GrammarPhile Blog

If one of your New Year's resolutions is to improve your writing skills, you won't need to roll out of bed by 5 a.m. to go to your local gym. You can keep this resolution anywhere.

Like any resolution that's worth keeping, improving your writing skills will take some effort. The good news is that it doesn't need to be cumbersome. Learning how to write well takes practice. Learning how to have fun while writing takes practice and a bit of creativity.

According to Pew Research, 92% of Americans claim to celebrate Christmas. And many of them believe that the story of Christmas is historically accurate, regardless of their religious affiliation. So, whether you prefer to say “Merry Christmas,” “Happy Hanukkah,” “Happy Kwanzaa” or simply “Happy Holidays,” you likely share some of the same traditions as most Americans, as well as 2 billion other people around the world.

So, what are the origins of the Christmas story that we know today, and where did our cultural traditions originate?

As integral as technology is to the writing process, it's important to be aware of its common pitfalls and limitations, regardless of what you're writing. Review the list below for five ways technology can hurt your writing, and solutions for how to avoid these pitfalls.

It’s the most wonderful time of year to cozy up and conquer a crossword puzzle. While combing through the clues, you may often find yourself asking aloud, “What’s another word for … ?”

When sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner this year, you can describe the meal as scrumptious and know none of your older family members can accuse you of making up words.

Since 2000, Oxford English Dictionary has made quarterly amendments to revise, update, and add new entries. This accelerated cadence is surely a sign of how quickly our language is morphing, growing, and if you ask older generations – falling apart!

 Whether you asked your boss for more resources in an email or tried to convince your significant other via text message that sushi is the best choice for dinner, at some point, you have written something intended to persuade another party to do something.

After you hit the “send” button, you discovered what we all inevitably discover: persuading someone to do something through writing is a difficult art to master. However, by practicing helpful tips like the three below, it doesn’t have to be.

Journalists and bloggers are flooded with press releases. It’s not uncommon for some to receive dozens in a single day. Only a few press releases stand out from the swarm, and not all of those are eye-catching in a good way. How can you ensure that yours makes the right impact and helps you get the coverage you need?

We asked writers and editors who cover many different industries to tell us how a press release can pique their interest – and what makes them dive for the “delete” key.

Lawyers know better than most that the devil is in the details: One tiny error in a contract can upend a multimillion-dollar deal. That’s why lawyers and paralegals themselves are often natural proofreaders – they dedicate much of their time to reading reams of documents with an eagle eye.

Still, as proofreaders themselves will tell you, it’s invaluable to have an outsider’s perspective and a fresh set of eyes to catch errors you might overlook. That’s also why we have two proofreaders go through every document our clients submit – we have found that it greatly reduces the chances that a mistake will slip through.

Any proofreader worth their salt will tell you that a single punctuation mark can mean the difference between success and disaster. (If you don’t believe us, just ask a constitutional lawyer about the Great Semicolon Debate of 1787.)

More often, incorrect punctuation sends a message to your audience, and it’s not the one you intend. It signals that you’re sloppy in your written communications and don’t care enough to make it right. And if you’re careless in that area of your business, prospective clients will wonder if you’re sloppy in other areas. Can you afford to take that chance?

“You are loved.” Writing that in a valentine to your beloved instead of “I love you” likely will have a similar effect as giving a bouquet of roses with petals that are curling and turning brown — the thought may be there, but the desired effect loses some of its impact.

That’s what can happen with passive voice. Who is actually doing the action becomes hazy. Sometimes you want or need the subject to be ambiguous or want to emphasize the object, in which case passive constructions make sense.