When to use a colon. The humble colon, not to be confused with a body part, can be used as follows: 1) to introduce a list (as I have just shown above) 2) to show contrast e.g. two separate sentences which contrast with one another The wicked are damned: the Read more…
Maybe (as an adverb) When used as an adverb (a word or phrase that modifies or qualifies an adjective, verb, or other adverb or a word group) ‘maybe’ is written as one word. Use it when you want to say perhaps something will happen. Maybe I won’t go to the Read more…
The words therefore and however have similarities. The same rules also apply for words such as moreover and furthermore. You’ve come to the right place for writing help! Reach me here for help with any writing projects. The start of a sentence The most frequent use is at the start Read more…
For a breakdown of the different types of dash/hyphen see my article on Em dash use in formal writing. The easiest way to understand em dash use in creative writing is to read and decide for yourself what works and what doesn’t work. So below I will demonstrate through three Read more…
From my experience, one of the best writers I have worked with was dyslexic. Yet, they doubted their own writing ability! Their ideas were clearly expressed, uniquely expressed, and while there were some errors in spelling and word selection… Wow! This person could write. So I wanted to share a Read more…
A concise recap of types of dashes First, a quick summary on how to use dashes in formal writing: Dash/Hyphen – use to connect words e.g. ‘well-known’. En dash – to show a range of dates (basically, replaces the ‘to’) e.g. Profits increased from November – October that year. Em Read more…
Here are some tips to ensure you pick the right proofreader for your project. I’m going to start with the most contentious subject pricing. Pricing If the price appears too good to be true: it is. Don’t trust it. Newcomers or those without qualifications tend to underbid everyone so they Read more…
As someone who had been testing out Grammarly’s services for a few months, … nothing the company does could allay its true underlying problem: its services just aren’t that good. …many of the “fixes” in Grammarly’s advertisements are either unhelpful or actively wrong. For example, in the sentence, “Let’s suppose you’re Read more…
Word origins can be fascinating. A computer “bug” is an error, flaw, failure or fault in a computer program or system that causes it to produce an incorrect or unexpected result, or to behave in unintended ways. What do you think? Why do we say, “computer bug” and not computing error? Although, you will hear technical people saying, Read more…
I have just canceled my subscription to Grammarly’s writing tool, and after having sent a ranty email to Grammarly’s PR rep I thought it would be helpful to share my criticism of the service. If you listen to its fans you would think Grammarly is the best grammar-checking tool on the market according to Read more…