3 Trends That Will Dominate English Writing in 2017

Any way you slice it, 2016 has been a tough year.

We lost beloved novelists like Harper Lee and Gloria Naylor; lyricists like David Bowie, Prince, and Leonard Cohen; and book-character-embodying actors like Alan Rickman and Gene Wilder.

We expressed a dip in mood in our writing online. One study by social media analytics company Crimson Hexagon showed that popular retail holidays like Black Friday experienced a rise in negative sentiment in 2016, despite rosy predictions. Similarly, sentiment analysis of the 2016 American election showed more negative emotions than ever before. One study published by the National Academy of Sciences in November even suggests that a well-known linguistic phenomenon, the tendency to use positive descriptors instead of negative ones, could be affected by this year’s political and cultural conditions. This means that, as negative as 2016 was, we could be feeling the linguistic effects for years to come.

We even chose decidedly negative words to represent this year. The first two dictionaries to announce their “Words of the Year,” Dictionary.com and the Oxford English Dictionary, both explained that this year’s picks were far more somber than last year. The OED has named “post-truth” as 2016’s Word of the Year, while Dictionary.com chose “xenophobia.” Not to be confused for a positive choice, Dictionary.com’s announcement blog opines, “Despite being chosen as the 2016 Word of the Year, xenophobia is not to be celebrated.” Ouch.

But instead of focusing on the doom and gloom that was expressed in 2016 online, it’s time we looked to the positive. Some great things happened in English this year, from the recognition of the singular they as an standard English to Christopher Marlowe finally gaining credit as Shakespeare’s coauthor. We wrote more than ever before, and we even added “squee” to the OED!

So, in the vein of these positive achievements in writing, here is an intentionally constructive list of trends we think writers will see in English-language writing next year. As it has done for centuries, English will only get better with age, and we’re very excited for these three trends to continue in 2017.

1 Fake News . . . and Real Fact-Checking One of the most surprising discussions about writing in 2016 revolved around so-called “fake news” and the idea of a “post-truth” society. Major American publications’ sourcing and writing tactics were called into question, and many op-eds were penned on the importance of well-researched writing. We predict that this discussion will continue in 2017, but hopefully with more actionable discussions of citation, sources, and plagiarism than ever before. Google has already added a fact-check tag to its news services, and we expect that others will soon follow suit.

2 Informality Meets Function By now, some of our followers are probably tired of hearing about text speak, slang, and emojis, and for good reason. The English language is constantly evolving, and in 2016, we observed a startling amount of informal language being accepted by our users. And we weren’t the only ones! The scientific community made a massive shift toward less complicated language, while discussion of informal means of communication at work soared.

Of course, some can take this opportunity to decry the “destruction” of the English language, but we don’t have to see it that way. As we saw in our trendy language study, slang does not necessarily mean shortening language, but it clearly is helping some of our users communicate in ways that make them feel more comfortable. We’re excited to see which grammar rules become myths in 2017, and which rules (like the Oxford comma) are here to stay.

3 More Writing in More Places Grammarly checked over 31 billion words in 2016. To give you a sense of what this number means: if every person on earth wrote four words in Grammarly, we’d still be 3 billion words short! Clearly, error-free digital writing was a force to be reckoned with in 2016, and we believe that our users will continue to pound on the keys at record-high numbers next year. Why do we think the amount of writing will increase? Check out these stats for more context on how digital writing grew this year:

• The number of indexed web pages grew by almost five billion from 2015 to 2016. Since the average web page contains 1,600 words, this represents a vast amount of written material.
• Over 2.3 million blogs are published every day, according to WordPress.com. The average blog post in 2016 was 1,054 words, meaning that over 2.4 billion words were written on blogs alone this year!
• At the time of writing, over 321 million tweets were being tweeted per day. Even if the average tweet is only 28 characters and only half are in English, this still represents almost 5 billion characters tweeted every day.

Even if 2016 was a tough year for online writing, we think 2017 will bring an exciting new chapter for the English language. To quote the authors of the previously mentioned LPB study, “previous research has neglected an essential dimension of language: time.” Language has never existed in a vacuum, and we are excited to see the ways in which English will grow and change in the coming year.

What do you think will happen in digital writing next year? Has your writing changed significantly in 2016? We’d love to hear your thoughts about effective writing in the comments below.

“Which Celebrity Writer Is Just Like You?” Quiz

When it comes to writing and celebrity, most people assume all celebrities use ghostwriters. These stars—among others—prove that point wrong. We’ve analyzed a list of talented celebrities and built a quiz to help you find out which celebrity writer is just like you.

What do you think? Did we get it right? Share your reactions in the comments.

6 Email Etiquette Tips that May Surprise You

Email correspondence makes it simple, easy, and convenient to quickly contact coworkers and family members across the world. However, it isn’t all roses with email. If you don’t follow proper etiquette, you can end up annoying your recipients. You’ve probably already heard about basic email etiquette tips, like using a specific subject line and replying as quickly as you can, but there is more you can do to ensure that your emails resonate with the people you send them to.

Don’t Be Sorry to Bother Someone

When you start an email with “sorry to bother you,” chances are that the recipient already feels bothered by that opening line. Those four words take seconds to read, seconds that the person could have used to find out the real point of your email. Furthermore, if you are sending a business email, you should never apologize for asking someone to do their job. You want to be polite, not obsequious.

 

Be Small-Screen Friendly

Email is not the exclusive to desktop computers and laptops. People are always on the go, and they read their emails on mobile phones and tablets. It isn’t easy to read long blocks of text on a tiny screen. Keep that in mind when you’re composing your messages. Keep your paragraphs short and your message brief. If you must send a longer message, give a succinct summary near the beginning of the email so the recipient knows what’s in store and can go back to read the rest later.

Also, think about the font you use. Some artsy fonts may look fabulous on a computer screen, but they could strain the eyes on a mobile screen.

Think Before You CC

A blogger for Lifehack describes being copied on emails: “I’d say about 90% of messages I’ve received where I’m not in the To: field but the CC: field were completely and totally useless to me.” Indeed, oftentimes those emails, intended to keep people in the loop, just end up being irritating white noise in the inbox.

This doesn’t mean you should never CC anyone, but you should carefully consider who exactly needs the information you’re about to send.

Use BCC for Bulk Mail

Want to use email to invite the universe to your upcoming party? Maybe you want to share your vacation photos with a long list of people. Whatever the reason, don’t paste a novel-length block of email addresses at the top of a message. BCC everyone in your list. This also respects the privacy of your recipients, which is especially helpful if not everyone who receives the email knows each other.

Do Not Overload on Cuteness

Fancy graphics and fonts do not look good on all browsers and devices and can make an email difficult to read. If you cannot resist the urge to embellish, use small adorable touches that add character but don’t overwhelm a message.

Along the same lines, if you are sending photographs, it’s better to send them as an attachment rather than in the body of an email, so the email itself doesn’t take a billion years to load.

Stick to Your Grammar Guns

Email is not as formal as a handwritten letter, but you should still respect the English language. Capitalize when needed, use punctuation, and give all your emails a read-through before you hit the send button. This applies to both business and personal emails.

Email isn’t complicated, but there are some rules you need to follow to get the most out of it. Did any of these tips surprise you?

10 Best Grammar Resources for Students

Something great happened on March 4, 2008. Martha Brockenbrough, through The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar, established National Grammar Day in the United States. It’s a day to celebrate all that grammar does. Would you like to wish your friends a Happy Grammar Day? Make sure you don’t have any errors in your messages! How can you make sure your grammar is in tip-top shape? Check out this list of grammar goodies:

1 Apps English grammar—yes, there’s an app for that too. Test what you learned in class by taking the interactive quizzes in the English Grammar app. Try to beat your best score and watch your writing proficiency improve.

2 Movies Actors can make you laugh, cry, and master challenging parts of speech! Teachers have long been incorporating movie clips into their lessons, but you don’t have to wait until you are in a classroom to benefit from your film library. ESLcommando.com has published links to lesson plans and worksheets that you can follow on your own. Now you have a great excuse to watch your favorite movie tonight!

3 Media There’s good news for English language learners. Newspapers and magazines are excellent sources of grammar practice. Challenge yourself to identify verb tenses, nouns, adverbs, and other parts of speech. Breaking News English prepares learning materials related to current events. On the site, you gain a greater understanding of how grammar works as you answer comprehension questions, guess the missing words in gap-fill exercises, and place words in logical order in word jumble activities.

4 Video Visual learners will benefit most from video lectures. Both LearnersTV.com and EngVid.com have dozens of videos created by experienced teachers and native speakers. Go directly to a subject that interests you or ask your teacher which skills you need to reinforce.

5 Podcasts and Radio Broadcasts Smartphones make it possible to take your learning on the go. Wouldn’t waiting in a doctor’s office be more interesting if you were learning at the same time? You can download programs in advance or stream podcasts wherever you have Internet access. Most podcasts don’t require a large time commitment. BBC Radio presents grammar tutorials in a broadcast series called Six-Minute Grammar. Can you find six minutes to listen and learn?

6 Games Games are useful resources for learners who have a short attention span. While you are focused on getting points or rescuing a noble, you won’t even realize that you’re practicing your grammar. Buy a grammar board game from a teacher resource store or download a free game board. If you don’t think you will be able to round up other players, play single- or multiplayer games on ESL learning websites.

7 Music Have you ever caught yourself humming a song that you don’t particularly like? The catchy tune might have gotten stuck in your head because music is a powerful memory aid. You can listen to songs specifically designed for grammar instruction or print the lyrics to your favorite melody. As you hum along, pay special attention to grammatical structures. Many times, you will hear “errors,” but even identifying these artistic mistakes is a unique way to practice your skills.

8 Online Courses If you prefer the systematic approach, consider an online course. Online courses work well for students with busy schedules or those who prefer to learn at home. English Grammar 101 is an introductory class for beginning English learners or native speakers who need to build a stronger foundation of the essentials. More advanced instruction is available on Alison.com. There, you can track your progress through coursework without cost and earn diplomas and certificates with a paid enrollment.

9 Websites What can’t you find online? About.com tackles everything from basic grammar to complex constructions. Quizzes and exercises accompany most of their grammar lessons. You can also print worksheets to test your knowledge.

10 Books Sure, you can read a grammar guidebook. But if that thought doesn’t appeal to you, get in touch with your inner child. Brian P. Cleary’s picture books for children may be just what you need. They cover basic grammar concepts with clever rhymes and memorable illustrations. You can download Feet and Puppies, Thieves and Guppies: What are Irregular Plurals? or one of his other books in the Google Play Store.

March fourth is quickly approaching. It’s time to get ready! Which of the ten resources will you use to expand your knowledge of grammar? It wouldn’t hurt to try them all!