This post acknowledges the pesky spelling of acknowledg(e)ment. If the verb ends in -e, where does that letter go when you add the -ment?
For the most part, folks in the United States or Canada will ditch the E, while people outside North America tend to keep it. But that’s far from a hard-and-fast rule, so chances are you’ll see both spellings regardless of where you’re reading.
If you want to stick to general geographical standards, think of it this way: the British like to use extra letters. Think canceled vs. cancelled, or favorite vs. favourite, for instance—Americans prefer the former in both instances. While “judgment” is a closer parallel to our friend “acknowledgment,” more sources agree that “judgement” with a middle E is just plain incorrect. With “acknowledgment” and “acknowledgement,” on the other hand, you’ll see a lot more of both.
Now that we’ve given acknowledgment to geography, let’s take a peek at some of the most common usages of the word, with examples of both spellings.
1 The act of acknowledging; admission; avowal; owning; confession.
Owning up to making a mistake:
The coach was not comforted by the referee’s acknowledgment that he had incorrectly given the star player a red card.
Confession of something formerly secret:
May 2, 1939, “marked the beginning of Gehrig’s very public acknowledgement of ALS, the disease which would come to bear his name.” (NBC Sports)
Admitting to improper behavior:
“The kingdom awaits the U.S. Government’s acknowledgment of error.” (The National Interest)
2 The act of recognizing the existence, authority, truth, or genuineness of a fact, point, or characteristic.
Recognition of a valid point:
The financial analysts interpreted the warning about high spending “as an acknowledgment of their claim that taxes must rise.” (The Australian)
Attention to a topic:
“Public acknowledgement of and commitment to diversification strikes a new tone, and suggests recognition of a new reality.” (Foreign Policy)
3 An award or other expression or token of appreciation.
Award:
“Each honoree receives a crystal paperweight commemorating the award and $3,345 as an acknowledgment of their superior leadership abilities, scholarship and appreciation of basic American values.” (The Purdue Exponent)
Symbol of appreciation:
Young students often give their teachers an apple as an acknowledgment of their teaching.
4 An expression of gratitude or respect.
Expression of gratitude:
“He gave from his heart. . . . He did not want a lot of acknowledgement.” (Raw Story)
Recognition, appreciation:
“What . . . came to pass on Wednesday night was a sober acknowledgement of Bowie’s talent and contribution to the music industry.” (WWD)
A thanks to people who helped an author over the course of writing a book:
“Mr Khanna lists over 400 people in a nine-page acknowledgments section.” (The Economist)
5 A confirmation that something has been received.
“Goodwill, favor and payback may result from courteous acknowledgement letters.” (Write Express)
A common noun is the generic name for a person, place, or thing in a class or group. Unlike proper nouns, a common noun is not capitalized unless it either begins a sentence or appears in a title. Common nouns can be concrete (perceptible to the senses), abstract (involving general ideas or qualities), or collective (referring to a group or collection).
All nouns can be classified as either common or proper. All nouns name something, but proper nouns name them specifically. Common nouns do not.
They say that diamonds are a girl’s best friend.
If you want to be my best friend, the Blue Moon Diamond would be a great gift idea.
Usually, it will be quite obvious if a specific person, place, or thing is being named.
While cats are social animals, some may seem like solitary creatures.
A cat may scratch you if it is teased too much.
Seriously, you should watch yourself around Fluffy.
Ray likes to hike in the mountains.
Ray has climbed Mount Everest twice.
A girl rang the doorbell this afternoon while you were out.
Gigi rang the doorbell this afternoon while you were out.
Distinguishing between common nouns and proper nouns seems easy, so why do we really need to know the difference between them? The answer to that question is this: to assign capital letters correctly.
Common Nouns Are Lowercased
A frequent spelling error people make is to capitalize common nouns unnecessarily. Some words, like president, seem to beg for a capital letter because instinctively we want to emphasize their importance. But even this lofty title is a common noun if it does not name something or someone specific (in this case, a specific president).
The United States has had four Presidents this century.
The United States has had four presidents this century.
George Washington was the first President of the United States.
George Washington was the first president of the United States.
In 1789, the tenure of president George Washington began.
In 1789, the tenure of President George Washington began.
In the penultimate example, the fact that George Washington is named at the beginning of the sentence may tempt you to capitalize president afterward, but you must resist this temptation. Here, George Washington is referred to as the first president of the United States—that is, the first in a number of presidents of the United States. Thus, in that example, president is a common noun.
In business writing, the common compound nounboard of directors is often incorrectly capitalized in this way. Although you may idolize your company’s board of directors and put them on the proverbial pedestal, board of directors is not capitalized unless it is part of a proper noun.
My company’s board of directors met for six hours today and I had to take minutes.
Because I so faithfully took six hours of minutes, I was invited to the Board of Directors’ Ball this Saturday.
This principle applies to every common noun, no matter how monumental its significance. Even if your noun represents the most momentous event the universe has seen, it must be named specifically to be proper and to don its capitals.
Hubble and Einstein contributed to the theory of the Cosmological Expansion of the Universe.
Hubble and Einstein contributed to the theory of the cosmological expansion of the universe.
The Big Bang is a theory regarding the cosmological expansion of the universe.
Watching too much TV is bad for your health. According to some sources, being a couch potato will make you less smart. It will consume your time, influence your social relationships, affect your physical health in a very bad way, affect your emotional well-being, and skew your worldview. And the list goes on.
But this isn’t an article about the perils of TV watching. It’s an article about why books might be a better pastime (or passion, if you get to that level) for you to pick up.
1 You’ll sleep better
Sleep has two nemeses: light and stress. TV screens, your smartphone, and your tablet emit light. And the blue part of the spectrum they emit is especially problematic because it makes you more alert and affects the production of melatonin, a very important hormone in the sleep-wake cycle. Stress also causes the body to release hormones that interfere with sleep.
And how can a book help you? Well, it doesn’t emit light. And it also helps reduce stress levels.
2 Not all good books have movies or TV shows based on them
The interplay between TV shows and movies based on books can work to your benefit. Let’s say you like Fight Club. You loved the story, you loved the weirdness, you got hooked on the transgression it shows. But you can’t find many movies that give you the same sort of rush. Luckily, the movie was based on a novel by Chuck Palahniuk, and it’s not the only good one he wrote. So far, two of his novels have been adapted for the big screen, but to access the majority of his work, you will have to read.
3 Some of the TV shows or movies you like are based on real books
That interplay we mentioned works the other way around, too. You like Game of Thrones? You know it’s based on a book series. You like Harry Potter? Also based on a book series. And just imagine how much more content these books contain compared to their screen adaptations. You’re missing out if you’re not reading them.
4 Books are like jogging for your brain
Studies have shown that reading books with a strong narrative arc leaves an impression on your brain, boosting the connectivity in the parts of your brain responsible for language reception. That boost lasts for a couple of days, so you need to keep it up to reap the benefits. The takeaway is that reading books will make your brain work better.
5 You get what you put in
How many hours of fun can a book give you? It depends on how long the book is, sure, but it also depends on how much of yourself you invest in the book. Will you spend time thinking about it, imagining what every character looks like, how they must have felt when this or that happened to them? In that case, a book can keep you happy and entertained for weeks.
What do you call those tiny pictures we all use in texts and chats? Do you opt for the Japanese-inspired “emoji” or the English-focused “emojis”?
The debate between these two pluralizations of emoji has been raging for almost as long as emojis have existed. To quote Bustle writer Lucia Peters, the answer to this question is both “incredibly simple and unexpectedly complicated.”
The Short Answer—Emojis
The Associated Press took a hard stand on this issue in March 2013, making it one of the first style guides to draw a line in the sand in favor of “emojis.” Since then, major publications like The Atlantic and The New York Times have mostly adopted this spelling as well, and the emoji-tracking dictionary Emojipedia has officially supported the “-s” pluralization for ease of use. Although neither spelling is technically incorrect, “emojis” follows the normal inflection pattern of English nouns, giving it a slight advantage over “emoji.”
The discussion of emoji pluralization is both simple and complex, but, simply put, English usually makes plurals using English plural rules. To quote Mark Allen, a board member of the American Copy Editors Society, “When words enter English, we usually make them play by our rules, so I think ‘emojis’ has the edge. A corollary might be the Japanese word ‘tsunami.’ We’re more likely to speak of ‘a series of tsunamis’ rather than ‘a series of tsunami.’”
Where Does “Emoji” Come From?
The word emoji comes from Japan, where the tiny, emotionally expressive pictures have existed since the 1990s. Emojis were created by Shigetaka Kurita, a Japanese pager and cellphone designer who was inspired by Japanese kanji and the preexisting kaomoji to create a new form of mobile expression.
While emojis first conquered Japan’s cellphone market, emoticons got their start in the United States. Carnegie Mellon professor Scott E. Fahlman is widely credited with creating the smiley face emoticon when he used it in a 1982 email. Years later, he took issue with emojis, declaring the tiny faces and objects “ugly.” Emojis came to the United States in 2011 when Apple released iOS 5 and truly internationalized a subset of the symbols. But although Apple debuted emojis in the United States, they had already been formally accepted by the computing industry a year earlier, when Unicode Standard version 6.0 added hundreds of emojis to the world’s standard for coding written characters.
When emojis were exported to the United States, the debate about their name began. In Japanese, the answer to this question is simple, since the plural of emoji is simply emoji. This is why some purists insist on a group of “emoji,” but they are probably the same pedants who insist on a string of “tsunami” and a series of “virtuosi.” However, as Allen pointed out, English has a long history of pluralizing words from Japanese according to its own rules.
The Long Answer—It’s Complicated
For the sake of utility, it’s probably easiest for English speakers to agree on “emojis” as the plural of “emoji.” However, the Oxford English Dictionary,Merriam-Webster Dictionary, and others have long listed both “emoji” and “emojis” as options. Even the AP Stylebook has softened its stance on the issue: although the guide came out strongly on the side of “emojis” in 2013, this year’s update added “emoji” as an acceptable plural.
Of course, emoji isn’t the only loanword that suffers from plural confusion. Many Japanese words have difficult or inconsistent plurals in English, as do many loanwords from other languages, most notably Italian and Latin. Ever tried to figure out the correct plural of “ignoramus?” You’ll understand the loanword irregular plural struggle.
Whether you’re sending an email for work or writing a cover letter for a resumé, it’s important to remember that this is professional writing, not personal. Your writing ability reflects on you as an employee or a prospective employee.
It’s important to take the time to carefully write, edit and proofread all your correspondence before you click Send or upload a document online. It will only take a few extra minutes, but taking the time will help you make the best impression on the reader.
Review these tips to make sure that your writing will get your email opened and read, and your resumes and cover letters will be considered for interviews.
Tips for Writing for Work and Job Searching
Make it actionable. Your resume should include your accomplishments, not just a list of what you have done. Your cover letter should show the employer, at a glance, what you have to offer the company. If you’re asking for something in an email message make sure you’re clear about what you want.
Make it personal. It’s always a good idea to include a contact person in your email messages and cover letters. If you don’t have one, check the company website, LinkedIn or Google to see if you can find someone to address your letter to.
Keep it professional. You’re writing to your boss, colleagues, customers or a prospective employer. Keep your correspondence professional and skip the slang, abbreviations, acronyms and emoticons. Use paragraphs and full sentences.
Keep it concise. Most people don’t read beyond the first paragraph or so of an email message. Keep your emails short, concise and focused. Use your opening paragraph for the most important point. With cover letters, include a brief introduction, and then use your second paragraph to pitch your qualifications. Finish your letter with a closing paragraph. Two or three paragraphs are plenty.
Give it a subject line. Your email probably won’t even get opened if it doesn’t have a subject line. If the subject line is vague or sounds spammy, it won’t get opened either. Include a subject line that is relevant to what you’re asking to up your chances of getting your message read.
Add your signature. Don’t forget to include a signature with your contact information. Provide your name, phone number, email address and LinkedIn profile URL, if you have one. It will make it easier for the reader to follow up with you.
Make sure it’s perfect. Spell check, grammar check and proofread your email or letter, and then do it again. Read it out loud or, if you have trouble catching your own mistakes, print it and proof it again. Grammarly is a terrific tool for making sure all your written correspondence is perfect, and catching mistakes that you may not have realized you made.
Alison is a job search and employment expert with many years of experience in human resources, career development and job hunting with a focus on job searching, employment issues, and career options, as well as employment trends and technologies for job seekers and employers alike.
Alison has been the Job Search Expert for About.com since 1998. She is also the founder of CareerToolBelt.com and the creator of the Career Tool Belt series of free apps.
There are four elements of the zodiac—air, fire, water, and earth. The zodiac signs within each element share characteristics. Take this fun quiz to find out which zodiac element your writing style is like and see if it matches your real zodiac sign!
Did we get it right? Share your thoughts in the comments.
The New Yorker is a quirky magazine. Sure, it’s a go-to when you’re looking to read high-quality writing, but the magazine’s style is full of peculiarities. There are the double consonants where you don’t expect them, as in the word “travelled.” There’s the spelling out of numbers, even the really long ones. And there are the words like “coöperate” and “reëlect,” which are written with two tiny dots over the second o and the second e. Hang on, what exactly do you call those two little dots? A diaeresis. The New Yorker is one of the rare publications that still use the diaeresis sign.
But what is this sign? Does it make sense to use it? And why does it appear so often in the names of hard rock and heavy metal bands, from Blue Öyster Cult to Motörhead?
What Is the Diaeresis?
The diaeresis—also spelled “dieresis”—is a type of sign that’s called a diacritic. (It’s important to note, that diaeresis is also a poetic break in verse; however, we aren’t going to cover that usage here.) Diacritical marks are added to letters to indicate that there is something unusual about the way they are pronounced. A diaeresis is used when you have two vowels next to one another that should be pronounced as separate syllables instead jumbled together as a diphthong. The word “naïve” is a good example. When you pronounce it, you can clearly hear how it’s divided into two parts—na- and -ive. The diaeresis tells you not to combine the two vowel sounds and pronounce the word as one syllable that sounds like “knave.” Essentially, the diaeresis tells you “hey, this vowel is pronounced separately from the other one.” It is occasionally used on vowels that stand on their own to point out that they should be pronounced even though logic might say they shouldn’t, as in the surname Brontë.
Should We Use the Diaeresis?
The short answer is no. The diaeresis is considered obsolete by most authorities in the English language. In some cases, the diaeresis is replaced by the hyphen. Where The New Yorker writes coöperate, other publications prefer co-operate, especially outside the United States. In other cases, you’ll find it written simply as cooperate. People generally know how to pronounce these words. But even if they didn’t, do you think that a diaeresis would be of any help now, when it’s been out of use for so long? So no, there is no reason to use a diaeresis unless it’s really called for as part of a name. So why do heavy metal bands still do it? Well, they actually don’t. The two dots above the o in Motörhead isn’t actually a diaeresis—it’s an umlaut. It’s also a diacritic, but it represents a completely different change in the pronunciation of the letter it marks. Using it in the names of heavy metal bands is a practice that’s so well established that you can read entire articles about the heavy metal umlaut—the umlaut that does nothing except look awesome.
If you’re a grammar nerd, chances are you have an opinion about the passive voice. Whether you think it’s acceptable or should be completely avoided, it’s important to understand what passive voice is and how it’s used.
Passive voice occurs when the object of the action in the sentence becomes the subject of the sentence. The opposite of passive voice is active voice, in which the subject simply performs the action. Here are some examples:
Layla threw the ball. (Active voice) The ball was thrown by Layla. (Passive voice)
We corrected the errors. (Active voice) The errors have been corrected. (Passive voice)
Someone took the last piece of cake. (Active voice) The last piece of cake was taken. (Passive voice)
Active voice tends to give writing more clarity, which is why many people prefer it. Writing in passive voice can be confusing, vague, and wordy; however, there are instances in which it’s a better option than active voice. For example:
Incidents of inappropriate behavior were reported. (Passive voice)
In this case, the focus of the sentence should be on the incidents, not on the people who reported them. In fact, there are situations in which the subject of the sentence might be unknown or unimportant. In those cases, sometimes using passive voice is preferable to using “someone” as the subject. Another example:
The test results were delivered late in the afternoon. (Passive voice)
As in the sentence above, the focus of the sentence is on the test results rather than the person who delivered them.
Do you have an opinion about passive voice? Share it in the comments!
In the world of digital communications, pretty much everyone can relate to an email experience going terribly wrong at work. Ever hit “reply all” and sprayed a private message to a group of co-workers and lived to regret it?
Writing internal business communications shouldn’t be fraught with peril, but for these unfortunate executives, things went terribly wrong. From the ridiculous to the tragic, take a look at these five truly terrible business memos.
Western Union Internal Memo
Go back in time to 1876 for the first example of a really ridiculous internal memo (in hindsight). Western Union had a monopoly on fast communication; the telephone had just been invented in March of that year. In a bad move of epic proportions, the business executives at Western Union circulated a memo insisting that the telephone would not be a threat to its business. In part, the memo read, “This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication.”
How did that work out for Western Union? Ask yourself the last time you or anyone you know received a telegram. Enough said.
Greg McKay’s Mumbling Memo
You probably don’t know who Greg McKay is, but he’s infamous at the Arizona Department of Child Safety. After Governor Ducey appointed Greg McKay to head the department, McKay sent his employees a memo that managed to be meandering, vainglorious, self-righteous, and insulting all at the same time. Check out these awesome quotes:
“I will begin by announcing I am not worthy of this position. In fact, no one man or woman could fulfill this endeavor.”
“Any projects or pilots that lead our staff down a path of potential lawbreaking will stop now.”
“Please do not be afraid and know that all things done in good faith will be tolerated.”
Law Firm’s Diversity Memo
Diversity in the workplace is an admirable goal and the writers of this internal communication should be commended for working to achieve that goal. But things went downhill quickly. The memo encourages other employees to engage in activities with “diverse hires” to make them feel more welcome. The writer suggests some swell ideas: a 20-minute chat, a lunch invite, or even an invitation to a non-work event.
So far, so good—and then the hammer drops. Employees are required to record and verify their activities with the HR department to prove they remain compliant with the new “inclusivity policy.” How’s that for creating a warm and inclusive workplace?
Microsoft’s Layoff Memo
Microsoft boss Stephen Elop decided the best way to notify employees their jobs were on the line was with a mass memo. Nothing revolutionary there, even though many would argue a more personal approach. Elop, however, badly mangled the job. The memo, which went out to 12,500 Microsoft employees, opened with a jocular “Hello there,” before rambling on for 14 paragraphs about Microsoft’s role, goals, and future plans. The hapless employees had to read through 10 paragraphs before they hit the key bit—notice of the layoff finally appears in paragraph 11.
Aviva Termination Memo
After UK-based insurance company Aviva Investors fired an employee, the HR department prepared a memo for the unlucky worker with instructions for leaving the building. The memo included guidelines for turning over all company property and security passes and urged quick compliance. Unfortunately, the HR staffer sent that memo to the company’s entire 1,300-member global workforce. It took over 30 minutes for the company to realize its error and send another mass email explaining the mistake.
So, what did we learn about writing effective memos from the examples above? Don’t use your memo to predict the future; be concise; be kind; get to the point; and know your audience. Easy, right?
May 21 is National Memo Day! Have you ever been on the receiving end of a ridiculous email or memo gone wrong? Let us know in the comments.
Reading poetry is a wonderful experience, but have you ever memorized and recited a poem? Saying the words aloud gives the poem new life and highlights some of the nuances in the language. Here are three short poems you can memorize and recite for your friends and family.
“First Fig” by Edna St. Vincent Millay My candle burns at both ends; It will not last the night; But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends— It gives a lovely light.
“Devotion” by Robert Frost The heart can think of no devotion Greater than being shore to the ocean — Holding the curve of one position, Counting an endless repetition.
“Awaking in New York” by Maya Angelou Curtains forcing their will against the wind, children sleep, exchanging dreams with seraphim. The city drags itself awake on subway straps; and I, an alarm, awake as a rumor of war, lie stretching into dawn, unasked and unheeded.
In most cases, the subjunctive form of a verb is usually the third-person form of the verb with the ‑s dropped, but the verb to be is a special case. The subjunctive is used after certain expressions that contain an order or a request, a hypothetical, or a wish.
It Is Recommended That…
Here’s an example of the subjunctive mood in action:
It is recommended that she prepare a short speech before the ceremony.
Does this look weird to you? Usually, you would use the verb form prepares with a third-person singular pronoun like she. But it’s very common to use the subjunctive mood with phrases like “It is recommended that…” or “We recommend that…” The subjunctive form of most verbs is simply the base form of the verb (e.g., prepare, walk, eat).
One reason this gets tricky is that it only becomes obvious you’re using the subjunctive mood when you’re using the third-person singular. The rest of the time, the verb form doesn’t change.
It is recommended that you prepare a short speech before the ceremony.
Other phrases that are commonly followed by a verb in the subjunctive mood include ask that, it is important that, and we insist that.
We asked that he listen carefully to the directions before starting the project.
It is important that she agree to these terms.
Maya insisted that the student seek the aid of a tutor.
Using the Verb to Be in the Subjunctive Mood
The subjunctive mood has one other use: to express wishes and hypothetical situations. Typically, this type of statement includes the word if.
If I were a cat, I would lie in the sun all day.
It’s only obvious that you’re using the subjunctive mood when you’re using the verb to be. The form of any other verb will remain unchanged.
When you’re describing a wish or an impossible situation, use were instead of was.
April 13 is National Scrabble Day! How can a board game become so popular that it actually has its own holiday? Those who have played Scrabble know that it’s an addictive, brain-busting game that delights word nerds and language lovers. There’s even an annual US National Scrabble Championship and World Scrabble Championship!
Conrad Bassett-Bouchard, last year’s winner of the National Scrabble Championship, won $10,000 after beating a five-time champion. What’s the best way to prepare for the championship? He suggests studying anagrams so your mind can unscramble your Scrabble tiles with ease.
An anagram is a word, phrase, or name formed by rearranging the letters of another word or phrase. If you want to practice for the next Scrabble Championship, test your skills by creating anagrams from the word “Grammarly.” Here are a few to get you started:
A nonrestrictive clause offers extra information about something you have mentioned in a sentence, but the information isn’t essential to identify the thing you’re talking about. Nonrestrictive clauses are usually introduced by which or who and should be set off by commas.
Posey’s Cafe, which Chester recommended, is a fantastic restaurant.
The clause “which Chester recommended” is nonrestrictive because “Posey’s Cafe” is already specific. Identifying it as the restaurant recommended by Chester doesn’t narrow it down any further.
My wife, whom I love dearly, is a brilliant physicist.
The clause “whom I love dearly” is nonrestrictive because you could remove it and it would still be clear that you’re talking about the same person—“my wife” is already specific.
Keeping up with grammar rules when you’re texting and tweeting can be difficult. We get it—your characters are limited and you’ve got to keep things brief—but the challenge with typing in shorthand is the risk of getting things lost in translation (and autocorrect misinterpreting what you’re trying to say entirely). Communicating a clear message through texts and tweets can be even trickier now that emoji use is replacing words altogether. We’ve all had our moments when what we thought was a clear, simple text completely confused the person on the other end. Here are a few texting tips to help you get your message across:
1. Use Acronyms Sparingly IMHO IDC. IANAL but LMK JIC.
In my honest opinion (IMHO), I don’t care (IDC). I am not a lawyer (IANAL) but let me know (LMK) just in case (JIC).
If you aren’t a world champion of shorthand, it’s easy to get a little apprehensive at the sight of a string of acronyms. For clarity’s sake, it’s best to stick to 1 or 2 acronyms per text. And usually, if it’s longer than a 4-letter acronym, it may be better to take the extra second to type the phrase out.
2. Know Your Audience You: Can You MM@ Market Street? TIA. (Can you meet me @ Market Street? Thanks in advance.) Them: Huh?
Though we may not realize it, sometimes we can be slightly more conversant in textspeak than the person we’re communicating with. While you and your best friend can seemingly have an entire conversation through a series of shorthand texts, someone you text only periodically may not understand your lingo. If you’ve coined a new acronym, it’s probably best to type the phrase out first and then place the acronym in parentheses.
3. An Emoji Says 1,000 Words The good news: there’s an emoji for just about everything. The bad news: many of us still aren’t sure which emoji means what. For example, the high five emoji is often mistaken for (and used as) praying hands. The difference between the crying, sick, and sweating emoji are so minimal that you probably never noticed there was a distinct emoji for each. And what about the woman with her hand in the air? You may be surprised to learn that she isn’t in the middle of a casual hair flip or raising the roof, but instead she’s assisting you. (Her proper name is “Information Desk Lady”.) Review your emoji with the Emoji Cheat Sheet to ensure you use the correct one every time. Who knew the emoji with steam coming from its nose actually means “triumph”?
4. Capitalization and Punctuation Still Matter Capitalizing a letter doesn’t limit your character count, so there’s no need to skip this step. With numbers, for clarity and speed, it’s best to use numerals at all times (e.g. I’ll meet you @ 4 vs. I’ll meet you @ four). Also, using proper punctuation will help your reader better understand what you’re trying to convey. Sure, adding that comma may use up an extra character, but it will certainly help avoid confusion and possibly embarrassment.
5. Sentence Fragments Are OkayGoing to the movies. Back around 9.
If you leave a word out in a text message response to save some space, it’s okay. Chances are your reader will still understand you. Because text messages are such a direct form of communication, you don’t have to start each response with I’m/I am.
We hope these tips help you out the next time you’re in a pinch and need to send a quick text or tweet. Do you have some text etiquette of your own to share? Leave a comment or tweet us @Grammarly!
This assignment should be no problem. In fact, it’ll be a blast. What could go wrong? Suppose for a moment that all you have to do is write a children’s song about otters.
The trouble is, there are so many scintillating facts about otters that it’s hard to know where to begin. Do you start with general info—that they’re highly adorable four-legged carnivorous swimmers? Or do you zero in on something more specific?
You could focus on a single nifty detail, like how sea otters’ dense, nearly waterproof fur traps air for insulation, keeping them snug even in cold Pacific waters. Or you could sing about how groups of river otters ward off predators like crocodiles by relentlessly yelling at them.
Choose well, because you’ll only have so much time to hook your audience before their minds drift. For rapper Aesop Rock, the way a swimming otter can use its belly as a table, munching a tasty meal while backstroking, proved irresistible. The result is the one-of-a-kind “My Belly.”
Whether you’re working on a presentation, a blog post, a rap, or a cover letter, cracking into a new piece of writing is tough. When your subject is broad and multifaceted, where to start rarely feels obvious. You need a way in, a distinct perspective, an angle. This is what differentiates your piece from a generic overview. There might be others like it, but this one is yours.
So what’s your angle?
There are a few questions to consider when deciding your angle:
What precisely will you illuminate for your audience?
What will be unique about your approach to this subject?
How much do you assume your readers already know about it?
Properly calibrating that last item is essential. You want people to feel surprised and curious within the first sentence or two, not lost or confused. You certainly don’t want to bore folks with an intro inanely reminding them that otters are mammals, just as you’d prefer not to torpedo your next job application by opening your cover letter with “I hope you hire me.”
A test that editors sometimes use is the question, “What part of this would be most important or exciting to tell your grandmother?” The answer can reveal a lot about your angle. (If the result feels awkward, substitute the grandmother for “friends on a Friday night,” or “hiring committee” as needed.)
Lede the way
The angle needn’t always be spelled out in your final draft, but for journalists, it points to the first and most important sentence from which all else flows: the lede. (That spelling apparently arose to distinguish the term from the the lead type used in old-timey newspaper presses, although some argue its usage stems more from lore than actual history.)
You’ve likely heard of this as the who-what-when-where-why approach to news writing, but it’s a helpful thought process in many other fields as well. Michelle Nijhuis, who writes for National Geographic and edited the indispensable Science Writers’ Handbook, cautions it’s best not to overthink this part early on.
As you outline, don’t let the specific language of the lede hold you up. If you start fiddling, try SciLancer Stephen Ornes’s technique: ‘I write a dummy lede—basically, the most banal and uninteresting introduction to the piece—just to get it over with temporarily. Then, after I’ve written about half the first draft, I can go back and improve the lede.’
Most news stories make a promise of what the story will contain with their lede and then deliver on that promise with more details, context, and quotes further down. Any information that’s not pertinent to the lede tends to get cut or saved for another day.
Topics vs. stories
To sharpen your angle, tighten your focus. A helpful planning exercise is to ask whether you’re writing about a topic or telling a story. Here’s an illustration of how such a conversation might go:
WRITER: I wanna write about childhood.
EDITOR: Yawn. That’s a topic. What’s the story?
WRITER: It’s funny how we see our parents differently once we’re grown up.
EDITOR: You’re gonna have to be more specific.
WRITER: It’s much easier to understand my dad’s actions now that I know what a hangover is.
EDITOR: You could say the same about me. Keep talking.
WRITER: Like this time he was watching a golf video, working on his swing in the living room, and took out an overhead light, and rained glass all over the carpet.
EDITOR: Now we’re getting somewhere.
It’s difficult to directly tackle a topic in a way that doesn’t feel bland or unwieldy. By contrast, stories offer endless avenues for invention and allow room for some writerly personality. They’re often more memorable.
For instance, suppose your task is to write a few thousand words about sinkholes in Florida. Taking this as a head-on topic might mean starting with some forgettable statistics, alongside sterile facts about geologic processes. Meh. Instead, New Yorker writer David Owen opts to begin with a story:
In the fall of 1999, much of Lake Jackson—a four-thousand-acre natural body of water just north of Tallahassee and a popular site for fishing, waterskiing, and recreational boating—disappeared down a hole, like a bathtub emptying into a drain. Trophy bass became stranded in rapidly shrinking eddies, enabling children to catch them with their hands and toss them into picnic coolers, and many of the lake’s other fish, turtles, snakes, and alligators vanished into the earth.
It’s worth noting that where reporters covering hard news traffic in ledes, longform feature writers sometimes employ a nut graf or billboard—a concise explanation of what makes the subject worth caring about.
Nut grafs traditionally appear near the end of an opening section, but they don’t always make it into the final product. Sometimes they’re just a helpful tool for condensing your thoughts and feeling out your angle as you mash out an early draft. Don’t be afraid to write one, Nijhuis says, and take it out once you’re nearly finished.
She also cautions against burning up all your best material too early; remember to save some excitement to help you draw readers through the middle to a rewarding conclusion:
While we obsess about beginnings, we often don’t spend enough time sculpting our endings, or kickers, and that’s too bad. Endings are our last word to the reader, and often what readers will remember most. I like to end with a small scene that serves as a coda to the rest of the story, but there are infinite possibilities: consider powerful quotes, pithy observations, or just a strong statement in your own voice.
Just as a well-considered angle lights the way into a piece of writing, it helps inform how you finish it. Know where you’re coming from and what you’ll deliver to readers, and the path forward will shine that much brighter.
