Category Archives: Writing Tips

As someone who writes, edits and, yes, proofreads for a living, I’ve developed the sort of eye where errors just leap out of the page at me. I find it frustrating, and definitely friends and family do, when one of them gives me a piece of writing to “edit.” After all, they generally just want… Continue reading →

Find grammar nerds annoying? You’re not alone. Reasons for being ‘anti-grammar’ range from a strong dislike of being corrected through a dislike of people we consider ‘nit-picky’ to a feeling that obsessing over grammar stymies the creative flow. In all fairness, these are all reasonably valid reasons. Unfortunately, as an editor, it’s the errors in… Continue reading →

Ten? 10? 1,000? one thousand? 15%? fifteen percent? 15 percent? 3/4? 75 percent? Confused on the ‘correct’ way to use numbers, decimals, fractions and percentages in your writing? Relax – we have the answers. Numbers are everywhere nowadays; it’s common knowledge that using numbers or percentages in headings will make it more likely that readers… Continue reading →

Many editors, style guides and university professors will ask writers to use active voice for preference, some professors have been known to go as far as forbidding their students to use the passive voice. They can’t all be wrong, can they? The short answer is ‘no’, they’re not wrong – most of the time. As the… Continue reading →

What does February mean to you? Groundhog Day? The ‘love’ month? Lunar New Year? Spring just around the corner? All of the above? None of the above?  Love is always good, of course, unless you’re lonely, single or broken-hearted, in which case the 14th is just a very sad day that you’d love to ignore.… Continue reading →