Save the Semicolon

  Have you ever discussed a change to a document and been given the advice to “just do a find and replace”? As with most jobs, people who don’t write think that writing is easier than it really is. “Just do a find and replace” is one of the most common, and short-sighted, comments I [...]

Putting too much information in a sentence gets across less information. Sentence with A and B gets across A and B. Sentence with A, B, C, D, and F gets across NOTHING. Why, because no one will be able to read it. (Or they won’t want to bother trying.)

  I recently read an online argument about one of the most commonly used, and commonly fought, expressions around: It’s the answer to “how are you?” “I’m doing good” vs. “I’m doing well.” [NOTE: I'd also like to defend "I'm good," but others have done it well, so I've pasted a link below.] But first, [...]

Not a real post here, but just something I thought was funny. I’m reading about “Siri,” Apple’s new electronic assistant. You ask it to do things, and it does them. But I think the marketing writers should have reworked the paragraph shown in the image below:

Have you, as a writer, ever received feedback on a doc that didn’t give you what you need? As an editor or stakeholder, have you ever had to give feedback on a doc, but it didn’t work out as well as you’d hoped? I think sometimes the problem is that the person giving edits doesn’t [...]

A quick tip that I sometimes forget. Complicated ideas are often really hard to write concisely. When I try to compress an idea, I find that I start to lose accuracy, or add ambiguity. The thing that works best for me is to write it exactly how I’d explain it to someone, without worrying about [...]

A question I usually ask myself when first editing a document is, “how can I reduce this by a third?” Usually, people add more words because they think that those words help make the point accurately and completely. And it’s my job to find a way to say the same thing with fewer words. But [...]

Due to some very silly conversations I’ve had recently, I looked up this post that I had written for another blog a few years ago. Since it relates tangentially to writing, I thought I’d post it here. If you’ve already read it, well, read it again! Chaucer with an American accent Some people seem to [...]

Language is funny. This post doesn’t give any helpful tips about using language, or about writing. But I recently thought of one of many examples of how native speakers use language in a way that might seem inscrutable to new speakers. Think of the difference between asking: Are you cold? And Aren’t you cold? Strangely, [...]

Have you ever worked on a product that has poor UI copy or design? Of course. What about poor UI copy or design that’s been around a long time and is now the standard way of doing things for that product? When do we force the issue and change it? For professional reasons, I can’t [...]