4 Ways to Make Your Writing Outstanding!
Perhaps you’ve tried to write something several times, but the words you wrote always seemed to sound awkward.
Or perhaps you’ve written some articles, but they turned out to be plain and forgettable.
If you are wondering how you can write outstanding articles, then here are four simple tips to keep in mind.
1. Write in Your Own Style
You should always write in a way that comes naturally to you.
Comparing your style with that of others will make you feel disappointed with what you produce, and, as a result, you may not be able to discover your very own unique style.
Find the writing style that flows naturally from you, and start writing.
2. Write Now, Edit Later
Don’t concern yourself too much with editing as you write your article, because doing so will distract you from delivering the message you want to say.
As much as proofreading and grammar correction are important in writing, it is much more important that you write down your thoughts while they are still fresh in your mind.
3. Never Underestimate the Power of Verbs and Adjectives
The way you use verbs and adjectives can either make a plain article vibrant or turn an interesting article into one that is boring.
Verbs and adjectives add life to your sentences and they can help you turn an otherwise plain statement into a powerful, vibrant statement.
However, if used excessively, verbs and adjectives can make your article sound as if it’s trying too hard.
4. Make the Necessary Revisions
After you have finished writing your article, then it is time to revise and edit it.
This is the stage for correcting grammar, correcting typographical errors, and revising paragraphs that need some stitching up.
Of course another way you can make your writing outstanding is by using WhiteSmoke software, which will enhance your writing.
Just remember these four practical ways to make your writing outstanding.
Find your own writing style, write your article and skip the editing process first, use verbs and adjectives appropriately, and then revise and edit your article.
English Grammar Software for Business Writing
Writing perfect English can help business owners and company executives because writing is believed to be a more formal way of communicating when compared to speaking. Letters and reports are written in English and English grammar software can help a lot in enhancing their quality. This kind of software, which is based on the latest a dvancements in artificial intelligence, is rapidly gaining in popularity in the same way that word processing software had in the past. It is expected that like word processors, English writing software may soon become indispensable even in the business world.
The primary function of this kind of software is to detect any errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling in an English composition. These words, phrases, or sentences are highlighted by the software and it makes suggestions on the proper way to write them. It also makes manual proofreading obsolete. Thus, businesses can save on money because they no longer need to hire a professional proofreader. And with perfectly written letters and reports, business executives and owners can impress their clients and prospects.
English grammar software can also help businesspeople hone their writing skills because it can make suggestions on how to better construct the various sentences and phrases. And because communication is one of the foundations of good business, having executives who have good writing skills is very important in the competitive world of business. While practice is vital in enhancing one’s writing skills, English writing software can act as a catalyst that hastens the process of learning.
A special kind of English grammar software that is tailored for the needs of businesses is the business writing software. With online communications becoming more and more prevalent, it has also become vital to enhance English writing skills for online applications. This kind of software does not only check your grammar, spelling, and punctuation. It also provides templates and tips on various kinds of writing that are needed for online business communications. These include contracts, email messages, proposals, resumes, business plans reports, formal business correspondence, memos, case studies, manuals, user guides, employee references, press releases, newsletters, thank you letters, thank you notes, grant proposals, and cover letters.
Business writing software can reduce costs and save on time because business writing seminars and courses may no longer be needed. Moreover, the impact of this software on a person’s writing skills is faster than that of courses and seminars.
10 Tips to Improve Your English Writing
Today it seems like everyone is writing something – emails, blogs, tweets, you name it. Unfortunately, the Internet encourages no thought to go unpublished and so while the amount of content has increased exponentially, the quality of it has not.
As a result, our ability to communicate effectively has been dramatically affected. Never in history has so much been written and so little actually said. Social media certainly hasn’t helped. Twitter, for example, deliberately handicaps our ability to communicate well by limiting messages to just 140 characters. Texting is helping create a nation of illiterates who only know how to “write” in a curious shorthand devoid of vowels.
If you write (and these days who doesn’t?), here are ten tips that can immediately help you improve your writing so you can communicate with clarity, influence your peers (and hopefully your boss), and reduce your stress when it’s time to put words on digital paper:
1. Use simple sentences.
Run-on sentences and random thoughts strung together quickly handicap your writing and can create confusion resulting in inaction. Here’s an example of two emails saying the same thing:
“In response to today’s budgetary meeting outlining goals and actionable items relevant to our marketing strategy draft proposal pursuant to management’s strategic business program, please review and assess your department’s 1Q budgetary requirements going forward and provide me with your bottomline request ASAP today, before COBD.”
“I need your first quarter marketing budget by 5pm today.”
Which one of these messages do you think will get a faster response?
2. Pay attention to punctuation.
Email and texting have helped foster a general disregard for punctuation these days and as a consequence people use it poorly or not at all, which can cause unintended confusion. Don’t believe me? Here’s the same sentence with two very different meanings:
“My partner arrived dead, last to the meeting.”
“My partner arrived dead last to the meeting.”
Punctuation is your friend. Use it well.
3. Use plain language.
Think in terms of “could my mother understand this?” when you sit down to write something. This will work wonders on a business plan, a marketing strategy report, even everyday e-mails. Purge your writing of the trendy and the corporate and use, as my old journalism professor used to say, a nickel word instead of a twenty-five-center. Those of you who have been in and around the corporate world for any length of time know exactly what I am talking about. Fuzzy, convoluted industry weirdspeak like “authoring solutions-based metrics”. Avoid confusing industry buzzwords whenever possible. If your writing causes your readers to lunge for a glossary, think hard about a better way to say it. And if you’ve used words such as “implementation”, “impacting”, and “facilitate” within the last thirty days I have two words for you: STOP IT.
4. Use an active voice.
This simple tip is a great way to quickly punch up your writing. Instead of using the dreary passive voice, use the livelier active voice. Notice the difference in this example:
Passive:
The car was driven by me.
Active:
I drove the car.
5. Tell the whole story.
Everything you write should have a beginning and an end with everything else following logically between. It sounds simple, but you’d be amazed at how many people violate this simple rule. We’ve all received those disjointed emails where it seems as if you’re missing a chunk of the message, leaving you saying “huh?” Everything you write should be able to stand alone. Don’t take for granted that the reader knows what you’re talking about. Start at the beginning and end at the end.
6. Put everything in context.
If you’re writing a proposal, a report, a white paper, a piece of sales literature, or just a simple request for something, put it in context. Show why it’s important, what it means to the reader, what the result will be. Context adds value to what you write.
7. Be conversational.
Does your writing often sound stilted or forced? That’s probably because you’re trying too hard. Relax. Write the way you speak. That doesn’t mean be sloppy or slangy, it simply means you should be more concerned with saying it clearly than saying it “properly.”
8. Write first, edit later.
Don’t try to make your writing perfect from the start. If you agonize over every word, you’ll never finish. You can always go back later and change things. Get your ideas down first, then go back and edit. You’ll be amazed at how much quicker and easier that is, once the actual writing is out of the way. And you may be surprised at how little you change because you weren’t second-guessing yourself while you were writing.
9. Proofread. Then proofread again.
We all make mistakes. But proofreading gives you a chance to fix them before they see the light of day. Never trust computer spell checking – it’s amazing how many weighs their are two spell things.
10. Reread.
Communications travel at the speed of light these days. So many people hit “send” without rereading what they’ve written. Resist the urge. Go get a cup of coffee, then come back and read what you’ve just written. A breath of fresh air may give you fresh insight into what you were trying to say. Perhaps the perfect phrase that was eluding you will pop up. Maybe a better, simpler way to present the idea will come to you. A tiny bit of procrastination can be a good thing.
So there you have it. Good writing is like golf – many people claim to be good at it, few really are. But if you use these ten simple tips, you’ll be well on your way to clear, concise, and compelling writing.
Stylewriter is a plain english writing software, you can write crystal-clear english with it.
See Stylewriter Writing Software Reviews here
Jim Schakenbach, owner of BIGWORDS Content Development, is a freelance writer and marketing communications consultant working primarily with B2B and technology accounts. He specializes in creating clear, compelling marketing messages for complex products and technologies. Email him at jim@bigwordscontent.com, visit his website at http://www.bigwordscontent.com.
Four Tips for Improving Your English Writing
- If you write a great deal, buy a good suite of writing software. Make sure that the grammar checker and spell checker are using the most updated version. If you are a student, use the spell and grammar checkers found in MS Word or other packaged suites.
- After letting the language check run, slowly and carefully proofread the text. Read it out loud and make sure you are paying attention to every word.
- When you are ready to check your spelling, read everything backwards. If the spelling is correct you should have no problem.
- Your English software, if stand alone, should come with spell checker, online and community based with up to date word trends; grammar checker (with grammar error explanations); punctuation correction and templates for everything from presentations to letters in different styles. Find the version that is best for your needs. Versions come in general writing, business writing, creative writing, legal writing and several others like technical writing.
Tips for Building Your English Vocabulary
Today I’d like to sum up our series on vocabulary learning, by providing you with some useful tips to learning vocabulary:
1. Come join the (word) family
Use your knowledge of word grammar to enlarge your working vocabulary.
Knowledge of the different parts of speech and the suffixes that are used to create them will have you boosting up your word bank.
For example, if you encounter the word evasive and look it up in the dictionary, you can benefit from the opportunity and look up its derivatives (other parts of speech and related words from the same root, comprising its “word family”), thus resulting in the following word set:
evasion – noun evade – verb evasive – adjective evasively – adverb
2. The put-it-in-the-sentence routine
If you need to remember a word like reluctant and cannot come up with a crazy story, why not invent a crazy sentence? You can even think of a sentence in your native language and simply stick reluctant in it where it fits you.
Let’s see, what about:
“My aunt Stella made her famous cheese cake and made me taste it forgetting I am lactose intolerant. I was completely reluctant to cooperate due to my lactose issue.”
We will leave it to you to come up with sentences in your native tongue.
Try to create something funny and light-headed and it will do the job!
3. Group it up with theme-related vocabulary
Another great way to pick up more vocabulary is using themed vocabulary resources, especially for basic concrete concepts, such as “colors,” “the human body,” “vegetables,” “farm animals,” “kitchen activities,” or “at the bank.” These are usually presented accompanied by a big illustrative picture visualizing all the word items.
When it comes to more abstract themes, such as “values” or “crime and punishment”, you can find specially written texts that include many related words and expressions, followed by vocabulary activities.
Again, it is the context of the larger picture that is the main channel helping your word memory.
4. Listen to the sound!
Music is a great way for learning new vocabulary.
You may be having a hard time reading an article from the New York Times’ Literary supplement, but you will memorize and understand every word from Bob Dylan or Britney Spears (depending on your musical inclinations) in no time, because you love the music. This is why using song lyrics, movies, TV series etc. is very much conducive to English learning.
Another thing you can do to help you memorize specific word lists is to record them on an audio file, or better yet, re-listen to the texts from which you extracted the words in the first place.. Some scientists say that you can even listen and learn while you sleep; I listen to my language learning audio CDs while doing the dishes…
5. Give me a visual!
The sense of sight uses up to a third of the brain, therefore making visualizing a prime channel to aid us in remembering words.
Some people are very visual and relish on anything that stimulates their eyes.
Therefore, the following may help:
1. Big signs with target words hung around your house to be encountered at all times, with optional related pictures.
2. Small stickers on objects around the house will help you associate word and image.
3. Visual dictionaries are great, as mentioned before, together with English learning software with online vocabulary games.
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Learning Vocabulary with Whitesmoke Writing Software
Today I want to relate to a topic many of you asked for…Learning Vocabulary!
WhiteSmoke Writing Software can help you with your vocabulary learning by offering you synonyms for each word you write.
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Back to our topic…
You all constantly encounter new vocabulary in the texts you read, word lists your teacher gives you, foreign language phrasebooks, songs and movies in English, speaking with a native speaker, or even from the instructions for your textbook’s exercises or those in your new DVD manual.
No matter the source, you should concentrate all new vocabulary items in one place.
The best option is a notebook, small enough to carry around everywhere to review your vocabulary at all times and big enough to accommodate neatly organized vocabulary lists.
8 steps in creating and using your vocabulary notebook:
1. Divide each page into two columns. On the left hand column, write vocabulary items in English. On the right hand column, write their translations in your native language.
2. Always entitle each set of items with the source they are taken from (article, song, textbook + page number or URL for future reference) so you remember the general context they are taken from.
3. If your target language does not use a familiar alphabetic script (Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Russian, Hindi etc.) or has highly unusual spelling, add a third column with phonetic transcriptions representing the pronunciation of your target words.
4. The next step is to study the vocabulary with their corresponding translations as you move down the table.
5. Now, use a sheet of paper to cover the translation column and ask yourself: ”What does this mean in my language?” Gradually go down the lines and test yourself for each item.
Mark items you had a problem with and restudy them.
6. Next, cover the English column, look at your native language translations and ask yourself: “How do I say this in English?” Mark items you had a problem with and re-study them.
7. Try and arrange lists together under a common theme, such as “words from unit 3: The World of Work” or “Words from Madonna songs”.
8. Review your lists regularly anywhere you can: on the train, on the bus, in line to see the doctor, or even in the toilet! Try to use your newly acquired vocabulary in writing tasks, emails, conversation and more. And as they say, Use it or lose it!
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Yes, I know this is time consuming, but it is the most efficient way to review vocabulary after you have stumbled upon it, had some vocabulary drills and activities in your textbook and now need to refresh your memory.
The notebook becomes a private dictionary that belongs only to you, making you possess the lexical treasures within it.
Do not settle with your textbook’s or teacher’s vocabulary lists!
If you prepare your own lists, you will actually own the words and enrich your English.
Remember, language is all about communicating ideas through words!
Stylewriter Software for Plain English Writing
StyleWriter is a plain english writing & editing software for Crystal-Clear Communication, If you don’t know What is Plain English? click this link first: http://www.stylewriter.org/plain-english/index.html
Business writing involves several skills, disciplines, and procedures. For most businesses it’s rare enough to find an employee that can write professionally, much less follow a particular style the company has developed. StyleWriter from Editor Software won’t write your documents for you, nor will it structure your prose into logically flowing communication — that’s still the responsibility of the writer. But what it will do is analyze your document for grammatical and linguistic problems, while also identifying words or phrases that need to be changed to match your organization’s definition of standards.
Stylewriter Plain English Writing Software Review
If you want to find more writing software, Click here for writing software reviews & writing software comparison
StyleWriter installs as both an add-on for Microsoft Word and as a standalone application. If you regularly use MS Word as your editor you can click the icon in the Word toolbar to start StyleWriter’s analysis. If you use another editor you’ll need to start StyleWriter separately, and you may need to paste your document into the app.
Using MS Word or a similar word processor that supports DDE is the preferred method, though, as StyleWriter uses DDE (dynamic data interchange) to connect to your word processor. StyleWriter can use DDE interactively to apply changes it suggests directly to your document, and will even get out of the way so you can edit the document directly.
You can also use StyleWriter with any other application by copying your text to the Windows Clipboard. This does however make the process more cumbersome since StyleWriter’s changes can’t be automatically applied. In this case you will need to make the edits manually based on StyleWriter’s instructions. It would be helpful if the program had a more generic link and could be used directly with any Windows-based editor.
Going Above and Beyond Your Average Word Processor
So how is StyleWriter different than your average word processor?
All word processors can check your spelling, and most will even review your grammar and suggest changes, but StyleWriter goes beyond that. When StyleWriter is started from its icon in the Word taskbar it performs a preliminary analysis of your document and scores it on three criteria — average sentence length, number of passive verbs used, and overall style.
Different document types use different styles. For example, research papers have distinctly different styles than press releases. StyleWriter offers several choices for the type of document to be checked, including general writing, newsletter, resumé, cover letter, technical report, instructions, and general letter. Selecting the type of document you’ll be checking loads StyleWriter’s basic analytical parameters.
Besides checking sentence length and the number of passive verbs, StyleWriter’s style indexes check for a wide variety of common editorial issues like misused words, confused words, complex words, jargon, abstract words, hyphenation, overused words, legal words, sexist writing, clichés, grammar, and redundancies. And it goes even farther and does some of the same things a human editor would look for, such as overwriting, foreign words, sentence structure check, and even preferred spelling.
Find out how StyleWriter can help you with: Technical Reports, Journalist Writing, Advertising Copy, Minutes of Meetings, Writing Memos, Writing Policies and Procedures, Legal Documents, Essays and Research Papers, Business Letters
read the 21 reasons why you should order your Software for Writers CD.
Now the Fun Begins
After loading and scanning your document against the active parameters, three grades are shown ranging from “horrid” to “excellent.”
That’s when the fun starts.
StyleWriter works like an inline spell checker in that it identifies and highlights each of the offending items that contributed to the high score, then offers advice on fixing each problem. The word or phrase that was identified as violating the rule and the suggestions for repairing the problem are displayed in the Advice window. Many changes can be applied by simply clicking the suggested fix. For example, StyleWriter identified the word “authorized” as a Complex Word, and suggested using “let, allowed, approved, or sanctioned” instead. Simply clicking “allowed” replaced the word in the main document and moved to the next offender.
Some changes require editing the document directly, wherein StyleWriter automatically minimizes after clicking the Edit button so you can make your changes manually.
Customized Rules
In addition to making your documents easier to read using its built-in rules, you can also create your own set of House Rules checked by StyleWriter to ensure that documents adhere to them. For example, if your company has standardized on the spelling “e-mail,” StyleWriter can check for offending spellings like email, eMail, or Email, and suggest they be changed. The other parameters that control sentence length and passive verbs can also be modified to suit the company’s preferences.
A Complete Package
Overall, StyleWriter is a valuable tool for organizations that need to produce high-quality documents and that don’t have a full-time editing staff. Even with a documentation or public relations department, StyleWriter can help by ensuring a consistent set of standards and by easing the burden of training staff on the company’s preferred editorial guidelines.
The StyleWriter program comes with a demo and tutorial as well as a dictionary-thesaurus, a writer’s outliner program, a typing tutor, and a writer’s calculator. Guides for writing technical documents, business plans, resumés, cover letters, essays, and letter writing are also included as bonuses.
You can download a free 30-day trial from http://www.stylewriter.org/buy/index.html, and the full package on CD costs $160.00.
Pros: Valuable collection of tools for improving your writing and ensuring your company’s documents follow a set style, solid integration with Microsoft Word.
Cons: Windows OS Based, you can not use stylewriter on Mac. Aging interface, quite expensive at $160, doesn’t integrate as well with other word processors (especiallys non-DDE-compliant processors), somewhat buggy.
StyleWriter is undoubtedly useful for anyone who writes, not just technical authors. It takes the hard slog out of editing, and draws your attention to stylistic faults you probably didn’t know you had. In an ideal world, every technical author would have a copy of it.
Stylewriter Features – The most powerful way to edit any document
Click Here for stylewriter FAQs.
See some examples of text edited with stylewriter
Consistency is the key to good writing
Today I’d like to present you with the key to good writing…tense consistency!
The tense of a sentence is the time at which the action occurred.
When writing, we must be aware of the tenses we use in our text.
There’s no need to feel tension with verb tense – Just stay consistent!
In order to be sure you have no tense consistency mistakes in your writing, use WhiteSmoke Writer – the ultimate grammar software to your writing matters.
The 3 main tenses in English (and many other languages) are: Past, Present and Future.
There are variations of each of these, but it is best to become totally comfortable and familiar with these 3 in order to even attempt to understand the others.
Consistency is the Key
If you are writing about an event in the past – always use the past tense.
The same applies for present and future.
If you are unsure about which tense to use, simply refer to the last verb you wrote.
As with every rule, there are exceptions – but consistency is always your safest bet.
If you suspect tense inconsistency in your own writing, or the writing of others:
1) THINK about what “tense” or “time” the overall sentence is in – past, present or future.
2) LOCATE verbs (action words) in the sentence, and see what tense they are in.
3) RE-READ the sentence, to make sure you understand what it is saying.
4) RE-EXAMINE the verbs in the sentence, to make sure they are in a consistent tense
Writing Software Reviews help you decide which writing software is Suitable for You .
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Grammar Tips – the most common errors in english
Auxiliary-Verb-Agreement is one of the most common errors in English, so I decided to help you avoid making this mistake.
Let’s get started…
Auxiliary verbs are helper verbs – they are small action words that can help to express the mood or tense of regular verbs.
“Auxiliary” means “to help or support”, and that is exactly what auxiliary verbs do.
Step 1 is recognizing where you need an auxiliary verb, to affect the tense/mood of a main verb.
Step 2 is ensuring agreement between the subject and the auxiliary verb (in addition to the main verb).
10 modal auxiliary verbs – verbs which are only auxiliary, and are never used alone:
can, could, may, might, ought, shall, should, will, would, and must
All 24 auxiliary verbs (including modal verbs):
am, is, are, shall, should, be, being, been, was, were, will, would, has, have, had, do, does, did, can, could, may, might, must, ought
The key is to make sure the number of the subject matches the number of the verb.
Singular subjects = singular form of auxiliary verbs.
Plural subjects = plural form of auxiliary verbs.
Examples:
* Some of the books are missing. (are = plural; is = singular)
* She does not have your red bag. (does not = singular; do not = plural)
* The vegetables were growing in the sun. (were = plural; was = singular)
Fixing Auxiliary-Verb Agreement Mistakes with WhiteSmoke
Auxiliary-Verb Agreement Error #1:
Amy’s parents is going to the theatre tomorrow.
WhiteSmoke’s Suggestion:
WhiteSmoke’s Explanation:
The subject is plural (Amy’s parents), so the auxiliary verb “are” is plural.
“Is” is the singular and therefore incorrect verb form.
Auxiliary-Verb Agreement Error #2:
Look how much rain are falling outside!
WhiteSmoke’s Suggestion:
WhiteSmoke’s Explanation:
The subject is single, or a countable noun (rain), so the auxiliary verb “is” is singular.
“Are” is the plural, and therefore incorrect verb form.
Auxiliary-Verb Agreement Error #3:
My little brother do his homework before he goes to sleep.
Whitesmoke’s Suggestion(s):
WhiteSmoke’s Explanation:
The subject is single (my little brother), so the auxiliary verb “does” is singular.
“Do” is the plural, and therefore incorrect verb form.
Hope you all find this information helpful in avoiding embarrassing mistakes.
You can avoid other mistakes by using WhiteSmoke Writer.
