I’ve written before about the spoken word, because whether you’re writing it down or saying it out loud, it’s communication.

Today, I want to point out how sloppy habits of spoken language do not translate well when written down.
I was like, how can he? And he was like, well, that’s what I like. So, like, I’m suppose to like that he’s like, It’s soooo great!?
How many times did you have to read that to translate the “likes”? That is a snippet  of conversation I heard at Starbuck’s last week.  (I was not eavesdropping. The speaker was on her phone in line …

Writing to complain—the need can arise for us all.

I recently had to write a letter of complaint to Kaiser’s billing agency to ask them to correct their statement that says I suffered a sprained neck in a car crash. I had a sprained ankle. I’d spoken to them on the phone and they’ve said yeah, sure they’d change that sprained neck to sprained ankle. They didn’t. The time came for me to put my complaint in writing.

Complaining in writing helps you:

• Marshal your thoughts and organize your argument
• Express yourself respectfully. When you take time to write and review, you …
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One of the largest mental hurdles to maintaining a consistent business blog is coming up with a topic week after week.  It is easy to trap yourself with an artificial need for novelty instead of sticking to your strengths.  But if you’re really unsure of your ability to come up with relevant topics, the following strategies help.
1. Follow the News
Whether you listen to the radio while you commute or read an industry magazine on the weekends, make sure you keep abreast of current events.  The modern online reader is interested in relevant commentary.

Look for the stories that interest you as …

One of my favorite clothing stores had their big summer sale recently. They posted signs in their windows and throughout the store: End of Summer! Final Sale! 45% Off!  Lucky me, I found a snazzy orange top which I was 90% sure would look great with my floral print skirt.

10% of uncertainty didn’t worry me, because the store has a decent return policy. I’ve often taken a garment home, found that it did not work with my wardrobe, and then brought it back. In fact, the salespeople often suggest doing so.

But as the sales clerk rang up my purchase, I …

A word of warning: If you produce blog posts regularly and without fail, this article is not for you.

This article offers approaches to writing, strategizing, using research, collaborating, and scheduling.

If you’re already on top of your blog, producing regular content on schedule and without impacting your other obligations, you will not gain anything from the suggestions it contains.
Where to Begin: Write First
Putting pen to paper is the most important part of any writing project. Without that crucial step, you will never generate any content.

First you must write.

Don’t worry about style.

Don’t worry about substance.

…

Ah, the good old days! When we could say “the 40s” or “the 90s” and the words flowed easily and everyone understood each other.

But now… what? This century is not only uncomfortable to live in, it isn’t easy to refer to.
How to Write It
If you want to abbreviate a year—let’ use 2006—you can write ‘06.  Yes, there is only one apostrophe.

If you refer to the decade—for example, the first decade of the current century, or the decade just before—do not place an apostrophe before the s. Write the ’00s and the ’90s or whatever. These sentences are spelled correctly:
“I taught …

Talking with a colleague the other day, I was startled to learn that he does not write down the project details when he takes on a new client project. No written contract.

Yikes.

“Spell it out” is my advice, and I guarantee it will save you time, money and headaches.

I have written Agreements with all my customers to spell out at the least what I will do for them, how long it will take, and what it will cost.

My Agreements evolve out of my proposal to the client. Having discussed the essentials with a client, I put together a proposal using my …

When writing for a business, there is a temptation to turn writing into a solo affair. Why take time from several people when one is clearly an expert with all the knowledge you might ever need to include?

Unfortunately, it is also an approach that invites problems, from missed deadlines to reams of techno-babble, or worse still, it’s converse: a treatise so bland and accessible it seems to lack any genuine insight.

Injecting a second actor into the writing process speeds content generation, creates a more dynamic voice, and ensures the resulting text has both depth and breadth.

We have started using …

I started reading as a kid not because my parents read to me (as is so often advocated) but because my parents read. They went to the library every week, so I went along. They sat in the family room after dinner, reading, so ditto my brothers and I. Now, decades later, I still head to the library every Saturday, and I still read after dinner (often, during dinner).

Reading helped me become a better writer. Here are but three reasons why:
1. Better Vocabulary

The most obvious thing to which reading adds is your word bank. As we …

Ever seen a frustrated Mom try to get sense out of her tantrum-tossing kid? “Use your words, honey…”

Words. Use your words, people.

I just saw Powermat’s new commercial about their bleeping fabulous product. That’s literally the word used throughout the commercial: Bleeping.
That’s bleeping it?

It’s bleeping charging?!

All bleeping day long.

That’s bleeping magic!

Holy Bleep!
Powermat is then proud to tag this juvenile dialog with: Powermat. Bleep the cords.

Let’s check in with people who have more respect for words, and for the intelligence of the English speaker, than do Powermat’s copywriters:
Mark Twain
“Eschew surplusage.” Meaning we should shun or avoid, as something wrong or from a …