8 useful insights for writing irresistib...

by Laura Hale Brockway, ELS When I was in journalism school, our writing classes focused on feature writing and news writing. The Internet was in its infancy, so there was no formal instruction on “writing for the Web.” But to me—and I would guess many other J-school graduates—writing is writing. The audience and the medium are different, but we adapt our style accordingly. In learning to adapt my style for the Web, I discovered Letting Go of the Words: Writing Web Content that Works, by Janice Redish. This book—filled with practical advice and case studies—is...

17 verbs that cut fat from your writing

by Laura Hale Brockway   Verbs are the powerhouse of your sentences; choose them wisely. Another issue that I see frequently in the work that I edit is weak verbs coupled with nouns that are strong verbs in disguise. Consider the following sentences: The managing editor made a recommendation to use a new style guide. The managing editor recommended a new style guide. In the first sentence, made is a weak verb used with the noun recommendation. But as the second sentence demonstrates, you can simplify and strengthen the sentence by using recommend as the verb. Here...

I was just noticing . . .

Great sentiment, bad grammar.

33 homophones that ensnare writers and s...

by Laura Hale Brockway “Galaxy Quest,” in case you haven’t seen it, is a science fiction parody about a group of actors who get caught up in a very real intergalactic battle between forces of good and evil. The movie is filled with pithy one-liners, clever word play, and even a lesson on homophones. A homophone (or homonym) is a word that is pronounced the same as another, but means something entirely different. Take, for instance, one scene from “Galaxy Quest” in which the crew visits a strange planet in search of a beryllium sphere they need to repair their...

8 more words that may not mean what you ...

Two weeks ago, inspired by “The Princess Bride,” I wrote about words that don’t mean what you think they mean, such as “poisonous” versus “venomous,” and “imply” versus “infer.” The response to this post was phenomenal—more than 450 comments were posted. PR Daily readers shared other examples of words that are commonly misused. Others discussed how language evolves, insisting that the meanings of words change because “majority rules.” Apparently, the word “literally” means the same thing as “figuratively” because everyone uses it that...

14 corporate verbs that you despise

Two weeks ago, I called for a ban on 24 lazy corporate verbs, among them “utilize,” “implement,” and “synergize.” At the end of the column, I asked PR Daily readers to share the verbs they thought should be banned. We heard you loud and clear. Turns out there are far more than just two dozen weak verbs driving you crazy. PR Daily readers shared roughly a hundred more verbs (and pseudo-verbs) they’d like to jettison. In case you didn’t have time to read all the comments, we went through them and grabbed 14 more words that need to be banned, along with the...