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Change. It happens constantly, whether we like it or not. As we reach the middle of February, we are already, in some places, seeing signs of winter finally turning towards spring. The seasons change year after year – nothing can stop this change. At the same time, the way we work has changed for many of us, and will continue to do so in a way few of us would have visualized this time last year. Many of us are working from home, others are in workplaces that have physically changed beyond recognition.     Those of us who work with language, as writers and editors, are also faced with constantly changing vocabulary and grammar and punctuation rules. It can be difficult to keep up and to know what is acceptable in formal writing and what is not. Style guides change their reco ...

This year, there is a definite move to abandon New Year’s resolutions in favour of New Year’s intentions. The idea is that resolutions are far too difficult to maintain and – given the stresses of the extraordinary year that has just ended – we should be kinder to ourselves and focus on general intentions rather than specific goals. So, what are your intentions for your business in the coming year? We have three suggestions:   Remain open to change; innovation may make the difference between survival and failure.   Many small businesses have had to turn on a dime in the past year and come up with innovative ways to change their business model and adapt to conducting business in a pandemic. Despite this, many will still suffer grievous losses as global lockdowns dispro ...

  Amidst many uncertainties, there’s one thing we can be sure of – the 2020 holiday season will be very different. Remember December 2019? When we sent out the usual seasonal wishes, including a “happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year”?   Hmm – didn’t quite go as planned, did it?   I suspect we’ll express similar wishes this year, but in the rather desperate hope that the end of 2020 will point us to a brighter future. It should! Nothing goes on forever, not even a pandemic, and we do have vaccines on the horizon that should help turn things around in 2021. We will get through this together!       Sadly, in addition to the tragic loss of life, 2020 has left many businesses, large and small, struggling to survive. How should we, then, best ce ...