Cut! 11 ways to meet a stingy word count
The fellow I interviewed was chatty; the topic, fascinating. The problem? Cramming as much of that interesting conversation into just 300 words. My clients often have a specific number of words they need to fit a certain space. Magazine and newspaper editors also...
How do you give your creative head a shake?
I must have run across Roger von Oech at an IABC conference years ago. He’s an author and inventor who has been giving seminars, workshops and presentations on creativity since 1977, although he doesn’t specifically point to IABC on his website. His name came to light...
7 ways to sabotage your employee e-newsletter
Done properly, a company’s employee newsletter can deliver information employees need when they need it. An e-newsletter can reduce email volume by collecting content that otherwise would be sent separately. An e-newsletter can easily link to relevant spots in your...
10 years of blogging? Time for a blog post
(Updated Jan. 15, 2020.) January is a big month here at Get It Write headquarters. After celebrating 26 years in business earlier in the month, my next milestone is 10 years of blogging. I’ve learned a lot in that time (see nine things I listed at my nine-year...
Resist the initialization of the world (please)
Over the holidays, I was in the store formerly known as Mountain Equipment Co-op. Great name, isn’t it? Without even trying, you can tell it sells outdoor recreation gear and clothing. One of their taglines is “Outside is our place. Canada is our backyard.” Nice. In...
A leap of faith to a dream job (with a great boss)
Happy birthday to Get It Write! A woman I once met at an event said, “Omigosh, you have my dream job!” Most days, I think that too. In fact, during a conversation about “the best thing that’s ever happened to you,” I realized that launching my business 28 years ago...
New misused words join the list to be banished
Post-truth, on fleek, Dad bod and listicle are among the terms that made the 42nd annual list of words and phrases the wordsmiths at Lake Superior State University in Michigan want to banish for “Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness.” Distressingly, making the list...
The best of the Red Jacket Diaries in 2016
As 2016 winds down, here’s a look back at the most-viewed posts in the Red Jacket Diaries over the year. As I like to tell people, words are my business. So no surprise that I often blog about words and writing: Players of Scrabble and Words With Friends are always on...