This is the compilation of the weekly writing tips given on the Home Page. Every week a new tip is given on the Home Page and the previous one is added to this page. So you’ll find a New writing tip here every week.
- Use of I or me
- Verb tense
- Subject-verb agreement in sentences with more than one noun
- Correlative expressions and grammatical construction
- Use of active voice and passive voice
- Avoid double comparisons
- Use strong adjectives, not weak ones with the word “very”
- Everyone and everybody
- Use of ‘a’ or ‘an’
- Dangling participles
- Avoid comma splices
- Placement of subordinate clauses
- No to adverbs with meanings in verbs
- Use of were and wishes
- Use of ‘the’ and ‘a’
- Starting a sentence with “and” or “but”
- ‘-able’ or ‘-ible’
- Double negatives
- Can I or May I?
- Split infinitives
- Ending a sentence with a preposition
PUNCTUATION AND CAPITALIZATION TIPS
- Use commas or semi-colons?
- Double or single quotation marks to enclose quotes?
- Comma in an indirect quote?
- Abbreviation and end of sentence
- Use a hyphen between “re” and the verb
- Comma before “and”
- Commas with an appositive
- Period or no period
- Hyphenate a compound adjective
- Exclamation mark
- Semi-colon and clauses
- Capitalization of person’s title or rank
- Compass points and capitalization
- Capitalize academic titles
- Capitalization of abbreviations
- Resumed quotations within sentences
- Capitalization of family relationships
- Question within a sentence
- Capitalize the word ‘Government’
- Choice of words
- Which or that
- Use of adjectives
- Starting a sentence with ‘it’
- Who and whom
- Big words, impressive words?
- ‘Corrupted’ words
- Affect and Effect
- Careful use of words
- Graceful alternatives to negations
- Don’t mix up lie and lay
- Into versus in to
- Using due to
- Farther or further
- All together or altogether
- Till or Until
- Fiscal versus financial
- “Bring” or “take”?
- Oral versus Verbal
- Do not confuse “envelop” with “envelope”
- Disinterested or uninterested
- Majority – singular or plural?
SENTENCE AND PARAGRAPH WRITING TIPS
- Sentence formation
- Sentence fragments
- Parallel structure
- Main point of sentence
- Write concise sentences
- Vary sentence openings
- Compound or complex sentence
- Omit unnecessary phrases
- Topic sentence
- Supporting sentences
- Support your paragraph
- Movement of supporting sentences
- Digressions and deviations
- Paragraph length
- Transitional paragraphs
- Closing sentence
- Keep to one idea
- Coherent paragraph
- Be assertive and forthright
- Bring about cordiality
- Business letters
- Margins in writing layout
- Avoid gender bias
- Avoid using “weasel” words
- Format business e-mails in plain text
- Dateline in business correspondence
- Business letter with cc
- Contractions in business writing
- Foreign words and phrases
- Keep business letters formal and factual
- Avoid use of jargon and buzzwords
- Correspondence with foreign clients
- Fonts in business writing
- Emphasis in academic writing
- Make your proposals persuasive
- Selecting the right tone
- Personal information in resumes
- Attachments in e-mails
- Italics and underlines
- E-mail subject line
- Emoticons in business e-mails
ESSAY AND ARTICLE WRITING TIPS
- The 5 W’s
- Plan your essay
- Create intrigue in your introduction
- Pattern of supporting paragraphs
- Flow in sentences
- Choice of words
- Writing for the audience
- Researching the topic
- Do not preach
- Use of “there is” and “it is”
- You and your essay
- Use of other’s words and ideas
- Focus on ideas first
- Proofreading for spellings
- Show, don’t tell
- Paragraph breaks
- Check your facts
- Main points of your article
- Stay on your topic
SHORT STORY AND POETRY WRITING TIPS
- Be precise and to the point
- Have a theme
- Keep your short story “short”
- Use of dialogues in short stories
- Create conflict in your story
- Don’t have too many characters
- Choose settings carefully
- Catchy first sentence
- Use of imagery
- Portrayal of characters
- Substitute descriptive details
- Read good poetry
- Word sounds
- Each line must belong to the poem
- Theme of your poem
- Do not give meaning to your poetry
- Let the words flow
- Use plenty of imagery
- Stanza breaks
- Be careful with rhymes
- Use concrete words
TITLE WRITING AND ABBREVIATION WRITING TIPS
- A powerful title
- Capitalization of title
- Length of title
- Leave title for the end
- Write the title for your audience
- Title within body of prose
- Turn title into question
- Phrasal verb capitalization in a title
- Intrigue in your title
- e.g. and i.e.
- Use of abbreviations and acronyms
- Latin abbreviations or English equivalents?
- Abbreviations in scientific and technical writing
- Use of “a” or “an” before an abbreviation
- Possessive abbreviations
- Abbreviations of a title
- Phonic abbreviations in writing
- Spaces in abbreviations
- Abbreviations for units of measurements
- Plurals of abbreviations New
NUMBER AND NUMERAL WRITING TIPS
- Spell out or use numerals?
- Numbers for advertising
- Writing measurements
- Writing decimals in words
- Adjacent numbers
- Writing ordinal numbers
- Percentages in formal writing
- Writing fractions in words
- Writing time with o’clock
- Plurals of numbers
- Numbers in recipes
- Writing rounded numbers
- Numbers to stand out
- Use digits for the web
- Numbers in dialogue
- Time within text matter
If you have any question regarding grammar, punctuations, syntax, or just about anything to do with writing and writing styles, please feel free to write to us at [email protected] . We will post your question up on www.word-mart.com along with our answer, so others can benefit from it, too. But if you would like us to write to you personally, we can do that as well.
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