Business Writing

Do I Capitalize Words Followed by Numbers or Letters?

I received a good question by email today. A reader wanted to know my views on capitalizing words that are followed by numbers or letters, for example, Step 1 vs. step 1, Section A vs. section A, and Line 2 vs. line 2. How would you decide whether to capitalize... Read more →

Hyphen Help: 30-Percent Discount for 30th-Anniversary?

Hyphens are among the most challenging punctuation marks. In two phrases that seem very much alike, one will have a hyphen and one will not. Consider an example. Would you add hyphens to the following sentence? Syntax Training is celebrating its 30th anniversary in Seattle with a 30 percent discount... Read more →

Audience: A Good Example of a Bad Choice

A friend of mine who works at a large, urban university on the West Coast shared an example of a business person who did NOT think about their audience. And the person's choice led to the loss of a customer order. The university's Department of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion wanted... Read more →

Punctuation Advice for "Ask Amy"

Today I read "Ask Amy" in The Seattle Times. Amy was giving advice to someone who could not set boundaries for herself. I liked Amy's advice, but her punctuation--or lack of it--grabbed my attention. Which punctuation mark would you add to the sentence below? After you decide, scroll down to... Read more →

Need to Say No in Writing? Here's How--and Why

Do you know how to say no? Are you comfortable writing a message that says no to someone's request? Or do you ignore requests hoping they will go away? Read this post to learn the easy way to say no--and why to say it. Background: In the past year I... Read more →

ESL Instructors--Is This Book for Ewe?

Today is Book Lovers Day, an unofficial holiday celebrating the love of books. It's a great excuse to relax and read. I picked an easy book to enjoy, P Is for Pterodactyl: The Worst Alphabet Book Ever, written by rapper Raj Haldar and Chris Carpenter and illustrated by Maria Tina... Read more →

Proofreaders, Follow the Rules!

As someone who designed the course Proofread Like a Pro, I pay attention when a competitor offers a training program on proofreading. Today my inbox included an invitation to a session. Below is the graphic with the program title. Proofreaders, do you see anything wrong? Yikes! This program title contains... Read more →

Find the Errors and Win the Prize

Warm up by finding one concisely spelled error in this sign. When you find it, go on to the next challenge. This dumpster sign has three punctuation errors, along with some funny commentary. Don't quit until you find everything. Thank you to Eric W., who finds wonderfully flawed signs in... Read more →

Why You Need a Style Sheet and How to Create One

I'm helping two friends who have just completed a book manuscript. They work beautifully together and will have a wonderful book when it's finished. But right now, tiny inconsistencies appear everywhere. In one chapter, all numbers are in words; in another, most numbers are in figures. Sometimes the names of... Read more →

Who/Whom, Whoever/Whomever: Test Yourself

The other day a friend told me he was concerned about having taken on a copy editing job because he didn't yet feel confident of who/whom and whoever/whomever. How about you? Are you confident about where to use those pronouns? Take the test below to see whether your confidence or... Read more →