Author Archives: Erin Brenner

Vocab Elements and Online Language Effects

We spend a lot of time on this blog learning new words to improve our writing and expand our minds. I wanted to know more about the study of words and how the online world is affecting our language. This … Continue reading

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Writing Tip: Journaling

A brand-new journal, all clean and crisp, is such a weighty thing. It holds such possibilities for discovery, creativity, and the all-important record. What would our modern society be without a record of events? We spend so much of our … Continue reading

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Punctuation Points: The Direct Address Comma

Recently, this cartoon made the rounds of language mavens: The comma rule depicted here is simple: use a comma with the name of a person you are directly addressing. If the name comes first, it is followed by a comma: … Continue reading

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Grammar Bite: Compose vs. Comprise

Which of these sentences is correct? (Hint: more than one may be correct.) Three chapters and a glossary comprise the entirety of the book.Three chapters and a glossary compose the book.The book was comprised of three chapters and a glossary.The … Continue reading

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Understanding a Classic: Fowler’s Modern English Usage

I’ve said before that every writer needs five resources to help her in the writing craft: a dictionary, a thesaurus, a style guide, a usage guide, and resources that offer writing advice. A usage guide helps you determine how specific … Continue reading

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Dash It All

Hyphens, and Em-dashes, and En-dashes, Oh My! Hyphens and dashes are common pieces of punctuations that can really improve your writing—if you know how to use them. Hyphens can show relationship between words and numbers. Em-dashes can lend your writing … Continue reading

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A Writer’s Checklist

You’ve nurtured an idea, slaved over every word, and you’re ready to send your words out into the world. But wait! Have you reread your work? Unfortunately, many small, easily fixed errors can creep into your copy (I’m always finding … Continue reading

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Weekly Vocab Builder

Could your writing use some oomph? Try using one of these words this week: statusphere: the realm of status updates on the Web through different platforms and networking sites delineate: to mark out in words twitturgy: tweeting about religion mussitation: … Continue reading

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Who vs. Whom and Other Writing Bugaboos

Every writer has them: little points of grammar she can never remember. Is it who or whom? When is effect the right word? Is it i.e. or e.g., and what do they stand for anyway? Herewith, a few points to … Continue reading

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Unraveling the Mysteries of the Editorial Process

I recently read “Your Copy Sucks: You Don’t Even Know What ‘Edit’ Means” by T.J. Dietderich on PR Breakfast Club. It was great to see someone not only defend editing but try to explain the different jobs that can come … Continue reading

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