5 Mistakes to Avoid When Writing on a Mobile Device

In ancient times (circa 1995), so-called “cell phones” were designed exclusively for making phone calls. But these days we spend a lot more time typing on our smartphones than talking.

We use our mobile devices for everything—texting, email, posting to social media, Slacking with coworkers, commenting on our favorite blogs, and flirting with our latest matches. There’s even a growing number of authors tapping out entire novels on their mobile devices.

While the list of things we don’t do on our smartphones continues to shrink, writing on a mobile device still has its own set of challenges. So today we’re sharing five common mistakes (and how to avoid them) so you can always show up as your best self—even when you’re writing on mobile.

1Bad Grammar

That feeling when autocorrect does the wrong ‘its’ in a reply to someone with a huge following… pic.twitter.com/gWy8m1zbGl

— Young Crone (@ThrupennyBit) October 7, 2017

There’s just no context where blatant grammar errors will make you look good. Whether you’re texting with your mom (or your crush), emailing your boss, or crafting a witty retort on Twitter—good grammar matters.

Unfortunately, typing on a tiny touch screen can be . . . challenging. Typos abound. And when autocorrect kicks in, the results can get embarrassing.

The solution? Slow down and proofread your messages before you hit “send.” Did your phone’s autocorrect change “baked” to “naked”? Did you type “their” when you should have used “they’re”?

If you don’t have the time to proofread your texts, or you don’t trust yourself to catch every error, download the free Grammarly keyboard for your iPhone. We’ll do the proofreading for you as you type (just like on your web browser) so you can elevate your mobile writing to the same quality as what you produce on your Mac or PC.

2Keeping It (Too) Casual

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We’re so used to sending casual messages to friends and family that it’s easy to forget the need for formalities in more official communication—such as answering work emails.

Writing on a mobile device does not give you a pass to be unprofessional. When you pick up your phone, remind yourself which audience you’re writing for. Are you texting your buddy about evening plans, or are you responding to a client’s question?

A “formal” message has five distinct parts: salutation, opening line, body content, call to action, sign-off.

Hi Nancy, (Salutation: addresses who you’re writing to)

Welcome to round one of your product rebrand! (Opening Line: addresses why you’re writing)

Here’s what our team came up with… (Body Content: your main message!)

Let me know which of these options is your favorite. (Call to Action: what you need from them)

Thanks so much for your feedback! (Sign-off: show your appreciation and sign your name)

—Joanna

If writing a formal message on your mobile device feels too complicated, wait until you can get back to your laptop or desktop to craft your message.

3Convoluted Text Messages

If your text message is longer than my iPhone 6 screen.. You should probably just call me.. Holy cow #longtext

— stephanie morrison (@smorrison627) March 23, 2016

We all just want to be understood. Increase your success rate (in life, love, and business) by writing messages that are clear and concise.

Lengthy, rambling text messages viewed on the tiny screen of your mobile device are not a great way to communicate. Especially when your novel-length missive gets broken into multiple messages that arrive jumbled in the wrong order.

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Do everyone a favor by keeping things simple, and if it’s too complicated to communicate over text—don’t. Send an email or ask if you can call.

For specific examples of how to improve your texting game, click here.

4Too Much Text-Speak

There is no excuse for #textspeak in a world of #autocomplete. #tech #grammar pic.twitter.com/75uvFKqoLr

— Grammarly (@Grammarly) December 23, 2013

The opposite of the dreaded “rambling text” is the message that’s been shortened into obscurity using “text-speak.”

You may have spent your youth tapping out “wut r u ^ 2?” on your phone’s numeric keypad, but technology and the etiquette of mobile communication have since evolved.

So if your opening line to potential dates is still “hey, r u frE 2nt?”, I’ve got bad news. Research conducted by dating sites Match.com and Zoosk have found that bad grammar is a significant turn-off for the majority of their users—both women and men.

Your flagrant use of text-speak isn’t impressing anyone, and you’re likely coming off as childish or uneducated. Instead, show up as your best self by using your device’s qwerty keyboard to write complete words and sentences with punctuation.

5Overusing Emojis

via GIPHY

Emoji-use is another classic case of “know thy audience.”

They’re easy to access through your smartphone’s keyboard, and can be a great tool for enhancing written communication, but they are not appropriate in every context and can even have negative consequences when used in the workplace.

While you’re safe using emojis in messages to friends and family, research has shown it’s a bad idea to send them to your boss and work superiors, clients, and coworkers you’re not close with.

Instead, focus on writing messages that are clear and unambiguously worded so they don’t need the assistance of emojis to convey their meaning.

7 Essential Time Management Skills That Will Improve Your Life

Time is the great equalizer—everybody gets the same twenty-four hours each day. Making productive use of that time can mean the difference between getting things done and scrambling to keep up. These time management tips will help you streamline your day and work smarter.

1Do a time audit.

Do you get to the end of every workday and wonder where the time went? Maybe you wonder why you didn’t manage to accomplish as much as you’d hoped you would. You could be wasting more time than you realize. There may well be a discrepancy between how you think you spend your time and how you actually spend it. A time audit can be an eye-opener!

Here’s a simple method for conducting a time audit.

• Get some sort of timer that you can set to go off every thirty minutes. (The alarm app on your phone could do the trick.)
• Begin the timer and go about your day. Try not to think about the timer—just let it run quietly in the background.
• When the timer goes off, write down what you’re doing at that very moment. Be honest! If you’re checking Facebook or sending your best friend a funny text, own up to it.
• Set the timer for another thirty minutes and repeat the process until the end of your day.
• Review how you’ve spent your time. How often were you caught doing something that wasn’t productive?

Try conducting an audit every day for a week to get a good overview of how you’re spending your time. (You can vary the time between check-ins so that you don’t begin to anticipate the alarm going off every thirty minutes.) If you find that you’ve been spending too much time checking your email, scrolling through your social media feed, or chatting with co-workers, you’ll know exactly where you have to make adjustments.

2Block out distractions

Now that you have a better idea of what’s distracting you, it’s time to block that thing out. If social media is your downfall, for instance, try a productivity app that blocks online distractions. FocusMe, Cold Turkey, and SelfControl are a few available options. If you’re working on a writing project, try going into fullscreen mode to prevent yourself from opening tabs or answering desktop notifications.

Speaking of notifications, turn them off. Unless it’s critical to your job, odds are good you don’t need to be alerted every time a new email comes in or someone interacts with you on social media.

3Schedule yourself

Worrying about how you’ll fit all your tasks into the average workday can put a serious strain on your productivity. When we’re stressed, we struggle to stay productive, which can lead us to work longer hours to meet deadlines. Who needs that?

To-do lists can become overwhelming if you’ve got a lot to accomplish. Instead, use your favorite calendar tool (or even a good old-fashioned datebook) to schedule yourself. You might set aside an hour for answering emails, two for researching and outlining that important report for next week’s meeting, one for a lunch date with a colleague, and so on. If you have a shared corporate calendar, all the better. You can remind your colleagues to interrupt you only when absolutely necessary if you have time blocked off for important tasks. (See tip five!)

You’ll be surprised what time blocking will do for your productivity. For example, if you’re in the habit of answering emails as they come in, you may well be interrupting your own workflow to do it. That means that after you’ve dropped everything to answer that email, you’ll have to take extra time to reorient yourself to the task you’d been working on before it came in. Scheduling yourself allows you to set your priorities in advance and avoid being distracted by less important matters.

4Avoid multitasking

You may think you’re good at multitasking, but odds are you’re wrong. When you divide your focus between tasks, you’re actually diverting attention from one task to another and using more brain bandwidth. You’ll perform better if you give your full attention to one task at a time.

Grouping similar tasks can also keep you in the right mindset. You might, for instance, group your writing tasks together and do them during one particular block of time. Administrative tasks can fall into another time block. Need to be active on social media? Cool. Block time for using a scheduler like Buffer to queue up your posts for the day so you won’t feel the constant need to check in.

Here’s a tip: Keep a small notebook handy when you’re working. When you suddenly remember another task you need to do (“Whoops! Did I schedule my electric bill payment?”), jot it down. That way, you won’t forget that important thing, but you won’t interrupt your jam, either.

5Insist that others respect your time.

You know that meeting you were asked to attend that had almost no relevance to you? The one where you had nothing to contribute? That’s an hour of your time you’ll never get back. Get out of those do-nothing meetings. Every meeting should have to justify its existence, and every meeting organizer should have to justify your required attendance, especially if not attending the meeting would ultimately make you more productive.

The same goes for chatty coworkers. You have a right to work time free from unnecessary interruptions, so ask for it. You could say something like “I have a lot of trouble concentrating sometimes, and interruptions take me out of the flow when I’m working. Could we save chit-chat for when we’re off the clock?”

6Keep your “call to action” in mind.

What do you want to get out of that phone call you’re about to make or that meeting you’re about to schedule? You need to know what you’re asking for, or at least what you hope to achieve, before you dive in. Otherwise, you’ll end up spending time in conversations and meetings that aren’t ultimately productive.

Take a few minutes after meetings and phone calls to reflect on whether you achieved the outcome you were hoping for. If you didn’t, plan your next steps so you can attain it. You’ll be more prepared when the opportunity to address the issue comes around again.

7Get enough down time and rest.

Taking a break when it’s crunch time may seem counterproductive, but one study found that lack of sleep is costing the U.S. workforce $411 billion annually. You’re not at your best when you’re sleep-deprived.

And don’t shy away from taking your vacation time. Skipping vacation is actually bad for your health. Not only that, but taking time to relax can make you more productive. When you’re well rested and refreshed, you’re far more likely to tackle your tasks with focus and enthusiasm.

Now, go out there and get things done!

Three French Phrases English Loves to Borrow

For the third day of LitMas, we’re offering you three French phrases English speakers love to borrow. There’s something kind of glamorous about sprinkling foreign phrases into your conversations every now and then, don’t you think?

1 Joyeux Noël

’Tis the season of wondering what noel means. In French, Noël simply means Christmas. If you’re not sure about joyeux, go ahead and take a guess—you’re probably right. Joyeux means happy. So joyeux Noël is the French way of saying merry Christmas. Now you have something magnifique to say to your Francophone friends!

2 Amuse-bouche

Hosting a fancy holiday dinner party? Don’t forget the amuse-bouches. They’re like hors d’oeuvres (hey, there’s another French phrase!), but amuse-bouches are typically served as bite-size morsels. Amuse-bouche is French for “mouth amuser.” Feel free to amuse your guests with this fact.

3 Canard

OK, this one takes a little bit of explanation. Canard is French for duck. To English speakers, a canard is a hoax or an untrue rumor. Huh? The meaning comes from the old French idiom vendre des canards à moitié, to half-sell ducks (or, in other words, to trick someone). This may be the word you’re looking for if you get stuck listening to Uncle Carl pontificate about conspiracy theories at dinner.

And, no, we don’t know how one goes about half-selling a duck. If you figure it out, let us know.

Bonus phrase: RSVP

Speaking of parties, do the right thing and RSVP to that invitation. Your host needs to know how much ice to get! RSVP stands for répondez s’il vous plaît, meaning “please respond.”

Which French phrases will you trot out this holiday season?

Why Text Messaging is Butchering Grammar

Guest post from Emily Green

Well, it took a decade, but it’s finally happened. People text so much that they’ve forgotten how to use proper grammar. What’s worse, it seems like the general population is accommodating them. This needs to stop. Let’s look at why text messaging is butchering grammar and what we can do to stop it.

Typing Shorthand is the Popular Style

You may not know what shorthand is by its name, but you’ve definitely seen it. Have you ever seen someone on Facebook type like their keyboard is missing vowels? That’s shorthand. It’s when people can’t be bothered to talk properly. It’s translated to e-mails, general Internet chat, and, sadly, even schoolwork. All too often, people write “wud” instead of “would,” “lyke” instead of “like,” and so on. This type of typing isn’t even acceptable on phones anymore! Blackberry phones include a spellcheck option, so use it and stop looking like a tool.

Typing shorthand is extremely tempting because it saves a few seconds. Maybe you’re not supposed to have your phone out, or you’re in the car (don’t text and drive), and you need to send just one text. It’s a slippery slope, though. Soon, that texting becomes how we write, especially in younger children. It’s best to avoid shorthand style altogether.

They’re Adding Acronyms to the Dictionary

It’s difficult to describe the thoughts that came to mind when this news was revealed, but the “powers that be” have started to add acronyms to the dictionary. “LOL,” “FYI,” and “OMG” – meaning laughing out loud, for your information, and oh my god, respectively – were added to the Oxford English Dictionary. Really? As if we’re not butchering the language enough, we’re now making it okay to do so? It’s embarrassing that these words were added to the dictionary — they have no place being there. What will people a hundred years from now think of this generation? Is this really the legacy that we want to leave behind — that text messaging made us too lazy to type out full words?

It’s almost scary to think of what the future holds. If they’ll add acronyms, will they add words that are misspelled? When Webster wrote the dictionary, he made a few changes. He dropped the “u” in colour, honour, and other similar words; he substituted an “s” for “c” in a few words; and he made other little changes. Will that be something that happens in the future? Do you really want to live in a world where “alot” is acceptable?

What Does This Mean for the Future?

These changes imply a much darker future for grammar. It seems like fewer people are reading books lately, and even fewer letters are being sent by mail. In fact, texting is eroding literacy in young adults. The next generation of adults will be faced with serious literacy issues, which could lead to even more serious problems. We’re already facing some grammar and literacy barriers between generations.

The next generation is going to be peppered with poor grammar, misplaced homonyms, and more, which may be why editors are in demand. As we’re all so absorbed in our phones, this constant texting could lead to some serious social and communication as well. This is evident with Facebook and Twitter’s popularity. We find ways to say what we want in 140 characters (or less), but we struggle in a face-to-face conversation.

So, what does this mean for the future? It’s difficult to say. Really, it could go either way. The texting generation could prevail, and we could live in a world that’s similar to the film “Idiocracy” — everyone lives a brain-dead life, everything is picture or symbol based, and intelligent adults are few and far between. Or, people could realize how ridiculous they sound and grammar could make a triumphant comeback.

What do you think? Does text messaging butcher the English language? Is grammar dying a slow, painful death? Leave a comment below and weigh in on the situation.

About the Author

Emily Green is a freelance writer with more than six years of experience. When she is not writing she like to go on jogs.

Job Seekers: What’s Wrong with Your Resume? Probably More than You Think.

#WhatIWrite: Cover Letters and Resumes

More than two thirds of salaried jobs require a significant amount of writing, making written communication a key consideration in hiring. Yet, top organizations still spend more than $3 Billion (with a “B”!) per year on remedial training to improve employees’ writing to baseline standards.

Cover letters and resumes are, not surprisingly, a great way for potential employers to assess candidate’s writing skills. According to a recent analysis of online resumes by Grammarly:

• There are 5 potential errors on a typical job seeker’s resume, and most of these issues (nearly 60 percent) are grammatical.
• Female job seekers make an average of 4 grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes in their resume, while male job seekers average more than 6 mistakes.
• The average job seeker makes more than 1.5 punctuation errors, but very few spelling mistakes (less than one per resume).

Careful proofreading is the best way to find potential spelling and grammar issues in a resume or cover letter. Using Grammarly’s application as an extra set of eyes to find spelling and grammar mistakes enables job seekers to differentiate themselves by focusing on content and style.

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Have you written a particularly compelling resume or cover letter recently that you’d like to share?

Grammarly is joining The New York Times Learning Network, National Council of Teachers for English, National Writing Project and other literary-minded organizations in spreading the word about the #WhatIWrite Tweet-up to take place today (Friday, October 19) and tomorrow (Saturday, October 20).

#WhatIWrite encourages writers to share excerpts from their writing via Twitter. Participants who include the hashtag #GrammarlyEdits with any of their tweets will be entered into a drawing to win a free one-year subscription to Grammarly’s online application valued at $139.95. You may also tell your friends about the contest on Twitter for a second chance in the drawing.

Click here to learn more about the #GrammarlyEdits #WhatIWrite contest.

Terms and conditions: Official Rules #GrammarlyEdits #WhatIWrite Contest

What Is a Protagonist?

• Protagonist comes from a Greek word for the principal actor in a drama.
• In modern literature, the protagonist drives the story forward by pursuing a goal.
• The protagonist of a story is sometimes called the main character.
• The protagonist of a story is opposed by an antagonist.

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If you have ever taken a writing or literature class, you probably heard someone refer to a protagonist. You may even have a sketchy idea of what a protagonist is. Today you have an opportunity to learn the literary definition of protagonist as well as how the word is used in other contexts.

Protagonist Definition

What is a protagonist? The word comes from ancient Greece. An actor who played the chief role in a drama was a protagonistes. The prefix proto- means to “first,” and an agonistes was an actor or a competitor in a contest.

In English class, when you hear the word protagonist, you’ll probably be discussing a work of literature. (Films also have protagonists.) The most common definition of protagonist is the leading character of a drama or literary work. You can see the relation to its Greek root word in the sense that the character is important in the plot. Sometimes, the term hero refers to a male protagonist. Heroine refers to a female protagonist. Champion is another synonym of protagonist.

Protagonist Examples

Usually, the protagonist is easy to identify. Take the book Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, for example. The action of the novel centers around one man, Alonso Quixano. He is the protagonist.

Let’s look as some other famous protagonists, as identified by fellow authors and readers:

Harry (“Rabbit”) Angstrom, the serial hero of John Updike’s Rabbit tetralogy, is the only protagonist I’ve grown old with―doomed, but indomitable and lovable.

”John

[A Handful of Dust] shows all of Waugh’s gifts for satire and farce, but unlike his earlier novels, it has a three-dimensional, tragic protagonist in aristocratic cuckold Tony Last.

”Jay

The protagonist A.J. Fikry, for example, is a crotchety old bookseller in the isolated New England town of Alice Island―a guy who thumbs his nose at anything unworthy of the term “literary.”

”Kate

In some novels, there may be more than one protagonist. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy is a famous example―it has five. However, not every book with multiple main characters has multiple protagonists. According to NarrativeFirst.com, the main character “represents the audience’s eyes into the story,” On the other hand, the protagonist “pursues the goal of the story.”

Outside the world of books, protagonist can refer to anyone who is a leader or an important person in a movement or cause.

After a positive showing in Euro 2016, Welshman Gareth Bale will be asked to take over the role of protagonist and fans will be hoping he can deliver in the same way. ―AS.com

Protagonist and Antagonist

What makes many stories interesting is the struggle that the protagonist has to go through to achieve his aim. The antagonist is the principal source of conflict for the protagonist. Often, the antagonist is a bad guy, a villain, but he doesn’t necessarily have to be. He may just be someone who has a different agenda. Antagonists might be one person, a group, or even an animal. For example, Professor Moriarty is the antagonist of many Sherlock Holmes stories. He is a clear opponent; Sherlock dies in a battle against him in “The Final Battle.”

Can the protagonist be his own antagonist? In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the character McDuff opposes Macbeth and eventually kills him. However, some say that the protagonist Macbeth fills the role of antagonist against himself. Macbeth causes his own problems. McDuff isn’t an evil character in the play. In fact, he’s described frequently as “holy.”

However, like protagonists, antagonists aren’t always easy to distinguish. Furthermore, not all antagonists are people. Sometimes, a character’s opponent is something abstract, like an internal struggle or a difficult life situation. Abstract antagonistic forces can function as obstacles that a protagonist must overcome. In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, the protagonist Okonkwo is haunted by the memories of Unoka’s wrongdoing, and this shapes his character.

Famous Protagonist and Antagonist Pairs

• Sherlock Holmes vs. Professor Moriarity
• Harry Potter vs. Lord Voldemort, the Harry Potter series
• Elizabeth Bennett vs. Mr. Darcy and Mr. Wickham, Pride and Prejudice
• Hamlet vs. King Claudius, Hamlet

False Protagonists

One interesting literary technique is to introduce a false protagonist. When the story begins, one character stands out as the principal player, but a change occurs at some point in the novel. Often, this character dies, leaves the story, or turns out to be the antagonist and someone else emerges as the actual protagonist who will continue the mission of the first character. An author famous for this shocking technique is George R.R. Martin, author of the Game of Thrones series. In the early stages of his story, Ned Stark seems to be the main protagonist of the novel―much of the story is narrated from his point of view. Later, his sudden execution surprises readers, forcing them to rethink their theories about what’s really happening.

How to Create a Protagonist

What does protagonist mean? Now that you can answer that question, how do you create one? The Sumo Nova blog provides some helpful steps. First, create a central conflict. “A protagonist is defined by how he faces such challenges, and moreover, how he overcomes them.” Next, consider what your protagonist wants and needs. These desires have to be strong enough to motivate your character to take action in your story. They can change, but they always need to be relatable to what people want in real life—love, success, justice, happiness, etc. However, don’t explicitly state the goals and needs of the principal character. It’s much more interesting for the readers to figure it out by listening in on the character’s thoughts and conversations and by observing how the character acts in different situations. Finally, choose how you will describe your character, including his name and physical appearance.

Another Type of Protagonist

There is a new definition of protagonist that arose in the twentieth century: a proponent or advocate of a cause. The American Heritage Dictionary adds this usage note: “[This usage] may have been influenced by a misunderstanding that the first syllable of the word is the prefix pro-, “favoring.” Many readers will therefore find erroneous a sentence like, “He was an early protagonist of nuclear power.” Though controversial, you will see this usage occasionally. Here are a couple of examples from the media:

The people of Bengal have maintained that their greatest protagonist for the freedom struggle, Subhas Chandra Bose, was always subjected to neglect by the Congress, because of the fundamental differences Bose had with the party’s official line. ―The New Indian Express

At the University of Havana, Fidel was president of the Committee for Democracy in the Dominican Republic as well as of the Committee for the Liberation of Puerto Rico, then as now, a U.S. colony. He was an active protagonist for Latin American unity, not just in words but in deeds. ―Liberation

From ancient Greece down to today, protagonists have been the central figures of plays, books, films, and even causes and organizations. Do you have a clearer idea of what a protagonist is? You can test yourself by trying to identify the central charac ter of your favorite books and movies. To challenge yourself further, create your own protagonist for a short story.