Write with Meaning Tips and Grammar Answers

We've Moved!

2006-12-18T23:03:00.000-08:00

Celebrate integration by visiting my new blog and website combined!
This will be my last post at Blogger.

Find future witty insight from Write with Meaning at www.writewithmeaning.com.

Writing Anxiety and the Pressure of Fame

2006-12-07T02:53:00.000-08:00

A colleague of mine confided to me that she was awestruck by sheer mass of blog posts on the web, especially on some of the well-known sites. "I'll never catch up," she said, mournfully. I suspect a few of my dear readers are also a bit cowed when they surf around and see people who post brilliantly every day. Here's the thing, though: those guys do that for a living. I mean, that's a full-time job and they've become personalities through their blogging. Unless your goal is to become nationally renown, don't worry about trying to be like John Gruber, Seth Godin, or Bob Parsons. (No links this time--I want to decrease the anxiety!)

A new author who compares himself to Dan Brown (The DaVinci Code), for instance, is highly unlikely to get any words on the page. The bar is just set too damn high. Nobody ever writes well when they're pressuring themself for results. Luckily, you don't need to be famous in order to be successful.

If you are writing for your business, most likely you're doing it to demonstrate your credibility to potential customers. That's all you need to worry about. You're writing for a much smaller audience, which makes your job a lot easier. Also, your primary job, unlike the bigwig bloggers, is to do what you do best--acupuncture, real estate, coach, etc. Remember that, for you, writing is just a means to an end (ie getting more customers for what you actually love doing). You don't need to be a Writer or Blogger; just be yourself. Be a person who is passionate about your business and let the writing flow from there.

My Dad Was Right

2006-11-18T02:47:00.000-08:00

My father has told me several times that he knows my true calling in life. He says he keeps it in a sealed envelope somewhere so he can pull it out and prove to me that he's known all along what I should do for a living. His cherished idea is that I will become a teacher.

I have to admit it now...my dad may be on to something. I just co-taught my first class on business blogging, and I loved it! I wasn't the only one--several attendees raved about how much they enjoyed the information and the presentation.

My favorite part of the class was an exercise that I led to help people access their creativity. I told them to close their eyes and imagine their ideal customers. I spoke quietly for a minute about specific issues to consider about the customer, like clothing, hair, jobs, friends, homes, etc. Then I encouraged them to write in silence about this customer for five minutes.

What first amazed me was how willing everyone was to participate. Not only did they all close their eyes and sit in reverent silence, but they wrote furiously through the allotted time and I had to ask them to stop after several extra minutes had passed. When I asked for feedback about the exercise, I was further surprised by the answers. One woman called it "liberating," and several others spoke about how moved they were by their passion on the topic. A man said that he deeply appreciated the space held for the meditative moment, as well as the time given to them to write.

It was then that I realized the gifts I had really given my class of busy professionals--inspiration, motivation, and time to write. People were so grateful because I had given them something that they rarely gave themselves. I share this story because I want to remind all my readers that, in most of your lives, no one will make you sit down to write. If you want to be a better writer, you must create that space for yourself. Give yourself the gift of time to think and time to write. I promise you will receive a generous return on your investment.

Anybody Can Write

2006-11-08T22:37:00.000-08:00

When I start coaching a client, I often hear some variation of "that's easy for you to do; you're a writer!" Listen here, folks. You are a writer, too. Maybe you're not as good at it as you'd like to be, but that doesn't mean you are incapable of doing it.

You know, I sing. No one would ever think of paying me to do it, but I can do it. And if singing were a crucial part of promoting my business, I would certainly do one of two things: hire a professional to sing for my business, or learn how to be a better singer.

If you passed the 9th grade, you have enough skill to write for your business. Really. All you need to do is refine that skill. And you start by practicing. Try some of these ideas:

Keep a journal that no one reads, if you're shy.
Set aside ten minutes a day to write about nothing in particular.
Read a good book and write down what you liked or didn't like about it.
Read twenty good books (especially ones that speak in the language of your target market).
Have interesting conversations with people who inspire you and take notes afterwards on all that you remember.
Read blogs (try Seth Godin or HaddadInk or this one) and comment on them.
Write letters or longer emails to your friends.
Join a writer's group.

Above all, just DO something. I promise it will get better if you just put a little effort into it. You will also discover the side-benefit of writing more--your thoughts will get clearer and you will be more relaxed. The paper or the computer is always willing to listen.

Don't Litter--Keep Trash Words Out of the Landfill

2006-10-17T00:31:00.000-07:00

Which sentence below is easier to read?

A) Owing to the fact that passive voice is utilized in the sentences and they are either simultaneously or individually overly wordy and grammatically incorrect, it becomes exceedingly difficult to ascertain the authentic purpose of the prose.

B) It is hard to understand sentences that have lots of unnecessary words.

I think the answer is B. Don't you?

Top Five Pitfalls in Writing

2006-10-16T22:53:00.000-07:00

*Bonus points if you can guess what movie I was thinking of when I titled this post.

1. Utilizing Jargon

Why is it dumb? Because your customers don't know what you're talking about. When you use words that are specific to your industry, sure, you sound knowledgeable, but you've just left in the dust the guy you were trying to impress. Customers don't stick around to soak in the feeling of stupidity; they just click away from your website and find a guy who speaks their language.

For more on this point, see my last post, You Talkin' To Me?; maybe you can educate me about why I'm supposed to understand annualized percentages, or bleed margins, for that matter.

2. Rambling On and On and On and On and On

Why is it dumb? Because customers aren't your friends. Your friends are patient and smile lovingly, or at least stay in the same room, as you go through the whole damn story. Your customers, however, want to understand your business in preferably ten seconds or less. In a great statistic that I just made up, you lose 25% of your readers for every five seconds they spend trying to weed through your rambling.

3. Having the Effect of Possibly Being Boring

Why is it dumb? Because a bored customer is a lost customer. I'm not saying you have to razzle-dazzle your website visitors, but I do believe they will only stay as long as they are still interested in what you have to say. Bore them with your stale and wordy prose, and they're outta there.

4. Pour Grammer

Why is it dumb? Because your customers are looking for a professional, not a 15-year-old on instant messenger. If you wouldn't wear your lazy clothes (eg sweatpants with holes and a Van Halen t-shirt) to meet your client, then don't send your lazy writing to greet them. Despite some evidence to the contrary (like the coffee stand sign outside my apartment that says, "Smoothie's, latte's, coffee's"), bad grammar is not professional.

People judge your intelligence based on your competence with writing. You want your customers to think you're smart, right? Then pay attention to your grammar.

5. Not Revising Revising

Why is it dumb? Because your customers don't know "what you really meant." Compare it to your process of getting ready in the morning. We know how to brush our hair, wash our faces, put on makeup, and shave, all without having to look in the mirror. But we look pretty much every morning, because we know we have to double-check that the toilet paper isn't hanging off our faces or that our lipstick is evenly distributed.

All of the pitfalls listed above can be caught if you take a little time to revise your writing. I review each of my blog posts at least twice, because I know that, despite my years of writing experience, I have as many brain farts, typos, and misspellings as the next guy. In fact, I had to correct a word in this paragraph just now (I spelled "brush" with a "c.") Do I know how to spell "brush"? Of course I do. But YOU don't know that about me unless I spell it right.

*That movie is High Fidelity.

You Talkin' To Me?

2006-10-10T23:55:00.000-07:00

Here's a cautionary tale for business writers. Check out this blog post from a mortgage broker's website:

Home prices increased at an annualized rate of 4.9% nationwide in the second quarter, down from a revised rate of 9.1% in the first quarter, according to the Conventional Mortgage Home Price Index released by Freddie Mac. The East South Central states of Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee recorded the biggest price increases, with an 8.3% annualized growth rate, Freddie Mac said.

When you read that--if you were able to get through it--did you think it was meant for you? Unless you're a mortgage broker or a real estate agent yourself, I'm guessing the answer is no. When I read anything like that, I immediately tune out. Why? Because they're not talking to me.

I'm a potential home buyer, so I would think that this mortgage broker would want my attention and hopefully my business. That post, however, puts me to sleep in the first six words: "Home rates increased at an annualized"...snkzzzzzzzz. It also makes me feel a bit stupid, because I think I'm supposed to understand what this mortgage broker is talking about, and I don't. I now think I'm not smart enough to do business with this person. So if I'm the potential customer here--and as a middle-class, college-educated person, I think I am--this person has just bored me AND insulted me. Somehow, I don't think that was his/her purpose in starting a blog.

The first thing you should think about when you're preparing to write, be it blog post, email, brochure, or website, is your audience. You need to focus your content and your tone (eg how you say what you're saying) on what will appeal to your customers, and not your investors, your colleagues, etc.

Here are the basic guidelines for appealing to your customer (applying these will take research in your target market):

Get attention by finding a topic/story that will interest your customers.
Explain the topic in a way your customers can understand.
Show them why they should care.

When you don't consider what your customers want to know from your writing, you're risking a similar fate as this unfortunate mortgage broker. The only thing worse than invisibility is alienating your customers.

Stop Trying to Sound Smart

2006-10-06T17:30:00.000-07:00

Ready for another ice skating metaphor? Ever watch the Olympics and see a skater with a furrowed brow whose every step seems fraught with tensed energy? They usually either fall at some point, or they get high technical scores and low artistic scores. Why? 'Cause they're trying too hard.

I see the same issue in many different sports, from rock climbing to golf. And I believe it applies to other skills, including writing. If you're trying too hard to impress people or to force a sentence to work or to use all the ten-dollar words possible, people are going to notice. Don't try to sound smart. The beauty in great writing or ice skating or rock climbing is in making it look effortless.

"Great," you might be saying, "so I just need to be brilliant without trying to sound brilliant. That's simple." Don't get discouraged, Mr. Sarcasm. I know it sounds nigh impossible, but it's not. The key is to relax and let go of the idea of perfection. Start by trying not to worry so much about your reader judging you; just say what you want to say.

"What if I DO want to sound smart, though?" you might ask. Alright, here's the recipe: step one is to have something interesting to say. Step two is to practice saying it well. In other words, engage your creative mind and write a draft, then bring in your critic to revise and revise it again. As Anne Lamott says in her novel Bird by Bird:

I know some very great writers...who write beautifully...and not one of them sits down routinely feeling wildly enthusiastic and confident. Not one of them writes elegant first drafts. All right, one of them does, but we do not like her very much. We do not think she has a rich inner life or that God likes her or can even stand her.

Making great, smart writing look effortless takes a lot of practice, a lot of balance, and a lot of intuition. You attain balance by practicing. You develop intuition by practicing. And surprisingly enough, you learn to practice by (you guessed it) practicing.

Grammar-checker software no work

2006-09-29T22:48:00.000-07:00

Think that using Microsoft Word's grammar-checker tool will cover your butt? Think again! Check out this article from the Seattle Post Intelligencer that demonstrates what English majors have known for years: the grammar-checker couldn't conjugate its way out of a paper bag.

I'm in school this week for nine hours a day, so my insightful blog posting neurons are all fried. Hence, you get a fun article written by someone else.

The Critic and the Creative Mind

2006-09-21T00:58:00.000-07:00

I sit here for a good ten minutes, trying to begin this post. I write a sentence or two, then scroll back to delete them. I stare at the blank screen with my thoughts boinging around like errant ping-pong balls.

Sound familiar? It's usually called "writer's block." Like the common cold, everyone finds themselves susceptible at some point in their lives. And also like with the common cold, everyone has a different remedy. My remedy is to look at it like a battle between my inner critic and my creative mind.

There are times when I've got something to say and it just flows from me into the keyboard. Other times, I have an idea, but every time I start to write, it gets murky. My creative mind has a little spark, and my critic runs over and douses it with water: "It won't work that way. That sounds stupid. How cliche. This is really awkward."

How can anyone create under those circumstances? The critic has his uses--he's great at editing and spellchecking, for instance--but he sucks at generating ideas. My solution, and the solution I pass along to my clients, is to send the critic out of the room. The critic will always win the war with the creative mind, because he shouts louder and he fights dirty. Whatever it takes for you to shut him up, whether it's duct-taping his mouth or sending him to the zoo to tell the zebras they have too many black stripes, do it.

Silencing your inner critic is crucial to the drafting process. The creative mind is a sensitive entity, but the longer you give it the floor, the more confidence it will have to suggest daring, unique, and beautiful ideas. Give your creative mind the permission to speak freely, and the sparks will fly.

Get Real--Keep the Human in Your Writing

2006-09-14T17:08:00.000-07:00

I'm doing a lot of networking these days, which involves having many conversations with people who don't know me well. If you pay attention in this kind of situation, you learn a lot about how you're perceived by others. Something I've heard from several people lately is, "wow, you're really real." This statement is usually delivered with some degree of surprise, because, I assume, I'm promoting my business while being my natural self.

Can a person successfully represent a business and still be "real"?

I would argue that not only can you do it, but that it's essential to true success. You should see how people relax the longer they talk with me. Shoulders lower, speech gets more natural, and there's a lot more genuine laughter when they realize that there's no need for pretense. I'm ok with showing my true character, and my behavior gives them permission to do the same.

How does this apply to writing? When we're talking about writing for your customers, especially writing that is intended to woo them, it had better be real. Are you going to trust the business that talks about "synergy," and "optimizing solutions"? What does that even mean?! No, you're probably going to trust the business that is talking to you, in the real way that people actually talk. A business that sounds like it contains real people, that has the courage to openly display their meaning, inspires trust in their potential customers.

In my experience, people are relieved to work with someone who isn't pretending to be something other than human. Being human means being a little messy. It means not always saying the perfect, polite, appropriate thing. I know, that seems scary; we don't want to lose customers by writing something that could be taken the wrong way. But by being yourself, you attract customers with whom you actually enjoy working. And enjoying your work, to me, is a huge sign of success.

Ice Skating and the Grammar Beast

2006-09-09T14:28:00.000-07:00

When people talk to me about their writing, I notice there is often an emotion they all share--fear. Writing, a skill that most of us use every day, is central to how we interact with each other.

What about writing causes rational people so much anxiety?

My theory is people fear a monster that I call the "grammar beast." He expects everything to be perfect in your writing. If it isn't, he pounces. He tells all your friends, your boss, that cute girl you're IMing, that you are stupid. He makes fun of your commas, your clumsy sentences, your accidental spelling of "humor" as "humer." He's pretty much a jerk!

It's not unreasonable to be afraid of being mocked. Fear is a primitive response that helps protect us from making big mistakes: the fear of heights, for instance, helps to prevent you from falling to your death. When fear gets out of hand, however, it can prevent you from even trying to overcome a challenge.

In my first ice skating lesson, my teacher started the class by telling us to go fall down. I was freaked out, but I eased myself into a gentle butt-flop (ok, maybe I wiped out sensationally while trying to go down easy). I laughed, stood shakily up, and noticed that my muscles weren't so tense anymore. My stomach had stopped bubbling. I was much calmer--I'd realized that falling really didn't hurt that badly. I skated through the rest of the lesson, literally (insert groan here).

Most of you have had at least one teacher in your past who ripped you to shreds for violating grammar rules. That's really unfortunate, because it probably made you hate and fear grammar, which is the birth of the grammar beast. The truth is good grammar is what helps us understand each other. It prevents miscommunication, which is the thing that gets us into fights, that loses us clients, that generally buggers up our lives.

If you learn to defang the grammar beast--to let go of your fear of not being perfect--it'll be much easier for you to practice good writing. You can't learn to skate if you're always worried about falling down.

Sentence length

2006-09-06T02:03:00.000-07:00

How long should my sentences be?

There's no hard and fast rule about sentence length, but I can give you some pointers. These guidelines vary widely based on your audience--for instance, essay writing is going to have longer sentences than advertising copy. Let's focus on writing for business, especially the web.

Not too long. Sentences probably should be shorter than 15-20 words. Any longer and you'll start to lose people's attention.
Example: "How many times have you read a blog or visited a website only to find that the person doesn't seem to have a point anywhere near him, and he'll just ramble on and on like one of those angry, venting emails you'll send to a close friend, but this guy doesn't seem to get that not everyone cares."
Not too short. At least not often. Sentences should be at least five or six words long, or you'll risk sounding stilted or cut off. Or perhaps like JJ, the hard-nosed, command-issuing, newspaper editor for whom Peter Parker works. (It's a Spiderman reference, people.)
Example: "It is not. I resent that. Slander is spoken. In print, it's libel" (quote courtesy of Spiderman).
Long can work. When you have a powerful rant or a complicated point, you might end up with a fairly long sentence that works. The trick is to make sure you've done your best to simplify it; if you've reworked it and it's still long, that may be the right choice.
Example: The first sentence in this point.
Short can work. Actually, on the web, shorter is usually better. Also, if you want to get attention, a short sentence can do that for you.
Example: "The next point is key." Did you look ahead when you read that?
Mix them up. In general, it's easiest to read writing in which the sentence length varies. There's no good formula for how to do this--you develop a sense of what works with practice. You can start, however, by eyeballing your sentence lengths when you review a draft during your editing phase. (Don't have an editing phase? We'll discuss that later.)
Example: This whole post, along with my other posts.

Notes on long sentences:

When writing long sentences, you need to be sure you have a strong grasp of punctuation. Appropriate punctuation allows your reader some breathing room in the middle of a complex thought. You'll need to get very comfortable with commas, semicolons, colons, and the em dash (looks like this: "--").

It also helps to have enough grammar knowledge to be able to play fast and loose with different ways of writing the sentence. (For example, I could've said, "Knowing grammar well will also help you rewrite sentences," instead.) Then, you can try rephrasing something when you get stuck.

A confession:

If you haven't noticed, I tend towards long sentences. Everyone leans one way or another, and that happens to be my tilt. It's probably because I've been steeped in classic literature and the academic predisposition to equate rambling on with sounding intelligent. Academics like to spin loquacious, ten-dollar-word-rich, flights of eloquence. It's a hard habit to fight. Let me know if you think I'm winning (or losing) .

Collection of writing resources

2006-08-29T00:50:00.000-07:00

I made an aStore with Amazon to house my favorite books and movies on writing. You might find something you like, so I encourage you to check it out:

Take me to the store, woman!

Grammar is the first casualty of war

2006-08-25T17:55:00.000-07:00

Here's a funny article written by Terry Jones (of Monty Python fame) to demonstrate one, rather large, example of why grammar is important: http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0112-02.htm

Yes, it mocks the president.
Don't say I never give you anything fun to read.

You're welcome.

"Its" vs "It's"

2006-08-24T02:25:00.000-07:00

If grammar had wanted posters for errors, incorrect usage of "it's" and "its" would be the one for which the $1,000,000 reward was offered. Problematic metaphors aside, here's the skinny:

It's is always a contraction; use "it's" when you mean "it is" or "it has."
Example: "It's going to be a snazzy party!"
Its is always a possessive form of the pronoun it; use "its" when you mean "something belonging to it."
Example: "Does the car seem to be missing its muffler?"

That's pretty much the whole shebang, gang. If you have further questions on apostrophe usage, check out my post on Pesky Apostophes.

If you have more questions about grammar, punctuation, or style, drop me an email. I might answer your question in my next post.

Pesky Apostrophes

2006-08-24T01:45:00.000-07:00

Ever notice that "apostrophe" and "catastrophe" look similar? Hmm, must be just me...or maybe not. Anyway, here's how you correctly use the little punctuation mark:

To demonstrate possession.
Example: "Joe's restaurant," "dog's shoes," etc.
To indicate a contraction (two words shortened into one, such as "we are," shown in the example).
Example: "We're going to shoot the zombies now."

ACK! What about plurals? What about "its" and "it's"!

Calm down, Spazzy McGee, I'll take care of you.

Pluralized possession (when more than one person or thing is involved in the ownership) means you move the apostrophe to the outside of the "s."
Example: If there are two or more dogs, you write, "dogs' shoes."
NOTE: There are NO APOSTROPHES in basic plural nouns.
Example: "I have many burritos, dogs, CDs, smoothies, and temper tantrums. Don't make me come over there!"

Would you like an angry cartoon flower to remind you of the basic rules?
As for "it's" and "its," I've written a separate posting on that one, due to its notoriety.
If you have a more complicated apostrophe question, such as about plural last names, you can submit a query to me, or check out The Apostrophe Protection Society page for answers.

If you have more questions about grammar, punctuation, or style, drop me an email. I might answer your question in my next post.

"Lay" vs "Lie"

2006-08-18T19:05:00.000-07:00

The misusage of "lay" and "lie" isn't quite the lightning-rod grammar issue that the "your/you're" quandry is, but it's still one that perplexes many.

Use lay when you're talking about putting something (an object) down.
Example: "Watch me lay this stove down in the perfect spot."

Use lie when a person or a thing reclines.
Example 1: "Now I'm tired and I want to lie down."
Example 2: "The phonebook lies on top of the fridge."

The confusing part is when we talk in past tense. Why? The past tense of lie is lay!

The past tense of lay (putting an object down) is laid.
Example: "Yesterday, Susie laid down her climbing shoes for good."

The past tense of lie (a person or a thing reclines) is lay.
Example: "Last night, I lay down at sunset."

That last example sounds wrong, doesn't it? Yep, it's a case of grammar tin ear--common usage that has made the wrong thing sound right. Sneaky thing, language.

If you have more questions about grammar, punctuation, or style, drop me an email. I might answer your question in my next post.

Grammar book for the grammar phobic

2006-08-16T20:12:00.000-07:00

If all you need to transition from grammar goober to grammar goddess is an easy-to-use grammar answer book, check out Woe Is I by Patricia O'Conner.

Subtitled "The Grammarphobe's Guide to Better English in Plain English," Woe Is I is smart without being inaccessible and funny without being cutesy. Plus it provides quicker (and funnier) answers than any other grammar reference book I've seen.

You might actually find yourself (gasp) just plain reading the thing for fun, as well as for edification. Enjoying a grammar lesson...how long has it been since you've done that?

Grammar: the basis for flame wars

2006-08-15T21:46:00.000-07:00

I was recently referred to an article on Digg about software documentation. The subject of the article wasn't nearly as interesting, however, as the posted comments to it. People online LOVE to use poor grammar as evidence that someone's argument is fallacious. It amazes me how venomously folks will attack each other on bulletin boards and in chat rooms for the smallest typo, or, god forbid, error.

I am a raving grammarian, it's true, but I can't help but think this stigma, this...treating a misuse of "you're" as equivalent to showing up to school on the short bus, is the reason that those who aren't great writers will feel shame and hide their lack of skill as if they were track marks.

Folks, not knowing grammar isn't the sin that it seems to be. Is it a skill that most people should be better at? I think so, but not being very good at writing isn't something to be ashamed of, it's something to work on.

The moment you decide to face your shortcomings is the moment they lose power over you. Don't run from your writing issues; face them. Seek out answers and practice as much as possible. If you need someone to bolster you through the process or to give you the answers you can't find, that's when you call me.

"You're" vs "Your"

2006-08-11T17:13:00.000-07:00

This is one of the most pervasive errors I see in writing; I'm not sure if people don't know the difference or if they just don't care. For those who do care, here's the quick rule:

"You're" = "you are"; otherwise use "your."

Want the details? They are below:

Use your when the sentence calls for a possessive pronoun ("pronoun" being a word that stands in for a person, and "possessive" indicating that this person owns something).
Example: "The shoes that belong to you are your shoes."

Use you're when indicating a noun and verb, in this case, a contraction of "you are" ("contraction" is a shortening of two words to make one).
Example: "'You're shoeless right now' could be rephrased as 'you are shoeless right now.'"

If you have more questions about grammar, punctuation, or style, drop me an email. I might answer your question in my next post.

Punctuation--inside or outside quotation marks?

2006-08-09T01:06:00.000-07:00

Here's a grammatical issue that often stymies the best of grammarians:

When does the punctuation go inside the quotes and when does it go outside the quotes?

Commas and periods go INSIDE the quotes (unless you're using a parenthetical reference [Don't know what that is? It probably doesn't apply to you]).
Example 1: John wondered what she meant by "fresh."
Example 2: "It doesn't smell good," said Sheila.
Colons and semicolons go OUTSIDE the closing quotation marks.
Example 1: Sheila described the fish as "fresh"; John disagreed vehemently.
Example 2: John described a few things in life as "too smelly to comprehend": fish, city sidewalks, and personal hair care products.
Dashes, question marks, and exclamation points are placed based upon context. They go INSIDE the quotes when they apply to the quotation itself and OUTSIDE when they apply to the sentence at large.
Example 1: Sheila asked, "John, why are you so picky?"
Example 2: Did John tell Sheila to "stuff it"?

If you have more questions about grammar, punctuation, or style, drop me an email. I might answer your question in my next post.