GrammarPhile Blog

All writers make mistakes. Some writers aren’t the best with punctuation, while others struggle with pronouns and hyphens. Know the mistakes you are more inclined to make so that you can fix them before submitting or publishing your work. Below are some common mistakes writers make, and how you can avoid them.

Most writers want to believe their writing will be read, understood, liked, and shared with others simply because it’s well written. They believe the essence and content of their writing and its message is what really matters. But that’s not always the case. Many times documents and posts will go unread simply because they’re not properly formatted, regardless of their content.

Use the tips below to format your writing in a way that will make it stand out, and make it easier for your audience to read. 

Formality in the workplace has waned, but don’t let that affect your sense of professionalism, especially when you’re writing something on a digital device. Once you type something on your computer, there is a permanent record of it. Quickly typed emails can be saved and shared. Even deleted documents and posts can be recovered. So you should be cautious of writing mistakes you’re prone to make, and avoid them before they damage your reputation.

Here’s a list of writing errors that can damage your reputation, and what you can do to avoid making them.

Businesses spend millions of dollars on advertising, day-to-day operations, research and development, personnel, and acquisitions. But they seldom focus on how they will develop and manage a successful writing culture. Yet building and maintaining a successful writing culture for a business is essential to all its operations. It establishes effective and clear communication, and fosters a collaborative and positive environment. 

Most copywriting experts will suggest you write the way you speak when you’re writing marketing copy, that you should sound natural and use a conversational tone if you truly want to get your message across to an audience.  

In a previous post, we highlighted some grammar rules that can and should be broken if you want your marketing copy to be effective. Here are a few more to add to that list.

When you envision a proofreader reviewing your writing, what do you see?

Do you see a person wearing a pair of coke-bottle glasses and an oversized sweater hunched over a stack of papers? Does he have a giant red pen in his hand and a condescending glare in his eye, a smirk on his face, just ready to tear your work to shreds? Is she setting out to edit your work until it fits her idea of perfection, even if it’s far from your original vision? Is he also using grammar and spellcheck technology to do all his work for him?

Cognitive science research shows that reading fiction makes you a more well-rounded person and will improve your quality of life both personally and professionally.

Last week we took you back to high school with an English test that hopefully didn’t bring back any bad memories. Take a look at the answers below to see how you did.

Remember the stress of English tests in school? Not only were they timed, but it was nearly impossible to know exactly what to study. Whether it was long passages and reading comprehension questions, sentence diagramming, or this word is to this word as that word is to that word, it seemed like no matter what you spent hours hammering into your brain, the teacher would decide to throw something completely different at you.

The good news about this test is that if you fail, we won’t send you back to high school.

See if you can make a passing grade on these questions, inspired by the brain stumpers you might see on AP, SAT, or ACT tests.

Organizations of every type rely on email more than any other communication channel because it’s cost effective, (generally) private, personal, easy, quick, and versatile.