In A Word (or Two)

Spit it out! Literally speaking

2006-06-22T18:36:00.000-07:00

One trend that seems to be more prevalent in website content lately is the tendency to phrase things poorly. Especially, to add many more words than are needed to express a thought.

And I won't name the guilty party involved, not only because I don't know him, but mostly because I find the same type of awkward wording creeping into my own work. The other day, when I was trying to say, "this type of link" it somehow came out as, "the type of link you want to look at,"... There have been numerous examples. . .

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Check YOURSELF

2006-06-18T11:43:00.000-07:00

Recently I was contacted by a submission site because they rejected an article I wrote. Okay. It happens. (Dare I say?) Even to me. I only say that because I work very hard to produce professional, thought-provoking and, most of all, informative articles. But, hey, it happens to the best of us. . .

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Categorical Inspiration

2006-06-16T12:09:00.000-07:00

A great, everyday resource for article ideas is to look through the categories of the article submission sites. Not only would it solve the problem of the author who creates an article, then struggles to fit it into one of the pre-existing categories, these categories can actually become a source of inspiration. . .

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Pencils Work

2006-06-09T07:30:00.000-07:00

A while back I mentioned to a colleague that I do a lot of my writing in the early morning. Soon after, I began finding IM messages on my computer that coincided with the time I was writing. It didn't bother me. Because, in those early morning sessions, I don't write on my computer. Funny. I guess he assumed I did.

Well, between that elephant-sized hint and the title of this diatribe, I'm sure most have guessed that, yes, I often write by hand, if only the first draft. Now, I haven't told this colleague that little detail. I wasn't deliberately trying to mislead him. I just hadn't thought about it. It's been that long.

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Words

2006-06-06T06:42:00.000-07:00

One reason I called this blog "In a Word" is because that's how fast someone can judge an author and his website when even just ONE wrong word is used. Sad, but true. (Full Article)

On Semantics

2006-05-11T16:04:00.000-07:00

When working online, sometimes success depends on being able to read "between the lines" as the saying goes.

In fact, online marketing has developed its rather poor reputation because of some slick advertising that deliberately allows the reader to become confused. A case in point is the classic: "Join Now and Start Earning Your Income Online." My, but that's misleading. Because, what it appears to say is that, by joining now, you'll begin to RECEIVE an income today. But what it really says is, "join now and start the long, slow process of building up an online business."

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What's the "Buzz" on "Pre-Launches?"

2006-05-04T15:40:00.000-07:00

While both of these phrases were around prior to 2006, they have suddenly burst from the pact -- both as phrases and marketing trends -- and threaten to drown most of us with their repetition and over-use.

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Get it?

2006-05-01T05:28:00.000-07:00

A friend once told me that the use of the word "get" in writing is just plain bad English.

After that, I became very self-conscious about it-- and struggled to replace all the "get's" in my writing. So I no longer ‘got' an ‘A,' I received an ‘A'. (I wish.) I no longer ‘got' going. I began or went. I was not ‘getting' a soda from the fridge, I was "acquiring" a soda. . .

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COULD Ellipses be the answer. . . ? ;-)

2006-03-30T13:49:00.000-08:00

Hokey-Hokey! (any "Sim"-ians out there?)

Yesterday, I happened to catch part of an episode on that new game show on the Discover Channel called Cash Cab . It's a game in which people are picked up (completely randomly) by a cab in New York City and, before they reach their destination, they have to answer all kinds of questions-- if they do, they win a few hundred dollars (depending on how many questions they get right); if they get three wrong, they have to get out. It's cute. . .

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Timelessness Vs. TimeLIness-- Articles That Soar

2006-03-13T06:54:00.000-08:00

The most successful articles are those that offer the freshest or most insightful information around. Okay, that's a nice, marketing way of putting it. Here is the same message in a much more direct way: If your subject is old or has been done to death, your article -- no matter how well written or how much the title sizzles -- will never see the light of day. . . (Full Article)

Sweet & Simple: It's All Semantics!

2006-03-09T06:53:00.000-08:00

One of the classic mistakes new writers make is to use all kinds of lesser known words, especially ones they are unfamiliar with. When writing for the internet, this not only shows their lack of experience as a writer, it can actually turn traffic away. . . (Full Article)

Purpose

2006-03-02T13:26:00.000-08:00

This blog is meant to be an addendum to the Writing For The Internet article series, which directly addresses the issues of writing the the internet. Since 75%-90% of what an end user sees is written content and online work of any kind demands a great amount of writing, it follows that working successfully online requires above average writing skills. . . (Full Article)