Ditch the fragments when writing a caption
A photo caption’s job isn’t to tell the whole story all by itself. Ideally, the photo captures attention; the caption adds meaning and leads the reader to the story for more details. Of course, there are plenty of rules about captions (also called cutlines). A...
Wave your grammar nerd flag, it’s National Grammar Day
It’s National Grammar Day! I know, exciting, isn’t it? 🙂 The big day goes back to 2008, when Martha Brockenbrough and the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar (SPOGG) founded it. SPOGG is “for people appalled by bad grammar in public spaces.” Yup,...
New Scrabble words? Don’t tell Mom
You watch; my mother will probably get “bezzy” on a triple in one of our usual spirited Words with Friends games. So don’t tell her about the words that Scrabble now officially accepts, including: Augh: An interjection expressing frustration (shades of Charlie...
‘Insight as a cat’ + more expressive writing
Steve Jobs illustrated the value of an iPod by saying it would let you take your whole music library with you in your pocket. That’s the kind of expressive language that gives readers or listeners an “aha!” moment of understanding. The February issue of my...
Publishing on LinkedIn? Break through the noise
“LinkedIn has become the fish wrap of the Internet.” That statement by Nick Corcodilos on the Ask The Headhunter blog made me laugh, but it also serves as a warning. If you’ve jumped on the LinkedIn Publishing bandwagon, make sure your articles have...
Hello, service provider? It’s me, desperate seeker
Years ago, writing for a company that shall be nameless prompted me to start each day by updating my voice mail message. Company Xers were the worst at having a generic voice mail message, and I would find out days later that someone I needed to speak with was...
Nine things I’ve learned in nine years of blogging
January is a big month here at Get It Write headquarters. In this month of new beginnings, I celebrate the leap of faith that launched my business in 1991, and I also mark another year of sharing my thoughts on the Red Jacket Diaries blog. Yes, I recently marked my...
Ditch the jargon to make your point
Inc.com’s contributing editor, Geoffrey James, doesn’t sugarcoat it. In a piece called How Corporate-Speak Rots Your Brain and How To Stop It, he says jargon “makes you and everyone around you progressively less intelligent.” What’s more, rather than making you sound...