Here’s How to Write a Blog Post Like a Professional

You sit down. You stare at your screen. The cursor blinks. So do you. Anxiety sets in. Where do you begin when you want to create an article that will earn you clicks, comments, and social shares? This simple formula will show you how to write a blog post by guiding you from blank page to finished work.

1Choose your blog post topic

I know quite a few writers whose abandoned personal blogs are languishing in some dark corner of the Internet. These writers launched their blogs with joy and enthusiasm, but their momentum fizzled because they found it too hard to keep coming up with inspiring topics. Don’t let this happen to you. Here are some great ways to choose a topic that will resonate with your audience.

• Pick something you’re passionate about. When you care about your topic, you’ll write about it in a more powerful, emotionally expressive way.
• Pick something your readers are passionate about. What does your audience care about? It’s important to know so you can engage them. And don’t be afraid to go negative (e.g. Ten “Healthy” Foods You Should Always Avoid). The human negativity bias is legit.
• Get inspired by research. Some of the best articles I’ve written germinated when I grew curious about a subject and decided to explore it.
• Get inspired by other writers. No, I don’t mean you should plagiarize or blatantly copy ideas. But you can take a look at what your competition is writing about and put your own spin on these subjects. What new information or ideas can you bring to the table?

Keep a log of every topic idea that comes your way. You never know when you’re going to be stumped by the question “What should I write?”

Here’s a tip: Use a bookmarking tool like Pocket or EverNote to store clips and notes. Use your clip file for inspiration whenever your idea well runs dry.

2 Pick one clear angle.

You’ve got a topic. Awesome! Now, what’s your angle? Avoid a broad approach—get specific. You’ll get overwhelmed if you pick a huge subject like organic vegetable gardening and try to cover it all. Instead, go with “10 Budget-Friendly Ways to Start an Organic Vegetable Garden.”

Think about the best approach to your topic. If you want to explain how to do something, a step-by-step how-to article could work well. Want to write about your favorite autobiographies or offer your best tips for throwing a memorable dinner party? Consider a listicle. There’s nothing wrong with a straight-up essay, either, as long as it’s well-organized.

Speaking of which . . .

3 Get organized.

Whenever my dad had a disagreement with someone, he’d make his case and then storm off, but inevitably come back minutes later, one finger raised in proclamation, saying, “And another thing!” He did this so often that it became a running family joke.

Don’t write like my dad debated. Many bloggers make the mistake of not organizing their thoughts before they begin, which leads to “and another thing” writing. You’ll continue adding thoughts in a random, incoherent fashion. Articles like that don’t get read and shared, they get ignored.

If you’ve ever grown impatient while listening to someone tell a story, wanting them to just get to the point, then you know what it’s like to read an article that lacks organization. My dear content creators, no one wants to try to fish a few salient points out of your stream of consciousness.

— 9 Workflow Strategies That Will Make You a Faster Writer

Organize your thoughts with an outline. Here’s the outlining strategy I use. I promise it works like a charm. Not only will it make writing your blog post easier, it’ll help you make your message focused and clear for your readers.

4Open strong

If you tied a worm to the end of a fishing line, how many bluegills do you think you’d catch?

Easy answer: none. Dangling a worm alone may get you a nibble or two, but if you actually want to reel ’em in, you need a hook. Think of your opening paragraph as an advertisement for the rest of your blog post, the thing that keeps your reader on the line. Consider these examples from 5 Things That Will Make You Better at Content Writing.

Weak Hook

Writing a great opening paragraph is very important. Here are a few tips to get you on the way to hooking your readers.

Yawn. Don’t tell your reader that something’s important, show her. Why should she want “a few tips” from you?

Strong Hook

I just stopped reading your article. You had about two seconds to hook me, but your yawn-inducing opener made me surf on to something else. Writers (not to mention their websites) thrive on being read, so why do we invest so little time in crafting strong opening hooks?

Consider using a little foreshadowing in your hook. Scroll back and take a look at the opening paragraph of this article. See how it hints at what’s to come? That’s foreshadowing. Suggest what you’re going to deliver within the article so we’ll be compelled to read on.

5Write naturally

The one thing you have that other writers don’t is your voice. Cultivate it! If it works for your article, consider writing in the first person and including some relatable anecdotes. (Like my “And another thing!” tale.) Whenever you can, tell a story, whether it’s your own or someone else’s.

If you don’t have a story to relate to your readers, you can at least infuse your article with your personal style. Instead of writing like you’re churning out a dry research paper, write as though you’re telling a friend about some cool new stuff you’ve learned. Use your own natural, conversational tone. Keep your language simple and direct. In other words, just be you. No one else can.

—5 Things That Will Make You Better at Content Writing

6Write emotionally

Remember what I briefly mentioned about the human negativity bias? Our brains are wired to look for danger, and so we’re naturally drawn to warnings and other information that’s skewed toward the negative. (In fact, the media uses the negativity bias to capture our attention because it works so well.) Using negativity is a kind of emotional writing.

But that doesn’t mean you have to be a constant downer in order to keep your readers hooked. You can create interest just by using emotional language to write on topics your readers care about. PRO TIP: How do you know people will care about your topic? Because you care about it!

7 Close strong

You’ve come this far. Now, it’s time to write a killer close that will help cement your post in your reader’s mind, create engagement, and encourage social sharing. Let’s look at a few.

• Simply end at a natural stopping point. No wrap-ups, no frills—just end when you’re finished. Give it a try if it suits your post and writing style.
• Wrap it up with a summary paragraph. This is by far the most traditional approach. Summarize your conclusions and add some closing thoughts.
• Create a TL;DR. For better or worse, we skim when we read online. A TL;DR is usually a simple bulleted list that lets a reader see your conclusions at a glance. You never know—the TL;DR could inspire someone to go back and read the full article.
• Fish for comments. When you wrap up with a compelling question, you encourage your readers to have a say. This can help you build community around your blog.
• Ask for a social share. It never hurts to ask people to share your article if it resonated with them.
• Ask the reader to subscribe. The reader made it to the end of your article—they like you! Ask them to connect with you on social media or subscribe to your blog channel so they can see whenever you post new content.
• Promote a product. See below. *wink*

Now that you’ve drafted a memorable post, edit. Clean up the clutter and eliminate wordiness. And don’t forget to use Grammarly as your extra pair of eyes to help you catch typos and look for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors.

Comma Before And

Whether or not you put a comma before and depends on how you’re using and. There’s no single rule that applies to all situations. You usually put a comma before and when it’s connecting two independent clauses. It’s almost always optional to put a comma before and in a list.

Comma Before And in Lists

A lot of people have strong feelings about putting a comma before and in a list. Exactly why this particular quirk of comma usage stirs such passions is hard to say; it’s just one of those things. If you’ve ever heard someone arguing about serial commas or Oxford commas, this is what they were talking about.

Let’s say your dog has so many great qualities that you just have to tell the world. When you list your dog’s qualities, you have to use a comma after each quality you list except the one that comes immediately before and. That comma is optional.

The dog is young, well trained, and good natured.

The dog is young, well trained and good natured.

The sentence is correct with or without the comma before and. (There are a few exceptions that require you to use the Oxford comma in a list, but they are pretty rare.) Just be consistent. Don’t switch back and forth in the same document between using the Oxford comma and not using it.

By the way, this rule only applies to lists of three or more items. You should not use a comma before and if you’re only mentioning two qualities.

The dog is well trained, and good natured.

The dog is well trained and good natured.

This is true for proper names, ordinary nouns, verbs, or anything else.

Sam, and Sarah take excellent care of their pets.

Sam and Sarah take excellent care of their pets.

The dog barks, and plays.

The dog barks and plays.

Comma Before And That Joins Two Independent Clauses

The word and is a conjunction, and when a conjunction joins two independent clauses, you should use a comma with it. The proper place for the comma is before the conjunction.

On Monday we’ll see the Eiffel Tower, and on Tuesday we’ll visit the Louvre.

The sentence above contains two independent clauses (highlighted in green), so it requires a comma before and. (By the way, you can tell they’re independent clauses because each one could stand on its own as a complete sentence.)

Here’s a tip: Remember, when you’re joining two independent clauses, you need both a comma and a conjunction. If you use a comma without a conjunction, you’ll end up with a comma splice.

Let’s look at another example.

It’s cold outside, and I can’t find my coat.

Once again, we have two independent clauses: It’s cold outside plus I can’t find my coat. Therefore, we need a comma before and.

Don’t use a comma before and when one of the clauses it’s connecting is a dependent clause.

Sam tossed the ball, and watched the dog chase it.

The first clause, Sam tossed the ball could stand on its own as a complete sentence, which means it’s an independent clause. But the second clause, watched the dog chase it, can’t stand by itself as a complete sentence. That means it’s a dependent clause, so we should not use a comma before and.

Sam tossed the ball and watched the dog chase it.

Exceptions

But wait! There’s an exception. (Isn’t there always?) When you have two independent clauses joined together by and, most style guides say that it’s OK to leave the comma out as long as the two independent clauses are very short and closely connected. Here’s an example:

Arthur cooked and Melvin cleaned.

It’s not wrong to add a comma before and in the sentence above, but doing so might make the sentence a little choppy.

Want to learn about other ways to use a comma? Check out our general guide to comma usage.

Dashes

A dash is a little horizontal line that floats in the middle of a line of text (not at the bottom: that’s an underscore). It’s longer than a hyphen and is commonly used to indicate a range or a pause. Dashes are used to separate groups of words, not to separate parts of words like a hyphen does. There are three forms of dashes: em, en, and the double hyphen.

The most common types of dashes are the en dash (–) and the em dash (—). A good way to remember the difference between these two dashes is to visualize the en dash as the length of the letter N and the em dash as the length of the letter M. These dashes not only differ in length; they also serve different functions within a sentence.

Em Dashes

Em dashes save the day when other punctuation would be awkward. For instance, em dashes can replace parentheses at the end of a sentence or when multiple commas appear in a parenthetical phrase.

After a split second of hesitation, the second baseman leaped for the ball (or, rather, limped for it).

After a split second of hesitation, the second baseman leaped for the ball—or, rather, limped for it.

Colons enable a writer to introduce a clause that amplifies whatever came before the colon. They are more formal than dashes. However, em dashes are more emphatic than colons. When you want to generate strong emotion in your writing or create a more casual tone, use em dashes. Compare these sentences:

He is afraid of two things: spiders and senior prom.

He is afraid of two things—spiders and senior prom.

Writers and transcriptionists replace unknown, censored, or intentionally omitted letters with em dashes. In these cases, em dashes appear in pairs or threesomes.

A former employee of the accused company, ———, offered a statement off the record.

“H—— are all the same. They cause trouble wherever they go.”

Carved into the dresser drawer was a faded inscription: “Made for Kristina, by your de——ted sailor.”

 

En Dashes

Recall that en dashes are slightly shorter in length than em dashes. En dashes may look similar to em dashes, but they function in a much different way.

Using the En Dash to Indicate Spans of Time or Ranges of Numbers

The en dash is often used to indicate spans of time or ranges of numbers. In this context, the dash should be interpreted as meaning either “to” or “through.” Consider the examples below:

The teacher assigned pages 101–181 for tonight’s reading material.

The scheduled window for the cable installation is 1:00–3:00pm.

The 2015–2016 fiscal year was the most profitable year for the new business.

Using the En Dash to Denote a Connection

The en dash may also be used to indicate a connection between two words. Use an en dash when you need to connect terms that are already hyphenated or when you are using a two-word phrase as a modifier. When the dash is used in this way, it creates a compound adjective. See the following examples:

The pro-choice–pro-life argument is always a heated one.

The Nobel Prize–winning author will be reading from her book at the library tonight.

7 Productivity Apps That Will Make Your Life More Efficient

Ever reach the end of the day and wonder where all your time went?

I keep reading articles where the author points out that all of us—from millionaires to humble knowledge workers—have the same twenty-four hours in the day.

Sure, this is meant to be inspiring (you too can achieve your dreams!), but when it’s already noon and I’ve barely started my to-do list . . . it just feels depressing.

Fortunately, there is hope for those of us struggling with productivity. If you’re frustrated and ready to get more out of your time, here are seven productivity apps that will make your life more efficient. (Grammarly’s Mobile Keyboard for iOS is also a must-have).

1Asana

Ever struggle to keep track of all your To-Dos? Asana is the perfect productivity app for managing your million and one tasks.

Visually organize your projects in lists or as boards, break projects into tasks and subtasks, set due dates, include notes and attachments, and even assign tasks to collaborators.

Asana is great for organizing complex projects, like taking your novel from concept to publication, as well as ongoing tasks like posting to your blog each week.

And there’s no end to the type of projects it can help you manage. Launching your new side hustle, coordinating the ultimate weekend getaway, organizing your group presentation with classmates—Asana has you covered.

Teasing you all here: This is how I schedule my content using @asana H/T to @dottotech for the brilliant idea. #Content #Productivity pic.twitter.com/AxLcgkzBv5

— Carl Pullein (@carl_pullein) November 10, 2017

2Rescue Time

In the immortal words of management guru Peter Drucker, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.”

RescueTime helps you improve your time management by automatically tracking how you spend your computer time. It runs silently in the background, then creates handy graphs of your time-use statistics so you can see exactly where your time is going each day.

The Premium version also includes the FocusTime feature which allows you to block “distracting” sites (wow!), and pop up alerts if you’ve been spending your time unproductively.

#RescueTime is great for holding yourself accountable to staying focused and not slipping onto #Facebook. https://t.co/YYSOwN7t0G pic.twitter.com/tghZOAz7Sp

— Endless Events (@helloendless) April 2, 2017

3Timepage

Need a better way to manage your schedule? There are a lot of calendar apps out there, but few come close to the elegance and simplicity of Moleskin’s Timepage.

Notable features include: detailed weather forecasts, driving/travel time estimates, a heatmap of your month’s busiest days, event countdown clocks, and a daily briefing. Not to mention the aesthetics are gorgeous, the design is super user-friendly, and details like colors and fonts are endlessly customizable.

Show up to your next event on time, stress-free, and rain-free.

#Timepage turns time planning into a visual pleasure. Discover our first calendar app: https://t.co/cwAYI3YU3r pic.twitter.com/g93rV7Azwg

— Moleskine (@moleskine) May 21, 2016

4IFTTT

This ingenious app connects your favorite apps and services, allowing you to automate simple tasks, thus saving time and freeing up your brain power for more important things.

IFTTT stands for “If This, Then That.” For example, “If I post a picture on Instagram, save it to Dropbox.”

You can choose from hundreds of pre-made “applets” or create your own. Some popular IFTTT applets:

Automatically send my partner a text when I leave work. Share my Instagram photos as native photos on Twitter. Turn on porch lights when I get close to home. Add new movie releases (US) to Google calendar.

There’s no excuse to tweet Instagram links! Here’s how to tweet your Instagrams as native photos on Twitter @IFTTT https://t.co/9sMByPUYZP

— Meruschka (@MzansiGirl) October 26, 2017

51Password

Are you still using the same password for all your accounts? Or going crazy hunting for the password you wrote on a sticky note somewhere?

Stop wasting time and jeopardizing your security! 1Password generates unique passwords for all of your logins and protects them with a triple encryption protocol. All you have to do is remember your Master Password.

1Password is integrated with your browser, syncs automatically with your devices, and can even save other sensitive information like credit card numbers.

Oh look! I’m on Product Hunt! �� https://t.co/EOGwiuv0OY

— 1Password (@1Password) November 3, 2017

6Strides

Want to get more sleep? Eat more veggies? Spend less time on social media? Spend more time writing?

Use Strides to track your progress on any habit or goal. There’s a library of popular goals to choose from, or you can create your own.

Similar to RescueTime, the magic of Strides is in its ability to measure your progress and keep you motivated.

I just paid money for this app in the hopes it will help me get my life together @StridesApp #StridesApp pic.twitter.com/yS4AEjvXUL

— Kathryn (@Future_Goddess) September 15, 2016

7Evernote

Our important information tends to be scattered across many devices and platforms. Meeting notes in Word documents, images in random computer folders, articles bookmarked in your browser, voice recordings of podcast ideas saved to your iPhone.

Trying to find the knowledge you need can be a huge hassle. Evernote allows you to save everything in one place that’s instantly accessible from all your devices and is highly searchable.

Every time you add a web clipping, image, video, etc., Evernote saves it as a new “note” which you can organize into “notebooks” or search for as needed. Never lose a great idea again!

Some weekends look like this. And that’s ��.

⏰ Set alarm

�� Ignore & sleep in

�� Think about making a green smoothie

�� Eat pancakes instead

���� Think about going to the gym

⭕️ Go to @Target instead

�� Make plans to go out

�� Cancel & order takeout

�� Watch @netflix until ��

— Evernote (@evernote) November 25, 2017

What’s your favorite productivity app for saving time and boosting efficiency?

How to Improve Writing Skills in 15 Easy Steps

Learning a variety of writing skills isn’t as difficult as you may think. We’ve put together a list of steps to help you make dramatic improvements to the quality of your writing in short order.

Becoming a better writer takes practice, and you’re already practicing. No, seriously—you write a lot. Even if you don’t think of yourself as a writer, you put thoughts into text more often than you realize. At the very least, you write emails—a lot of emails—post on social media, make updates to your résumé and LinkedIn profile, and message your friends. If your job requires it, you also create things like reports, presentations, newsletters . . . it’s a long list.

So, you’re already writing. Now, improving your writing skills is just a matter of becoming conscious of the things you can do to give your text more structure and make your copy crisp and readable with a conversational style.

Give Your Writing Structure

It’s fine to rattle off a stream of consciousness when you’re writing in your journal, but if you actually want to communicate with others you’ll need to bring some order to those rambling thoughts. Here are some tips.

1 Make sure you’re clear on the concepts you’re writing about.

Albert Einstein said, “If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you don’t understand it yourself.” Before you start writing, take a moment to mentally explain the concept to the six-year-old who lives inside your head. (We all have one, don’t we?) If your writing goal is to achieve a specific result, ask yourself what that result should be. Before you dive into writing, have a clear purpose. Then stick to it.

via GIPHY

2 If the message is complex, outline it.

It doesn’t take much thought-organizing to compose the average text message, but if you’re writing something more complex, with multiple angles, questions, or requests, get all that stuff sorted before you sit down to write. Making an outline, or even just some quick notes about the topics you want to cover, can save you time answering clarifying questions later. And speaking of questions . . .

3 Anticipate your readers’ questions.

Put yourself in your readers’ shoes. Do they have enough context to understand what you’ve written for them? If not, fill in the blanks. But . . .

4 Don’t over-explain everything.

If you’ve taken the time to organize your thoughts in advance, you should be able to keep things simple. The idea is to give readers just enough to understand what you’re communicating without overwhelming them with trivial details. If you find yourself getting in the weeds with more details than you need, look at each piece of information and ask whether it’s essential to help your reader understand your message. If not, get rid of it.

Tighten Your Writing

We sometimes write like we talk, and that can be a good thing. It keeps our writing conversational (more on that in a moment.) But rambling, wordy writing makes your text hard to read, and it can make you sound as though you lack conviction. Start practicing these skills to streamline your writing.

5 Go easy on the prepositional phrases

When I was a neophyte writer, someone showed me how prepositional phrases made my writing unnecessarily wordy and complex. It was an epiphany!

via GIPHY

Prepositions aren’t difficult to understand, but the concept does require some explanation. Get smart about prepositions here, and then try to simplify them whenever it makes sense. Your writing will get a much-needed clarity boost.

6 Eliminate the filler words and phrases

Some words show up in our writing all the time, and yet they don’t contribute much of anything. Although these filler words and phrases sometimes add color or even meaning, most of the time they contribute nothing but clutter. Here are thirty-one of them you can eliminate right now.

Here’s even more help.

7 Don’t pad weak words with adverbs.

Adverbs—those words that often end in -ly—modify verbs and sometimes adjectives. They’re okay once in a while, but when you find yourself using them all the time, you’re probably making weak word choices. Instead of “ran really fast” write “sprinted.” Was something “extremely funny”? Nah, it was “hilarious.” The scenery may have been “very beautiful,” but your writing’s going to shine if you refer to it as “gorgeous,” “lush,” “verdant,” or “bucolic.”

Make Your Writing More Conversational

8 Stick with simple words.

Bestselling author John Grisham said, “There are three types of words: (1) words we know; (2) words we should know; (3) words nobody knows. Forget those in the third category and use restraint with those in the second.” There’s a difference between having a rich vocabulary and dropping million-dollar words into your writing just to show off. Unless it’s your intent to be poetic, keep your language simple and direct.

I’m certain sure you are able to can deliver the quality of work we’re looking for. Let’s discuss talk about it in our meeting next week.

9 Use contractions.

English speakers use contractions—you’re, I’m, we’re, they’re, can’t, didn’t. Your writing will sound stiff and formal without them. For example:

I am sure you are able to deliver the quality of work we are looking for. Let us discuss it in our meeting next week.

Now, let’s add some contractions. Doesn’t this sound less stuffy?

I’m sure you can deliver the quality of work we’re looking for. Let’s talk about it in our meeting next week.

10Try transcribing yourself.

Record yourself talking. You can learn a lot about conversational writing using this one weird trick! (Sorry, Buzzfeed, we tease because we care.)

Try transcribing a conversation you’ve recorded (with the other person’s permission, of course). Transcribe a couple of minutes of the conversation word-for-word. Then, fix or remove any false starts and remove filler (um, uh, like, you know)—et voila!—you’ve got yourself some conversational writing. The process of transcribing and editing will help you learn what to do and what not to.

11Throw away the grammar rule book . . . within reason.

We, the Grammarly team, give you permission to start sentences with conjunctions. And (see what we did there?) unless you’re writing something formal, we’re perfectly okay with you ending some sentences with prepositions. Write naturally, human! It’s all good.

12Keep your sentences simple.

Literary greats can write long, complex sentences with flair. Why not you? Well, for starters you’re probably not trying to write like Tolstoy, Nabokov, or Faulkner. Short, less complicated sentences are easier to read. Keep it simple, silly! But do vary your sentence length so your writing has a nice flow.

13Read it out loud.

Speaking of flow, reading your writing aloud can help you determine whether it flows smoothly. If it sounds choppy and clipped, add a few longer sentences to break up that steady, monotonous beat. If you find yourself stumbling over parts, you’ve probably found an overly complex sentence that needs rewriting. I always recommend reading your work out loud . . . because it works!

14Infuse your personality into your writing

Letting your personality shine through is the best way to develop a writing style. Use the phrases and slang that you would normally use (within reason). When it’s appropriate, throw in a relevant personal anecdote. In all but the most formal or professional writing settings, be yourself when you write.

15Practice, practice, practice!

The ultimate way to make your writing better is to learn what weakens it in the first place, and then set your mind to fixing (and eventually preventing) the glitches. The more you write, edit, and proofread, the better you get at it.

Here’s When to Say ‘Happy Holidays’ Instead of ‘Merry Christmas’

It’s that time of year… when you dread every interaction because you don’t know whether to say “Merry Christmas,” “Happy Holidays,” “Season’s Greetings,” or maybe some secret salutation you don’t even know yet. So what are you supposed to say?

In general, “Happy Holidays” is accepted as the broadest and most inclusive greeting at this time of year. If you know someone celebrates Christmas you can go with “Merry Christmas,” but ‘tis the season for interacting with strangers (selling to them, buying from them, bumping into them on your way out of Target). And when the time comes to wish them well, it’s usually best to go for general.

Why does the “Happy Holidays” or “Merry Christmas” debate exist?

The period from late November until early January is lumped together as “the holiday season.” You’ve got your biggies like Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year’s, plus dates that get not quite so much attention, like Kwanzaa, the Winter Solstice, Boxing Day, and Festivus. With that many holidays crammed into a few weeks, it makes sense to go for the general holiday wish.

True, there aren’t too many people who celebrate all of those holidays. But the point is to acknowledge that different people celebrate different holidays

Also, this debate isn’t just about words: it’s about being politically correct and inclusive of diverse beliefs and traditions across the country.

“Holidays” are more inclusive

Although Christmas has been the most widely celebrated holiday in the United States for decades, the U.S. is more diverse than it’s ever been before, so not everyone celebrates Christmas. Some people get a Christmas tree, but don’t have any traditions associated with Christianity. And plenty of people have a different religious tradition, or no religious tradition at all.

If you say “Merry Christmas” to someone who celebrates Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or nothing at all, you could make them feel marginalized: like their own beliefs aren’t valued or respected by society. And that’s not a good way to feel around the holidays.

What about saying “Happy Holidays” to someone who celebrates Christmas—won’t that make them feel bad, too? Unfortunately, there’s a chance of that, especially because Christmas is still so widely celebrated. But one holiday being more popular than the others doesn’t mean you should ignore the other ones.

Think of it this way: “Happy Holidays” includes Christmas as one of those holidays, and “Merry Christmas” leaves out everything other than Christmas.

If you live in an area with mostly Christians, or if you know someone has a Menorah and not a Christmas tree, you can generally feel safe with a “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Hanukkah.” But if you don’t know, or aren’t quite sure, it’s probably best to stay general rather than taking a guess and potentially making someone feel bad.

So, “Happy Holidays” or “Merry Christmas”?

A good rule of thumb: if you don’t know what someone celebrates, use the broader term. It’s as easy as that.

It’s not an insult to Christmas. It’s an inclusive way of wishing someone well and showing that you respect and value whatever tradition they observe. Actress and comedian Whoopi Goldberg agrees:

″‘Happy Holidays’ allows everybody to be included…When you’re walking past somebody, you don’t know what their religious beliefs are or whether they have them. If they have religious beliefs and you can’t tell what they are, say ’Happy holidays.”

If Whoopi says so, there’s got to be something to it.

In a time of year that’s already hectic, wondering what to wish people can be yet another stress. But don’t forget that even with all the errands, tasks, and projects that need to be finished up by the end of the year, this is also a season that’s supposed to be happy or merry. You’re wishing someone a positive time of year. What matters most is the sentiment, not the specific holiday they celebrate.

Sure, there’s the occasional stickler who demands specificity—“What holidays do you mean?” Still, most people will see your attempt at sharing seasonal cheer and shoot you a smile, rather than insisting you clarify exactly which holiday you have in mind. Even if you celebrate one holiday and the person you’re talking to observes another one, by using the inclusive term, you’re doing your part to make sure everyone’s holiday actually is as happy as it can be.

Yes, You Can Make a Complex Point Over Text

Making a point in a clear, assertive email is one thing. But doing it in a text? LOL, way 2 much 4 txtspk.

Or is it?

Sure, you don’t have as much leeway in a text as in an email because of sheer lack of space, but it is possible to make a point, ask for something important, or express a serious idea in a text message. Here are some tips for how to make it so.

Use real words

As in, “you,” “for,” “today,” “thanks.” Writing in real-speak instead of text-speak shows that you’re serious. For example:

Thx 4 mtg w me 2day. U r rly helpful. WML 4 interview 2moro!

Not quite as effective as:

Thank you for meeting with me today. You were really helpful. Wish me luck for the interview tomorrow!

Sure, it depends on who you’re writing: if it’s your best friend and you always swap “you” for “u,” no need to make things unexpectedly formal. But before you type out your message, think about what you’re trying to say, who’s going to read it, and whether your point will be more effective with actual words.

Start with “Hey”

When people are about to say something important in conversation, they often start with “listen” or “look.” Those senses don’t exactly make sense over text, but a casual “hey” can have the same effect. Plus, it signals that you’re about to get a bit more serious than normal, and even pads the blow a little.

Hey, I wanted to apologize for taking my bad mood out on you earlier.

Without the hey, it sounds stiff, even insincere. With the hey, you get a casual, human touch that leads neatly into the point.

Don’t write a novel

We get it: it’s hard to make a point in a couple lines. But if the message is longer than the phone screen and you have to scroll to see the whole thing, it’s probably too much for the person to digest. Just like in other forms of writing, you’ll make a stronger point if you avoid filler words and get directly to the issue.

Compare these two texts to a coworker:

Hey Karen, I’m really sorry, but I think I ate something weird last night and I’m feeling really sick. I know we were supposed to prep for our big presentation today, but I’m just feeling too sick to leave the house today. Hopefully I’ll be better tomorrow and we can figure things out then. Sorry again, but thanks for understanding!

Then, you take out the (digital) red pen:

Hey Karen, so sorry, but I’ve got food poisoning. We’ll have to do our meeting prep when I’m back. I’ll follow up by email when possible.

More succinct, and more professional, too.

Sum up your argument

What is this, expository essay class? It may sound like even more added weight, but if you have to say something complicated, one way to keep it clean is to write the main point in one text, and send your “conclusion” as a separate text. For example:

Text 1: Hey, I understand that you have a lot going on right now and can’t make it to the dinner tonight, but I’ve got to say I’m disappointed. I planned it months ago and was really counting on you being there. Even with everything you have on your plate, I thought this would be a priority for you.

Text 2: Anyway, sorry for being upset and I do understand you’ve got a lot happening, but wanted you to know.

Heavy stuff—maybe even better over the phone or in person. Still, there are times when you need to have your say, and text is the only venue for doing it. And in those cases, a final line—sometimes with an extra “thanks” or “sorry”—can make the message more personal and caring.

Offer a follow-up

The tips so far have given you some fuel for your serious, thoughtful, or bad-news texts. But there are some conversations that should be had in person. You can lay the groundwork in your text and then plug for a different venue to keep the discussion going. For example:

• Hey, our presentation is coming along, but I think it needs more work. Let’s set up some time to talk about moving it forward.
• Hey, I’m sorry I hurt your feelings with that stupid joke earlier. Can I call you?
• Hi Mom, guess what? I got the job offer! Too many details to text but I’ll tell you more over dinner tomorrow.

With this kind of message, you can say what you need to say but not overburden your text recipient with information.

Send a gif

Caveat: Maybe you don’t send a white rabbit gif to your boss to explain you’re running late for your very important date—er, meeting.

But if you think the person you’re writing will respond well to a bit of levity, adding a gif or a meme is a great way to lighten the mood of a serious message. Technology has given us the gift of sending moving cats to people by phone, so why not take advantage of it?

Here are some ways to make it go purringly:

• Things are pretty tough right now (cat getting a bath)
• I didn’t mean to lash out at you (cat lashing out at its balloon lookalike)
• What you said hurt my feelings (cat hanging its head with a wounded air)
• I’m really sorry I messed up this time (cat falling off a chair)
• I’m sorry I can’t make it. Just can’t handle a party tonight (cat looking like it can’t handle a party any night. Even with the sombrero.)

As with emails, conversations in person, or other forms of communication, if you’re saying something important in a text message, think through how best to say it. Make sure you plan your words based on the person you’re writing to (e.g., you’ll be more formal in professional settings than personal ones), and before you tap Send, read your message through to make sure it doesn’t sound aggressive, whiny, or mean.

And nine times out of ten, animal gifs are your friend.