There have
been quite a number of articles and posts lately from “experts” that have typos
that, as a teacher of writing among other topics. Common mistakes are everywhere – and then the
content of what the author was trying to say (or sell) is lost in the errors of
their ways.
Don’t make
simple mistakes. Here are some tips because
the homeland security class I teach started yesterday at Tulane and I will be
repeating myself – this message cannot be said enough! And don’t forget you should write
professionally as you text; if you practice texting in complete appropriate
thought, you won’t screw up that big deal email as you rush to close the deal.
- Your subject and verb must agree. Don’t have a plural subject and singular verb. It seems obvious when you look at “they is” “I are”, but when you have complicated sentences, you’d be surprised what you miss. Be especially diligent for “anyone” and “no one” agreements!
- Affect is not the same as effect. Just ask my students – they’ll tell you what gets circled.
- Further is a time frame, farther is a distance that can be measured.
- Several words are said the same but are not. They’re; there; their. Don’t confuse them. Makes you appear unprofessional or just sloppy. Additional words frequent interchanged inappropriately:
accept/except
adapt/adopt
agree with/agree to
all ready/already
all together/altogether
among/between
beside/besides
continual/continuous
emigrate/immigrate
good/well
I/me
imply/infer
in/into
its/it's
later/latter
lay/lie
which/that
adapt/adopt
agree with/agree to
all ready/already
all together/altogether
among/between
beside/besides
continual/continuous
emigrate/immigrate
good/well
I/me
imply/infer
in/into
its/it's
later/latter
lay/lie
which/that
And, if you
don’t believe me, take it from a master writer, who gives more points in the article
here: http://www.businessinsider.com/stephen-king-on-how-to-write-2014-8/ or an article in the Harvard Business Review on how
to improve your writing https://hbr.org/2015/07/improve-your-writing-to-improve-your-credibility.
Even if you
don’t have kids going back to school, there are basics that will improve your
communications (just don’t think of Adam Sandler…) Stay sharp by refreshing yourself!
