*These brace symbols are cute: { }, but there is a point where enough is enough. I, too, am guilty of using them at times on my blog in lieu of regular parentheses, but at some point they become uncreative and just become distracting clutter. Where are you on that scale? What purpose do they serve when you use them? Good writing doesn't need to be dressed up with symbols.
*Speaking of symbols, try to limit your use of emoticons. If you're being funny, it should come through in your writing. Adding a smiley face isn't usually necessary (and again, I am totally guilty of this when I leave blog comments). The instant message chat phrase LOL should also not be a part of your writing.
*Exclamation marks should be limited to one mark for excitement or two, max, if you're discussing something particularly mind-blowing. Remember, your target readership is probably not a group of 16-year old girls, but most likely brides with post-graduate degrees.
*Numbers with fewer than two digits get spelled out. Example: 7 should always be written as seven, seventeen may be written as 17.
*Than is used for comparison. Then answers the question 'when?'. Examples:
The bride likes peonies more than roses.
Her first choice was peonies, then she switched to roses when she learned peonies were out of season.
*Text should be left-justified. Centered text is distracting, and causes the mind to fatigue because it is not accustomed to it. Readers will click out of your site at a faster rate if the article text is not where their brain says it should normally be. If it defaults to center because of your photos, be sure to left-justify it before hitting publish.
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7 comments:
I do not have the best writing skills, but I agree that you should take the time to be thoughtful. These are great tips.
I'm super guilty of these things. My mind works very fast and although I type around 60 wpm I can't seem to get my punctuation or grammar correct. Unfortunately, typepad doesn't have an auto spell check either before posting, I have to run it manually and often forget. I am most guilty of the ... & the ! it's tragic how much I use it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you for your post! I find that people who lack good writing skills should also be extremely careful in their emails. I judge their professionalism based on their emails and it's amazing what some people will send to me. I know a catering manager who is dyslexic and I've known her to triple check her emails. She spell checks everything and is incredibly careful. Her emails are always perfect.
These are great tips, and I am linking to this post-that's how much I love it!
Oh Liene, you're pinching us. I'm so guilty of the { }. I picked that bad habit up not too long ago. The sad thing is that when I use them, I question whether I should be using them. That alone is a good enough reason not to use them.
And you are right about writing out numbers less than the number 10. Every time I do this, I think about my eighth grade English teacher (many moons ago) who got on us about this very thing.
I know better. I am making a mental note to work on this. Thanks for blogging about this!
{:)}!!!
that's a great blog post, i think i should give it a link back ;)
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