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...
Tagged: Writing Tips
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,...
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: Punctuation Saves Lives, Part II
Part two of our series covers basic rules for brackets, parentheses, braces, ellipses, quotation marks and apostrophes.
Grammar Hammer: Punctuation Saves Lives, Part I
There are considered to be 14 “primary” punctuation marks. We’re reviewing some of them in Part 1 of a two-part series.
The Ins and Outs of Op-Ed Writing
Op-ed pieces have their own structure, length, voice, etc. Knowing how to merge your opinion with factual information is an important part of writing an op-ed piece and attracting readers to your story. Jennifer Finney Boylan,...
Grammar Hammer: It’s the Principle of the Thing
“The principal is your PAL!” With apologies to Ferris Bueller, that’s how I learned the difference between “principle” and “principal.” Here again, we have two words that sound the same, but have two completely...
Grammar Hammer: A Flair for Flare?
Flair/Flare is one of my favorite homophones. Even though these words sound the same, their meanings are very different and these words are not interchangeable. FLAIR: A natural talent or aptitude; distinctive elegance or style Example:...
Tips for Writing an About Page When You Hate Writing About Yourself
Does anyone actually enjoy writing about themselves? I agonized over the few words in my Twitter bio. An entire page about me? That’s torture. For bloggers, however, an About page is essential. You can fight it all...
Grammar Hammer: I Assure You, It’s Easy to Ensure and Important to Insure
Have you been so confused with when to use “assure,” “ensure,” and “insure” that you actually go back and rewrite your sentence to avoid using that word? I confess, I do that often. “Ensure” and...
Grammar Hammer: Why So Tense?
“While I was walking through the park, this giant spider appears out of nowhere and scared the living daylights out of me!” What’s wrong with that sentence? Absolutely nothing, if you’re as terrified of...
Grammar Hammer: Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda
I grew up in southern West Virginia and heard phrases like “would of went” and “should of went” all the time. Thanks to my late grammarian grandfather, The Colonel, those phrases never made it...
Grammar Hammer: ‘In’ vs. ‘Into’ on this National Grammar Day
In honor of National Grammar Day, we’re sharing one of our favorite Grammar Hammer columns by Catherine Spicer, manager of customer content services with PR Newswire. You know what’s been tripping me up as...
