Category: Writing/Editing
Problem: When quoted material comes at the end of a sentence, the pileup of punctuation causes con-fusion. Lesson: American style calls for always placing periods inside the quotation marks. (In contrast, the placement under British style depends upon whether the punctuation applies to the sentence or the quoted material.) Example: Then, he said, “Please finish […]
The wide availability of document templates makes it possible to create a range of business documents without thinking about the proper format. Test your knowledge of the current standards for correspondence with this quiz. 1. On the first page of a business letter, start typing ___. 2. On a standard-size letter, set the side margins […]
Write it right, say it right, spell it right.
You absorb most material that crosses your desk with ease. But once in a while, a heavy assignment—reading a book, proofing a long report or being asked to give your input on a complicated competitive analysis—can throw you off. Stop procrastinating and cut through that daunting reading assignment with these tactics…
“Professional” business writing doesn’t necessarily mean “b o r i n g.” Before printing the final draft of your documents, go back and put some “oomph” in them. Use these copyediting tricks:
Do you have a general reference guide, such as The Chicago Manual of Style, a grammar reference and a dictionary, but still not know what the preferred organizational usage or style is? We thought so. Your organization needs its own in-house style guide.
If you’re like most professionals, you use Microsoft Word every day. Take a few minutes now to customize your Word workspace by tailoring the built-in spelling and grammar checks on your computer to meet your specific needs. Here’s how:
If you’re reviewing a long document, limit your proofreading to about 10 minutes at a time.