13 clever and inspiring quotes about wri...

Writers often pride themselves on their limitless creativity, but even they occasionally need an inspirational push. Luckily, other writers and creative people can help. If you need a little inspiration this week, here are 13 witty and insightful quotes about writing. “A sentence should never be cruel and unusual.” — William C. Burton, attorney “If you can’t explain something simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” — Albert Einstein, physicist “I have made this letter longer that usual because I lack the time to make it shorter.” —...

14 of Shakespeare’s most captivati...

Opening lines can torment writers. The lead sentence can make or break what we’ve written. They are often the deciding factor in whether readers keep reading. To find inspiration for my own writing projects, I often study the first lines of great literary works.Recently, I’ve been interested in the first lines of Shakespeare’s plays. Some of his most famous works open simply (“Who’s there?” in Hamlet.), while others immediately draw readers in with a mystery. Here are a few of my favorites: “When shall we three meet again In thunder, lightning, or in...

How do you persuade a correspondent to t...

When I’m puzzled by someone’s behavior, I think about the aphorism, “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.” Or perhaps a version that is a little less harsh: “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by inexperience.” That is the only explanation I have for a series of emails that I received last week. The person sending them seemed to be inexperienced and not know he was being appallingly rude. In keeping with my previous posts on bad email manners, here’s what happened. Like so many other PR Daily...

Should these terms be one word or two?

Corporate communicators can become easily distracted by style and usage issues. For example, when someone asks a usage question, I can’t let it go until I find out the answer. This week’s distraction was the term “cyber security.” A co-worker was insisting that the term was now one word, “cybersecurity.” And indeed, I confirmed this with several dictionaries and in the AP Stylebook. “Cyber” is now considered an accepted prefix. So “cybersecurity” — like “cyberspace” or “cyberbullying” — is one word. I don’t agree with the designation of...

10 corporate writing crimes

Corporate communicators with years in the trenches are all too familiar with seeing writing transgressions every day. Some we commit; some we correct. Here’s a sampling of the worst crimes:   1. Writing for your boss rather than your audience. In corporate communications, “writing for your audience” often takes a back seat to politics and the whims of executives. Be honest: Is that ad copy for prospects or for your CEO? Is that press release for reporters or for your board of directors? In a corporate environment, it can be tough to remember that the...