Over the years, many people have proclaimed that the news release is dead. To paraphrase Mark Twain, the rumors of its death have been greatly exaggerated. The news release is still an effective tool because it encourages journalists to report on the news, and because the release can “live” indefinitely online, making it visible to […]
Words of the Year 2018
Each year publishers of English dictionaries name their Words of the Year, the words or expressions that have generated the most interest over the last 12 months. Here are the awards for 2018. Single use: The editors at the Collins English Dictionary say the use of the adjective “single-use” increased four-fold since 2013. (I guess […]
It was a Dark and Stormy Contest: the 2018 Winners of the Annual Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Writing Contest
Most writing contests encourage participants to write well. Not so the tongue-in-cheek Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest which has been challenging “man, woman, and (precocious) child to write an atrocious opening sentence to a hypothetical bad novel” since 1982. The English Department at San Jose State University organizes the contest in honor of Bulwer-Lytton. This minor […]
One Word or Two? How to Avoid These Common Mistakes
I often see a single word used when it should be two words. Here are some of the more common examples. Get a PDF version of this post here. Awhile and A While A while is a noun phrase and means “a period of time.” It often follows a preposition. “He will be gone for […]
Seven of the Best Free and Low-Cost Writing Tools
Great content is well-written content. You have only a few seconds to grab your reader’s attention. That is not easy. Fortunately, several free and low-cost tools can help you write clear, coherent and compelling content. Here are some of my favorites. Get a PDF version of this post here. Grammarly Grammarly’s goal is to “make […]
“Fake News,” “Feminism,” “Populism” and More Named Words of the Year
It’s that time when publishers of English dictionaries name their Words of the Year, acknowledging the words or expressions that have generated a lot of interest over the last 12 months. As the Oxford Dictionaries says, “we turn to language to help us mark where we have been, how far we have come, and where […]
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