like, and you know your way through the silence as your brain scrambles to...
Creating a News Story With Video: Q&A with Wochit’s Drew Berkowitz
Whether you’re a major news publication or blogger, you need to know how to tell an engaging story. More frequently, that means using video and other dynamic visuals. Drew Berkowitz, SVP of partnerships for...
Quality and Relevance Reign: 9 Tips for Creating Online Content from Searchmetrics’ 2014 Study
Google’s algorithms can baffle the best of us. As any blogger or digital writer will attest, it seems that once we’re used to the latest changes, Google unleashes another batch upon us. Be it Panda, Penguin,...
How to Write Business Stories That Matter
There’s more to business writing than earnings and executive appointments. Beyond the sales figures and percentage points is the human element. How do business journalists take a dry business profile and transform it into an article...
Grammar Hammer: Is That Adverb Necessary?
If you were a child of the 70s and 80s, ABC’s animated series Schoolhouse Rock left an indelible mark. Many of us can trace a love for history, mathematics, science and – of course – grammar to the...
Grammar Hammer: Two Spaces or Not Two Spaces?
I’m of the age that one of the classes I took in high school was typing. Putting two spaces after the period at the end of a sentence was drilled into our heads as...
9 Headline Writing Don’ts for Online Journalists and Bloggers
You spent hours laboring over an article or blog post. You did your research and fussed over sentences until they were just right. The only thing standing between you and your next assignment is...
Grammar Hammer: All Day Every Day or Everyday?
A suggestion from a loyal reader inspired this week’s Grammar Hammer. Is everyday one word or two words (every day)? Both variations refer to an activity that occurs on a daily basis. As usual,...
Grammar Hammer: Elicit vs. Illicit
Elicit and illicit might sound similar, but technically they are not homophones and their meanings are vastly different. The words are occasionally confused due to their similar pronunciation and spelling, which is why they are the focus...
Make Them Laugh! How to Add Humor to Your Writing
You don’t have to be a comedian to inject a little humor into your writing. And even if you don’t consider yourself a funny person, there are tips and tricks you can use to make...
Grammar Hammer: Whiling Away the Hours
I often see “wile away the hours” used interchangeably with “while away the hours,” so which is correct? Technically, they both are, but there are some subtle differences one should consider. “To while away the hours”...
The Accidental Journalist: 3 Lessons from a Freelance Writer’s Career
Freelance journalist Eileen Beal talks to Beyond Bylines about her journey and what she’s learned along the way.
Grammar Hammer: Then vs. Than
I have a tendency to overthink certain grammar rules. Then vs. than is one of those grammar rules that I think I’ve nailed down, but always end up double checking after overthinking it for 10...
To Print or Not To Print? 5 Essentials for Ethical Decision Making in Today’s Newsroom
When it comes to breaking news, most would agree getting the story right trumps reporting it first. Many times this can be a tall – and stressful – order. Take, for example, the 2011...
