STYLE Archives - Words by a Pro https://old.wordsbyapro.com/tag/style/ Tue, 17 Jul 2018 20:45:06 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.2 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/cropped-WBP-FAVICON_7-32x32.jpg STYLE Archives - Words by a Pro https://old.wordsbyapro.com/tag/style/ 32 32 Policy and Procedure Documents Without Tears https://old.wordsbyapro.com/policy-and-procedure-documents-without-tears/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=policy-and-procedure-documents-without-tears Tue, 17 Jul 2018 20:43:32 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=2896 If you are a professional writer in a corporate setting, and are extremely unlucky, you may be called upon to write policy and procedure (P&P) documents. This is actually a good thing, for the company if not for you. Many P&P documents are written either by lawyers, in which case they are completely incomprehensible, or […]

The post Policy and Procedure Documents Without Tears appeared first on Words by a Pro.

]]> Stop Alienating Your Readers! Choose the Right POV https://old.wordsbyapro.com/stop-alienating-your-readers-choose-the-right-pov/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=stop-alienating-your-readers-choose-the-right-pov Tue, 03 Apr 2018 19:50:55 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=2842 I was checking out one of the educational marketing courses offered at the HubSpot Academy the other day when I was struck dumb. Dumbstruck, even. The lesson I was watching involved content marketing and the choices writers face when drafting copy. Things started out fine. HubSpot explained that one of the first decisions a writer […]

The post Stop Alienating Your Readers! Choose the Right POV appeared first on Words by a Pro.

]]> The Flavours of English https://old.wordsbyapro.com/the-flavours-of-english/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-flavours-of-english Wed, 13 Dec 2017 21:25:28 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=2545 In the 1964 movie My Fair Lady, excruciatingly British phonetics professor Henry Higgins worries about the fate of the English language. “In America,” he observes, “they haven’t used it for years.” If you write or edit English prose for hire, you may be called upon to ensure a piece follows the spelling, grammar, and punctuation […]

The post The Flavours of English appeared first on Words by a Pro.

]]> Is It Okay to Use the Word Hopefully? https://old.wordsbyapro.com/when-to-use-word-hopefully/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=when-to-use-word-hopefully Tue, 07 Nov 2017 21:15:58 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=2456 There remains debate about whether this adverb is appropriate or not. According to an NPR article, thirty years ago a few famous grammarians decided to “vilify” the word. Prior to this, so they say, the word was used without complaint. After three decades of debate, most of us are now confused. I like to quote […]

The post Is It Okay to Use the Word Hopefully? appeared first on Words by a Pro.

]]> Attention, B2B Companies: Stop Writing Boring Content https://old.wordsbyapro.com/attention-b2b-companies-stop-writing-boring-content/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=attention-b2b-companies-stop-writing-boring-content Tue, 03 Oct 2017 17:33:14 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=2244 There’s something terribly wrong with the current state of content marketing. Specifically, I’m referring to Business-to-Business (B2B) content marketing and its inherent lack of creativity. For writers in the modern era of content overload, this lack of creativity can be a death sentence. We all know that content producers don’t have long to get a […]

The post Attention, B2B Companies: Stop Writing Boring Content appeared first on Words by a Pro.

]]> Questions for a Language Ninja: Why, Oh Why Will No One Read My Content? https://old.wordsbyapro.com/questions-language-ninja-oh-will-no-one-read-content/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=questions-language-ninja-oh-will-no-one-read-content Tue, 29 Aug 2017 21:19:30 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=2162 Q: I’ve been trying to produce content that bolsters my online profile and optimizes my search engine rankings. I’ve studied nearly all of the online tips and incorporated the strategies of various thought-leaders into my own web content, but I haven’t seen any improvement. What gives? A: The Language Ninja has received so may questions […]

The post Questions for a Language Ninja: Why, Oh Why Will No One Read My Content? appeared first on Words by a Pro.

]]> Is Sentence Length a True Indicator of Readability? https://old.wordsbyapro.com/sentence-length-true-indicator-readability/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=sentence-length-true-indicator-readability Tue, 23 May 2017 21:03:33 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=2119 Have you ever been reading something and reached the end of a sentence, then had to start reading the sentence again because you forgot what it was about?  Do you think it was simply because it was a long sentence? Or were there other reasons? We are often told that short sentences are more readable […]

The post Is Sentence Length a True Indicator of Readability? appeared first on Words by a Pro.

]]> Questions for a Language Ninja: Overused Words and Slaying that Content https://old.wordsbyapro.com/questions-language-ninja-overused-words-slaying-content/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=questions-language-ninja-overused-words-slaying-content Wed, 05 Apr 2017 22:22:14 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=1968 Q: What would you say are the most overused words from the past year? I nominate “pivot.” Yes, the word “pivot” – a word that was previously only used in osteopathic and Jazz dance applications – has been tossed around quite brutally, particularly on cable news channels. The Ninja agrees that as an indication of […]

The post Questions for a Language Ninja: Overused Words and Slaying that Content appeared first on Words by a Pro.

]]> Style Guides & Manuals: What Are They? https://old.wordsbyapro.com/style-guides-manuals/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=style-guides-manuals Wed, 29 Mar 2017 20:42:33 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=1960 Perhaps your high school English teacher told you about style guides, but maybe you didn’t even come across them until college when your English Composition instructor informed you, “You must use MLA style or fail this course.” I have said it, and other instructors have insisted on APA or Chicago (Turabian) Style as the style […]

The post Style Guides & Manuals: What Are They? appeared first on Words by a Pro.

]]> Flesch out Your Words: How Accessible Is Your Writing? https://old.wordsbyapro.com/flesch-words-accessible-writing/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=flesch-words-accessible-writing https://old.wordsbyapro.com/flesch-words-accessible-writing/#comments Tue, 14 Mar 2017 21:35:24 +0000 https://old.wordsbyapro.com/?p=1950 I used to think I was a great writer. Of course, that was back in eighth grade, before I had any serious education or formal training in the craft. Back then, all it took to be a great writer (in my mind, at least) was a great vocabulary and a desire to cram big words […]

The post Flesch out Your Words: How Accessible Is Your Writing? appeared first on Words by a Pro.

]]> https://old.wordsbyapro.com/flesch-words-accessible-writing/feed/ 10