In case you weren’t confused enoug...

Given my two previous posts on confusing word pairs, I thought I had this topic fairly well covered. We’ve discussed the difference between comprise and compose and hone and home, just to name a few. Still, I keep running into problematic word pairs; they’re turning up like run-on sentences in a James Joyce novel. Here are seven more pairs to note: Exacerbate and exasperate To exacerbate means to worsen (an already bad situation). Example: Having John write the response will only exacerbate the backlash. Exasperate means to exhaust, usually someone’s patience....

The ellipses . . . use it properly

In a world of instant messaging and texting, everyone is trying to say more with less. We abbreviate, we truncate, we punctuate — all to get our message across using the fewest characters. In my own texting, I’ve just begun to notice that I use the ellipses excessively. “While I’m thinking about it . . . can you please check that link.” “Parent-teacher conference . . . 10 a.m. . . . Wednesday.” I’ve even caught myself misusing the ellipses at work. Wait a minute, did I just write “Meeting cancelled. . .Stacey was a no-show. . . Rescheduled for Friday”...

A four-step method to my madness

Not all writers are created equal. I’ve spent most of my career editing the work of writers with varying degrees of skill. Some articles that cross my desk need a complete rewrite; others don’t require a single change. Through the years I’ve created a process that helps me edit on different levels. Editing to improve the structure of an article is different from editing for style and usage. Here’s a four-step method to my madness: 1. Read, and read only This may seem obvious, but I can’t stress enough how important it is to read the article before making...

5 ways to focus so you can write

I have a confession to make. I’m not actually very productive when it comes to writing — at my day job, that is. For three weeks I’ve been trying to write an article about a business initiative, and I can’t get to it. I open a blank Word document with every intention of starting the article, and then the emails start. Or the phone rings. Or someone stops by. Everyone experiences this. We are all doing more with less time and fewer resources. But in the “age of distraction” how do you find time to focus on the task of researching a topic and writing about...

Sometimes it take more than adding an &#...

In the English language, there are exceptions to every rule. Some of the most maddening exceptions occur with spelling rules. For instance, it’s “i before e except after c”—unless it’s the fourth Thursday and there’s a full moon, right? So, let’s look at “weird” plurals. And I say “weird” because pluralization is not always about adding an “s.” With the singular form listed first, here are some words you can’t make plural just by adding an “s”: • syllabus • syllabi • diagnosis • diagnoses • radius • radii • stratum •...

Colon or semicolon? Follow these simple ...

Two of the most misused and abused punctuation marks in the English language are colons and semicolons. They each have specific functions and cannot be used interchangeably. To help cut through the confusion, remember these simple rules: • Semicolons replace commas in a list whose items themselves contain commas. For example: Liz tried several things to treat her allergies: taking over-the-counter medications such as Chlor Trimeton, Zyrtec, and Claritin; alternating those drugs; wearing mosquito netting over her head; and, finally, swearing never to go outside in the...