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Ellipses

Posted on August 31, 2015 - 2:30 pm by Laura Dohan

Ellipses

Ellipses are used in informal and formal writing.

Informal

If you want to express a pause or a trailing off in your writing, use an ellipsis. An ellipsis is always three dots, but if you put an ellipsis at the end of a sentence you need to use a period as well (for a total of four dots).

You can choose whether or not to place a space between the ellipsis and your words.

Is that a…scorpion?

Is that a … scorpion?

I once wished that…. Actually, never mind.

I once wished that … . Actually, never mind.

Formal

Ellipses are used to indicate that you’ve removed part of a quote. Some writers enclose these ellipses in brackets, and some don’t.

Some style guides use ellipses at the end of quotes, and some don’t.

“We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, … we shall fight on the beaches. …”

“We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, […] we shall fight on the beaches.”

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Commas

Posted on August 31, 2015 - 2:24 pm by Laura Dohan

Commas

The comma is arguably the most versatile punctuation mark. Since its list of uses is so lengthy, let’s get going!

Lists

If you have a series of three or more things, separate those words with commas.

Wrong: Braeden bought apples bread yoghurt and zucchini at the grocery store.

Right: Breaden bought apples, bread, yoghurt, and zucchini at the grocery store.

In the example, I included a comma before the “and”. This comma is called the Oxford or serial comma, and it is not essential. However, it can eliminate confusion.

Whether or not you use the Oxford comma, it’s important to choose one method and stick with it.

Adjectives

Have you ever noticed that some adjectives had commas between them and others don’t?

Commas: I live in a red, white, and black house.

No Commas: I live in a genuine 18th-century house.

Believe it or not, there actually are rules about when commas go between adjectives and when they don’t. Use commas if your adjectives are coordinate, meaning that the adjectives can go in any order and you can put “and” between them.

Rearranging the Order: I live in a white, black, and red house.

Adding And: I live in a red and white and black house.

Both of those sentences make sense.

Don’t use commas if your adjectives are cummulative, meaning that you can’t rearrange them or put “and” between them.

Rearranging the Order: I live in an 18th-century genuine house.

Adding And: I live in a genuine and 18th-century house.

Huh? These sentences don’t make sense because “genuine” is modifying “18th-century” not “house”. The speaker is saying that his house really is from the 18th-century, not that it’s really a house. Grammar Girl has more examples to help you with this tricky concept.

Quotes

Quotes that occur in the middle of a sentence get lots of introduction. First, there’s a comma, then the quotation marks, then the actual quote. Like this:

After breakfast, Janine said, “I’m stuffed!”

If you’ve got a broken quote, you also need a comma after the first half:

“My concern”, said Jackson, “is that I’ll be late for the bus.”

Parenthetical Elements

A parenthetical element is a phrase or word that is not essential to your sentence and can easily be removed. You indicate that this part of the sentence is parenthetical by setting it off with commas.

Evangeline’s comma splice, usually an egregious offence, was hardly noticed.

Honestly, I rarely go to the movies.

Non-restrictive relative clauses are a type of parenthetical element.

Places and Dates

Separate smaller places from the larger places in which they are located (e.g. cities from provinces, states from countries).

Victoria, British Columbia

Paris, France

New Mexico, USA

If you write dates in the month, day, year format, place a comma between the day and the year:

May 12, 2014

If you write dates in the day, month, year format, don’t use any commas:

12 May 2014

Conjunctions and Dependent Clauses

Using commas with coordinating conjunctions and dependent clauses is covered in the sentences lesson.

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Colons

Posted on August 31, 2015 - 2:06 pm by Laura Dohan

Colons

Even though semicolons and colons look similar and have similar names, they have different functions.

Introduce a List

Colons indicate that a list is coming up. However, you can only use a colon after an independent clause.

Wrong: My favourite punctuation marks are: semicolons, colons, and ellipses.

Right: I have three favorite punctuation marks: semicolons, colons, and ellipses.

Wrong: My employees must have:

good time management
computer programming experience

Right: My employees must have the following skills:

good time management
computer programming experience

If you’re unsure about about whether or not you can use a colon, check if the part before the colon makes sense by itself (i.e. is an independent clause).

If you’ve placed your colon correctly, you can replace it with “namely”.

Following Speakers in Interviews, Plays, and Transcripts

Chloe: What advice do you have for new bloggers?

Brian: Write for you target audience.

Explain What Follows:

Here colons and semicolons are similar. You can replace a semicolon with a colon if the second independent clause explains or illustrates the previous one. You can choose whether or not to capitalize the second independent clause.

I am so proud of Aubrey: she practiced for years to win the competition.

I am so proud of Aubrey: She practiced for years to win the competition.

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Apostrophes

Posted on August 31, 2015 - 2:00 pm by Laura Dohan

Apostrophes

Apostrophes are frequently misused, but the rules about them aren’t complicated.

Possession

If you have a singular noun that doesn’t end in -s, add an apostrophe + s.

The dog’s dinner smells strange.

Marie’s bouquet includes orchids.

If you have a singular noun that ends in in -s, you can either add an apostrophe + s, or just add an apostrophe.

Chris’s treasure chest is hidden on this island.

Chris’ treasure chest is hidden on this island.

If you have a plural noun that doesn’t end in -s, add an apostrophe + s

After much questioning, we discovered the children’s mischief.

The mice’s squeaks terrified me.

If you have a plural noun that ends in -s, only add an apostrophe after the -s.

On Saturdays, I go to the farmers’ market.

The musicians’ performances have all been fabulous.

Omission

When letters are left out of a word or digits are left out of a number, that omission is indicated by an apostrophe. Here are some common contractions:

Can’t (Cannot)

Could’ve (Could have)

Don’t (Do not)

We’re (We are)

‘60s (1960s)

The commonly confused contractions it’s, they’re, and you’re are covered in this lesson.

Pluralization

Before you go any farther, I want to make something clear: using apostrophes to pluralize is the exception, not the rule. The only times you can use an apostrophe when pluralizing are with letters and numbers (and even in these cases, you don’t have to use an apostrophe).

If it’s not a letter or number, just add -s. All of the following examples are correct:

You didn’t cross your t’s.

You didn’t cross your “t”s.

My sister-in-law has two PhD’s.

My sister-in-law has two PhDs.

Natalie is the only person I know who loves 80’s fashion.

Natalie is the only person I know who loves ‘80s fashion.

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Write for Your Target Audience

Posted on August 31, 2015 - 1:48 pm by Laura Dohan

Write for Your Target Audience

Know Who Buys Your Product

It’s always a good idea to know who you’re writing for, but knowing your audience is especially important in product descriptions, since your goal is to sell. Ask your client who buys their products or who they want to have buy their products.

Create a Specific Persona

Once you know who your target audience is, hone in some more. Turn your client’s target audience into a specific person.

Know your person’s gender, age, interests, style, sense of humour, and how he talks. Keep your target person in mind the whole time you write, imagining that you’re talking to her. Be sure to use the word “you”.

Choose an Appropriate Tone

You want to know how your target person talks so that you can write in that style. In general, your tone should be friendly, and maybe a bit humorous (depending on your audience).

Choose words that attract your target person. Is she interested in products that are cute, cool, hipster, cutting-edge, trendy, healthy, vintage, or elegant?

Will he understand product-related jargon? Write using your audience’s language and tone.

A note about tone: Ideally your client will have a consistent tone throughout their product descriptions. If they already have an established tone, follow that.

If they haven’t developed a tone yet, maybe they’ll like your tone and use it in their other descriptions.

Build a Features-Benefits Bridge

A feature is a fact about a product. A benefit is how the product affects the buyer. Shoppers are much more interested in benefits than features, so you should focus on them in your product description.

One way to do so is by creating a features-benefits bridge. Link each feature that you include with a benefit that that feature provides.

If you’re selling microwavable lunch containers, your features-benefits bridge might look like this:

Microwavable — Avoid the hassle of plates; heat your food straight in the container.

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Stick to the Facts

Posted on August 31, 2015 - 1:42 pm by Laura Dohan

Stick to the Facts

If you’re like me, you don’t like being lied to. Keeping that in mind, let’s see how to write product descriptions without being dishonest.

Provide Precise Details

You want to share what makes your product unique and great. Generalities certainly won’t help with that!

Bad: This mug is large, red, and lightweight.

Better: This mug is 0.3L (10.1 fl oz), a cheery scarlet-red, and 10% lighter than other porcelain mugs.

The more precise you are about your details, the more likely your customers are to be happy with what they bought, since the product matches the description.

Being specific also makes your product stand out. Rather than saying that your product is “excellent”, show why it’s excellent.

Support Claims About Quality

Let’s face it — not every product can be the best, most amazing, most advanced, coolest thing that your customers have ever bought. Throwing superlatives into your product description isn’t going to convince your buyers. Rather, you need to describe what makes your product great (especially in terms of benefits) and back up your claims with evidence.

Bad: This is the best mug! No other mug retains the heat so well while also being microwavable.

Better: This porcelain mug keeps drinks toasty and provides just the right temperature balance to keep your hands warm without being hot to the touch. Plus, it’s microwavable. Do you want some hot chocolate?

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Action Verbs and Sensory Adjectives

Posted on August 31, 2015 - 1:32 pm by Laura Dohan

Action Verbs and Sensory Adjectives

Writing guides often advocate limiting adjectives. This is tricky advice for product description writers because it’s tempting to rely on adjectives to sell your product.

Choose Verbs Over Adjectives

Action verbs pack a punch. Try to avoid using “is”, “are”, “be”, and passive verbs, all of which seem bland. On the other hand, action verbs speak stronger than adjectives. Rather than cramming your sentences with adjectives and weak verbs, choose strong verbs.

Bad: This beautiful necklace is perfect for your fashionable tastes.

Better: This necklace will satisfy the desires of the fashionista in you.

Here I changed the generic adjectives beautiful, perfect, and fashionable, and the weak verb is to the strong verb satisfy and the interesting noun fashionista. Which sentence makes you want to buy a necklace?

Get Sensory with Your Adjectives

Run-of-the-mill adjectives don’t sell, but sensory adjectives do. A sensory adjective appeals to smell, taste, touch, sight, or sound. Sensory adjectives help buyers experience your product virtually, and that experience sells.

Bad: Our soft, lilac print pillow will help you sleep better.

Better: Dream the night away on this creamy soft pillow. The lilac print pattern leaves you practically smelling the flowers.

When you include an adjective in a product description, ask, “Is this sensory? How does it help sell my product? Could I replace it with a more specific and powerful word?”

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Proofreading

Posted on August 31, 2015 - 1:28 pm by Laura Dohan

Proofreading

Editing deals with the overall structure and content of your writing. Proofreading gets more nitpicky, looking at spelling, grammar, and punctuation mistakes, as well as typos. To make sure that you don’t introduce any new errors, always proofread after editing.

Typos and Spelling

Always use a spell checker while writing, but don’t rely on it. Correct any spelling mistakes that your spell checker finds, and then read your post backwards or out loud to spot any more mistakes. Spell checkers improve constantly, but they aren’t perfect, especially with homophones. Be particularly careful that you’ve spelled commonly confused words correctly.

Grammar and Punctuation

Grammar checkers aren’t as sophisticated as spell checkers yet; they miss many mistakes and catch “mistakes” that aren’t real. Use them, but with caution!

Taking the Stellar University grammar and punctuation lessons is your best bet for spotting grammar and punctuation mistakes. Pay special attention to dangling modifiers, subject-verb agreement, subject-pronoun agreement, and run-on sentences.

Consistency

Consistency checkers don’t exist yet, so you’re on your own for this one. Make sure that you stick to consistent spelling and punctuation choices throughout your copy.

In this lesson, I wrote “spell checker”, so I want to make sure that I don’t have “spellchecker” as well. Similarly, in the previous sentence, I put the comma outside of the quotation marks, following British style.

Any more comma-quotation mark pairs that I use must follow the same format.

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Outlining

Posted on August 31, 2015 - 1:23 pm by Laura Dohan

Outlining

As a content writer, you want to write quickly. After all, the faster you write the happier your clients will be with your turnaround time, and the more money you’ll make. Since speed is one of your goals, you might think that you don’t have time for outlining. But you do.

Save Time

Obviously, outlining takes time. But if it stops your writer’s block and limits the editing that you need to do, then outlining actually saves time. Let’s look at some outlining techniques and time-saving strategies.

Work Out a Title

Before you can write, you need to know what you’re writing about. That advice sounds obvious, but I mean really know. Let’s say your client has given you a topic, but no title. You need to narrow that topic down to a working title. Corey Eridon explains the difference between a topic and a working title: “[A] topic is something general, while a working title is specific”.

Topic: SEO 2014 trends

Title: The 5 Hottest SEO Trends of 2014

Topic: Homemade artisan bread

Title: How to Make Artisan Sourdough Bread Overnight

Your working title doesn’t have to be your final wording; it’s just a guide for what you want to communicate in your writing.

Brainstorm

Now, you want to brainstorm ideas relating to your title. Remember, in brainstorming, all ideas are good ideas. Write down as many ideas as possible, but once you can’t think of any more, move on to the next step. If you can’t think of a title, you can brainstorm that too.

Organize

Now that you’ve got ideas, it’s time to arrange them. Ask yourself: What are the most important ideas here? Are there any overarching themes? What’s the best flow? Organize your ideas together in logical groups and discard unimportant or irrelevant ideas.

Title: How to Use Commas Like a Pro

Brainstorm: lists, no comma splices, conjunctions, with quotation marks, with adjectives, Oxford comma, difference between commas and semicolons

Organized:

Lists
- Oxford Comma
Conjunctions
- No comma splices
With Quotation Marks
With Adjectives

See how I’ve grouped together related ideas, arranged my ideas in a logical order (simple to more complex uses), and eliminated less relevant ideas (difference between commas and semicolons)? For this outline, I used bullet points, but you can also use a simple list, a mind map, a traditional outline, or something else that works for you.

Tweak Your Outline

How does your outline look? If you spent a lot of time brainstorming, it might be full of ideas (maybe even too many). If you had trouble brainstorming, you might think of some ideas that you need to add now.

Also check that each of your main points has a similar number of supporting points. If you’ve got six supporting ideas there, but none here, try combining some ideas or breaking the big group into a couple smaller ones.

Tweak your outline until you think you’ve got all the information you need to write easily and without interruptions.

Just Write

Congratulations! You’ve already done the most difficult work. After outlining, writing will be easy-peasy. Now, I can’t promise that you’ll never get stuck while writing.

But if you do, ask yourself what information you should have had in your outline to help you, and include that information next time. You also don’t have to follow the suggestions in this lesson.

As long as you find a planning method that helps you write efficiently, you’re good to go.

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Editing

Posted on August 31, 2015 - 1:20 pm by Laura Dohan

You pound out your final sentence, hit submit, and breath a sigh of relief: You’re done. Ummm…not so quickly. Every good writer knows the necessity of editing. Writing develops your ideas, but editing strengthens the presentation of those ideas.

Write, Then Edit

Writing and editing are separate processes. When you write, don’t worry about grammar, spelling, structure, word choice, or any other nitpicky details. If you have a decent outline, you won’t go too far off-track, so just write, and save your editing for later.

Break Time!

When I said, “Write, then edit”, I should have said, “Write, take a break, then edit”. You’re a busy writer, so I know you want to start your next project right away, but don’t shortchange your editing time.

Ideally, you should take a day off between writing and editing. If that’s not possible, have lunch, go for a walk, or think about something else for 20 minutes.

When you write, you’re heavily invested in your work. Taking a break detaches you from your writing, so that you can edit objectively.

Alright, you’ve taken a break, now you’re ready to edit. Here are questions to ask while editing.

Does It Flow?

Read your whole copy through once. Do you like the structure? Does it progress logically? Should you move some paragraphs around? Keep in mind that many readers will never reach the end of your post.

Will they still learn anything if they make it half way or only read your intro? Can you use the inverted pyramid layout?

Is That Necessary?

Question every word, sentence, and paragraph. Is that the sharpest, most powerful word you can use? Does that sentence help your argument? Can you shorten it, or divide it into two sentences?

What’s the purpose of that paragraph? Does it belong here or would it be more effective elsewhere? Occasionally, you’ll add words while editing, but editing is mainly about trimming your writing.

If you don’t cut any words, you’re doing it wrong.

Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?

Have you answered these six questions? Some questions are more relevant for certain topics than others, but think of how they all relate to the subject you’re writing about.

If you’ve forgotten to include who should use SEO or where the best dog walking parks are, answer those questions.

Are They Hooked and Inspired?

If you’re like me, you find introductions and conclusions the hardest to write. Knowing that those sections give your readers their first and last impressions is a lot of pressure.

Pay special attention to your opening and closing sentences. Does your intro hook readers? Do you move on to your important points quickly?

Do you finish with a call to action? How will your readers feel at the end of your piece?

How Does It Sound?

Reading out loud is one of the best ways to edit. When you read silently, it’s easy to skim. Reading out loud forces you to slow down, and it also reveals any awkward phrases. Are your sentences so long that you run out of breath? Are they too short and choppy? Do you repeat words excessively?

By now, you may be feeling overwhelmed by my questions. Keep this list, or a similar one, handy while you edit, and move through it from start to finish so that you don’t forget any steps.

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