The most indispensible jobs (in children...

The busyness trap has engulfed the workplace. CEOs pressure their executives to put in more time. In turn, executives pressure managers who then pressure their employees, with smartphones keeping us tethered to the office 24-7. Meanwhile, big-box retailers are opening their doors on Thanksgiving because shoppers can’t possibly wait until midnight on Friday to start shopping. Tim Kreider described this busyness trap in a recent column for The New York Times—a column that also inspired a PR Daily contribution from Melissa Johnson—in which Kreider describes “busy”...

19 terrible email subject lines

With the holiday shopping season closing in, our spam folders will soon be overflowing with special offers and one-of-a-kind deals. About once a week, I open my spam folder and scan the subject lines to see what not to write in an email subject line. The best email subject lines should be concise and straightforward and give the reader an idea of what the email is actually about. Here are some examples of the worse email subject lines I’ve seen. These are from real emails: • Register to Win Your FREE iPod!! This one is so generic, I skip right over—don’t even see...

7 traits of great writers

I’ve been thinking about what makes a writer great. The obvious answer is that he or she produces clear, concise, and creative content using the best-chosen, grammatically correct language. (No small task!) Of course, the much bigger question centers on how this is done. Here are seven traits of great writers. 1. You are an avid reader. Great writers are voracious readers. Like musicians who listen to music to analyze it, writers analyze what they read. They pay attention to structure, technique, and word choice, and incorporate these techniques into their own...

10 inspiring quotes from sci-fi hero Jea...

Inspiration comes from the strangest places. Last weekend, for example, I took my inaugural trip to a science fiction/comic book convention. For the first time in years, I was immersed in the science fiction that I used to love in college—“Star Wars” and “Star Trek,” to name a few. Here’s a look at the best lines uttered by one of the greatest sci-fi characters of all time: Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) from “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” How do these tie in to corporate communications? Perhaps I’ll use one or two of these in my next staff...

10 rules for using the apostrophe

Last week, I tackled a controversial topic — the comma. There are definite rules for its use, but many writers use commas subjectively, leading to disagreement (and acrimony) whenever writers or editors discuss this modest punctuation mark. This week, I’m tackling another punctuation mark—the apostrophe. The rules for the apostrophe are much more definite, but they are frequently misapplied. So misunderstanding often ensues when it comes to the apostrophe. Here are some rules for its use. 1. An apostrophe is used to show the possessive case of proper nouns. •...

7 quick and easy (and controversial) rul...

There is probably no more controversial punctuation mark than the comma. Have three editors tackle a paragraph that is devoid of commas, and you will probably end up with three pieces of text in which commas are used very differently. “The American Medical Association Manual of Style” sums up the issue quite nicely: “There are definite rules for using commas; however, usage is often subjective. Some writers and editors use the comma frequently to indicate what they see as a natural pause in the flow of words, but commas can be overused. The trend is to use them...

12 quotes about reading

by Laura Hale Brockway Good writers are voracious readers. Like musicians who listen to music to analyze it, writers read to analyze. We also read to find inspiration. Whether we read classics, modern fiction, comic books, recipe books, tweets or New Yorker articles, we can always take away something to incorporate into our writing. One of the secrets to good writing is simply reading. Below are some inspirational quotes about books and reading, including a few by other writers. 1. “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only...

WD-40 for writers: how to get unstuck

At my son’s school, fourth grade is the start of a serious focus on writing—“organization, voice, ideas, conventions (spelling and grammar), word choice, and sentence fluency.” Wow. His first assignment, creating a character and writing a chapter about him or her, proved daunting, despite the “help” of this professional writer. He told me he had “too much going on in his head” and didn’t know where to start. My advice to “just put something down on paper” only made it worse. He had it. Writer’s block. So I took a step back, put all my writing and...