Writing Skills

Effective writing skills help you communicate clearly and quickly in the workplace and reduce the time required for clarification or questions.
[string]
Want to Write Attention-Getting Documents? Focus on Your Reader

 

We have a tendency to focus on our own perspectives when completing tasks, including writing our business documents. But the best documents (the ones that capture the most attention) focus on the reader’s point of view instead.

…

[string]
Motivating Writers Through Positive And Constructive Feedback

Most organizations don’t have professional editors on staff.  And while many strong writers are also strong editors, editing does represent a unique skill set that not everyone excels at without specific training. When you edit, you want to…

[string]
An Email Structure that Gets Results

Do you sometimes pause before you send out an email because you don’t know where to start, or how to start? You will no longer have these concerns if you follow what is known as the MAD email format.

MAD is an acronym for Message…

[string]
Spotting Signs That Need Help

When driving around town, I look at signs. The image posted shows one I see weekly, and its mistakes jump out every time. Let's take a look at it.

First, let's look at spelling, The Canadian Press Caps and Spelling book lists…

[string]
Have you ever thought much about the pronouns ‘me’ and ‘myself’? Probably not. But you should!

What is each pronoun all about?

The pronoun ‘me’ is an object pronoun. Therefore, as a writer, you want to use it either after a preposition, such as ‘for me’, 'with me’, ‘from me’, or as the object of a verb, for example: He loves me. It…

[string]
What We Learned at PLAIN 2013

From October 11 to October 13, 2013, Marie and I attended the 9th Biennial Plain Language Association International PLAIN 2013 Conference in Vancouver. For three days, we met with other plain language enthusiasts to discuss and share ideas on how…

[string]
Why We Need to Avoid Using "Shall"

Finally, I’ve found a concrete example showing why we should avoid the use of “shall” in writing. (yes, even legal writing)

While attending the PLAIN conference, I had the pleasure of hearing a presentation from Joseph Kimble, a leading…

[string]
Calling All Capitalization Questions

Have you ever considered how capitalization can affect the meaning of your sentences? Take a look at these two sentences and notice how one capitalized word can completely change the meaning of the sentence.

Sentence 1: Help Uncle…

[string]
Do you go to the Mens Restroom or the Men’s Restroom?

One way the apostrophe is often misused is when you want to show ownership. You probably see the misuse of this type of apostrophe use all the time.

…
Subscribe to Writing Skills