From the category archives:

Editing

How Many Kinds of Grammar Are There Really?

by Travis Heermann February 4, 2010 Editing
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Most people believe that English grammar is simply English grammar. There is a right way and a wrong way to construct a sentence, a right place and a wrong place to put a comma, words that go together and words that don’t. For the most part, this is true. There are dozens, perhaps hundreds, of [...]

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Breathe in, breathe out. With a comma.

by Mistina Picciano July 17, 2009 Editing

If you want to communicate your written message clearly, then you owe it to yourself, and your audience, to be purposeful about punctuation. Take the comma. Used correctly, it can help your readers navigate their way through some of your most sophisticated prose. Used effectively, it can add a subtle pause to accentuate your point. [...]

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Do Your Documents Show Your Age?

by Mistina Picciano May 21, 2009 Editing

Back in the day, Ms. Nancy Duty taught me—and the rest of Bruceville-Eddy High school—to use two spaces at the end of every sentence and after colons. Most of us were learning to type on IBM Selectrics, although a few were using the newfangled electronic typewriters. (The previous year, my eighth-grade class had started to [...]

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Playing the Numbers Game: Percentages & Time

by Mistina Picciano May 5, 2009 Editing

Howard Levy, principal of Red Rooster Group, asks the following questions about proper style for percentages and time: When you have a range of numbers referred to in a sentence, do you use an en dash or the word “to”? As in “20 to 40%” or “20 – 40%”? Also, would you use the % [...]

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Don’t Leave ‘Em Dangling

by Travis Heermann April 30, 2009 Editing

Here’s something to avoid in your written communications. Inexperienced writers (and even some experienced ones!) occasionally make dangling participle errors. Sound like something your high-school English teacher would say? Maybe, but professionals do not dare to make errors like these. Professional-level writing requires a professional-level understanding of grammar and clarity. A participle is a verb [...]

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It’s. Embarrassing.

by Mistina Picciano March 21, 2009 Editing

Last week, I received an email from a blog I subscribe to, one I’ve always regarded as highly professional. That opinion dipped somewhat when I saw the headline misusing the word “it’s.” “5 Things [FORTUNE 50 COMPANY] is Doing to Improve It’s Image (That You Can Do, Too!)” These master marketers had mistakenly used the [...]

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Copyediting vs. Copywriting

by Mistina Picciano February 24, 2009 Editing

Sometimes clients don’t have the budget to hire a writer to handle a project from start to finish. In these cases, it often makes sense to use copyediting services, where a professional editor reviews and cleans up work produced by the client. We offer different levels of copyediting, depending on a client’s needs and budget. [...]

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Don’t Scare the Bamboo

by Mistina Picciano January 26, 2009 Editing

Each time I visit Taiwan, I fall more in love with my mother’s country. The island’s natural beauty, the food, the culture – all make me proud of my Taiwanese heritage. A friend who recently visited Taiwan described it as one of the world’s most under-rated travel destinations. He has a point. But Taiwan has [...]

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Brilliant Beginnings

by Mistina Picciano January 12, 2009 Editing

As I write this, it’s January 12 – or January 13, depending on your geography. (Since I’m presently flying over Alaska toward Japan, I feel caught between dates.) Regardless, we’re darn close to the start of the New Year. New resolutions, new beginnings. For Mom and me, it’s the start of our latest adventure: three [...]

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