Informational Writing Aids
Fact Check, Just the Facts
Last Updated on Tuesday, 30 November 1999 08:00 Written by Ward Tipton Saturday, 16 May 2009 18:48
Internet Marketing, professional writing and fact-checking makes for an interesting combination; interesting at least for lack of a better term in this particular instance. Why would it be considered that way? Very simply it is quite difficult to verify much of the information that many people want to have written. While there are enough examples to fill a large tome, let us look at just a few here. As a professional writer, this is something that I run across on a regular basis.
Testimonials abound on the internet about people having made thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars in only a very short time. Are they going to open up their financial records so that anyone and everyone can see? How many times have you seen those checks on sites? If you take a careful look at the first two digits of the tracking number on many of those checks, they are obviously fakes or they have been altered. So how is that reflective of difficulties that the average professional writer will face?
For today’s online writing lesson
Last Updated on Tuesday, 30 November 1999 08:00 Written by Ward Tipton Saturday, 16 May 2009 18:05
I want to point out some more common errors that I see on a regular basis as a professional writer ... especially online. Since my primary focus is online writing and I do hope to be the online content writing resource, it only seems appropriate that I point out the errors I see (Gasp! The logic of it all!?) Online! English, like any language, does have its peculiarities.
One very common problem I am seeing online is people using an improper form of plurals. I will also include a few more oft used and abused words for inclusion in this post. Software is a noun. However, like fish and deer, you do not have softwares, deers or fishes. The correct use of these in the plural is the same as the singular. However, software, like hardware, should have a qualifier or modifier as well.
The All Deceiving I
Last Updated on Tuesday, 30 November 1999 08:00 Written by Ward Tipton Saturday, 16 May 2009 16:57
One of the biggest mistakes in writing, even among many professional writers, is talking all about me and not enough about you but that is not the point of this post. What we are talking about here is the overly-difficult time many people seem to have with words containing the “ie” and “ei” combinations. As a professional writer, I want to set this record straight once and for all!
The general rule:
“I” before “E” except after “C” and when sounding like “A” as in neighbor and weigh, except for the Height of Weird, which is just weird.
That should get you through the vast majority of words but is there more to it than just that?
