March 4th is National Grammar Day, which works out nicely for me since I have a writing blog. As I was brainstorming topics to commemorate the occasion, I decided to use that wonderful means of crowdsourcing, Facebook, to ask my friends for suggestions.

Being super-smart and intelligent people, they made some really good suggestions about “grammar peeves,” which got me thinking about how many of those errors I read each day in blog posts.

And I never bat an eyelash at them.

My career as an English teacher, though a lifetime in the making, was ultimately short-lived. It just wasn’t for me and the 5 years now separating me from it feel like a lifetime. Still, I can clearly recall hunching over students’ papers, circling every minute error and preaching the ways of Standard English.

The students, for their part, always said, “But that’s not how we speak. Why should we write like that?”

To be honest, this question gave me some pause. I knew the answer, but had a very difficult time articulating it. So I would reply that they need to be able to express themselves and communicate clearly as educated people.

This is absolutely true. The ability to communicate clearly is one of the most valuable, marketable skills you can have. I think, though, especially with blogging, that we also need to consider the way that language evolves over time because that’s important to understanding grammar and how we write.

The Rise of “Digital” English?

One of my favorite examples of the evolution of language comes from Shakespeare. Readers struggle to understand his work because of the way the language is presented. “I can’t understand this. It’s written in old English!”

Shakespeare, for the record, is written in modern English (early modern, but still modern).

Old English looks like an entirely different language. I’ll spare you the nerdy details, but the image below from Carson-Newman University shows examples of Old English (c. 450-1066 AD), Middle English (c. 1066-1450 AD), earlier Modern English (Shakespeare era), and current Modern English.

Those dates indicate that we’ve been using “modern English” for close to 600 years now. It would be silly to think it hasn’t evolved in that time, which is why it makes even more sense that it’s still (and will always be) evolving now.

That brings me back to writing and, more specifically, blogging. 

It’s hard to deny that the digital era has been causing a shift in our language. It might not be quite as dramatic as all of the alarmists would have us believe. It’s certainly apparent, the more digital content you read, that we are far less formal than we used to be. Our writing is more relaxed, and by extension, so is our sense of grammar. We write like we speak. While blogging might be a descendant of the expository essay, it’s a style of writing that is revered for its strength of voice and conversational tone. It’s where some degree of academic writing and some degree of creative writing collide.

This isn’t a bad thing.

According to StatisticBrain, the average attention span in 2000 (which is around the time that blogging began to gain some traction) was 12 seconds. In 2013, the average attention span was just 8 seconds. The average attention span of a goldfish, however, is 9 seconds. I love that.

Goldfish’s attention span > human attention span. 

It makes sense, then, that if something doesn’t grab our interest, we’re simply not going to stick with it. Is this a result of the digital shift and the rise of social media? It surely must play a part. We want quick information, but we also want to be entertained.

If writing feels too stiff, too formal, too much like reading a research paper, and — dare I say it? — too much like Standard English, we’re out the door. Off the page. Peace out.

Think about the content you consume. That which you like best is probably not exactly “academic” in nature — at least in terms of style. It might be educational and informative, but it’s probably more conversational. It likely bends the rules, maybe even incorporating elements of creative writing.

Whatever it is, I’m willing to bet that it takes some gambles with grammar. There are probably contractions and sentences that begin with conjunctions. In fact, there are probably several examples of things your English teacher told you to never do in your writing.

But obviously it’s content that you enjoy and understand, so it must be communicating ideas clearly, right?

You have to know the rules to break them.

This is one of the basic principles of creative writing, and it applies well to writing for [non-AP Style] digital media, too. This is the difference between creative liberties and glaring errors. Make no mistake — those still look bad. It only take a misplaced comma to destroy your meaning (see left). Believe me when I say that it’s almost always easy to tell who knows the rules and is breaking them from those who don’t have a firm grasp on the language. With the latter, ideas are convoluted, scattered, and the grammar might be so poor that you struggle to even make sense of what’s being said. It might even be written in the infamous “text-speak” — abbreviations, acronyms, and a lack of attention to capitalization and structure that give writing in the digital age a bad name.

With the former, however, you get a well-thought-out piece of writing that, while it might sometimes split infinitives or end a sentence in a preposition, still accurately conveys its intended meaning while holding reader interest. This can only come from having a strong command of the language and ability to communicate it. Sure, you’ll still have some overly-critical jerks nitpicking just to feel superior by calling out someone else’s flaws, but you’ll have far more readers like me: ones who don’t even bat an eyelash.

So the next time you sit down to blog, keep your editor tuned in (I am not, after all, suggesting that you throw all formalities to the wind), but keep your nitpicking “grammar purist” at arm’s length. Blogging is supposed to be fun. Relax and enjoy it. Language will always be evolving, but as long as you can show a command of it and still hold your readers’ attention, you’re golden.

Happy National Grammar Day!

Images: 1, 2, 3, 4

Wikipedia is wonderful, huh? If you need to look up some quick information about the Roman Empire, Wikipedia is there for you. If you want to find out whether or not Alexander the Great was, in fact, great, Wikipedia is your man. When I was teaching, I always warned my students that, while the site is a great place to get some cursory information, it is still user-generated content and so you should exercise caution. It’s not the be-all and end-all of information.

That being said, it’s a great place for bloggers to do a little bit of quick research that can lead them to some really solid sources. And if you’re blogging about a subject that might not be familiar to the vast majority of your readers, then including a Wikipedia link or two is a good way to help your readers get a quick idea of how the topic applies to your post. If you start loading up on Wikipedia links to really obvious things, however, there’s a good chance you’re making a horrible impression on your readers instead.

I love blogs — writing them, reading them, sharing them, etc. For the last 13 years, blogs and blogging have been an integral part of my life. It’s just been lately I’ve noticed this Wikipedia link business becoming a more and more common thing to do. Instead of finding links of value, I’ll be reading an article and find Wikipedia links to things like…

• television
• internet
• social media
• computer
• United States of America
• Apple
• blogs/blogging

And those are only a few. When I see stuff like that, this is basically how I feel as a reader:

The Problem With “Common” Wikipedia Links

Here’s the thing: as someone who writes blog posts, I understand that these links are not included for reader benefit. They’re included because you use some kind of tool that is automatically generating outbound links to Wikipedia pages. They’re included for reasons that are probably SEO-based (I’m certainly not an SEO specialist, so that’s just a hunch). Whatever your reasons are, it’s probably not because you think your reader actually needs a definition of “television.”

But as a reader, I find these links insulting. Truly. And I can’t be the only one. What good is a high ranking page if you’re driving your readers away by insulting their intelligence? If someone is reading your blog, it’s pretty safe to say that they’ve got the basic concepts of “blog” and “internet” down. If they’re reading it on a smart phone — possibly even an iPhone — then they’ve got that one down too. And if they came across the link being shared on a social media site? Yep. They understand what social media is.

It’s unsettling. These very basic things that bloggers are linking aren’t things that require definitions or additional information. And in most cases, I’d argue that even if you do think a definition could be used, unless it’s something most readers really aren’t going to know, trust your readers to research for themselves. Going down the rabbit hole is part of what makes the internet so much fun.

But here’s the other thing. If a reader arrives at your article to see that every fourth word or so is linked (whether it’s one paragraph or the whole post), regardless of your intentions, it looks spammy. Maybe it’s just me, but if an article looks spammy, I’m not inclined to really trust the information on it, nor am I inclined to hang around for very long.

So am I suggesting that all Wikipedia links are bad? Not at all. I’m saying be smart about the Wikipedia links you use. Think of reader experience and what’s actually going to provide some kind of value for them. If you find yourself justifying a Wikipedia link to “telephone” by saying “Well, a nine year old who has never seen a rotary phone and is doing a school project might benefit from that link,” you’re trying too hard to justify it. Especially if there’s no reason a reader with that particular description would ever be on your site anyway.

If you’re going to write, write for people. Don’t write for robots and algorithms. Is SEO important? Sure. (Although I’m not really sure if this practice is doing anything for SEO, but again, I’m not a specialist.) But if you’re going to drive your readers away in the process of doing it, then it might be time to reevaluate your strategy.

image #1 source: Wikimedia Commons
image #2 source: http://humorinrecovery.tumblr.com/

And it makes sense. Economically speaking, these have been some tough times. We want to save money where we can. Those pennies need to stretch further than we’d like. So we become bargain-hunters and bargain-shoppers. We take to discount chains and we price-compare like never before. In fact, search the Apple App Store or Google Play for “price comparison apps” and you can hook yourself up with an app that will be, within minutes, telling you where you can get a better deal. (For more info on comparative pricing, Gregory Ciotti has a great article on the psychology of advertising over at KISSmetrics.)

It’s no surprise, then, that companies advertise their products and services as being cheap. Maybe no one thinks about what they’re saying before they release that copy out into the world. Every single time I see anything advertised or described as “cheap,” I wince a little. This word doesn’t make me think of its price, as the company probably intends.

The problem, at least for me (and I’m sure for many others), is a semantic one. Does “cheap” mean “low-cost”? Sure. But it also means “poorly manufactured,” “shoddy,” and “of low quality.” Is that really how you want people to think of your products and services? Though you might be referring to price, a lot of people are going to read that and think “chintzy.”

Don’t Say One Thing When You Mean Another

When you’re writing your copy, consider semantics. Think about what you’re saying and the various ways those words could be perceived. When words are that easily misconstrued, it’s best to say what you mean. In this case, unless your products and services really are available at a low cost because the quality is lacking, you want to use some different wording.

Consider replacing “cheap” with one of the following: 

• low-cost
• affordable
• inexpensive
• reasonably-priced
• competitively-priced

Beyond Copywriting

This is also something to consider with your business name and/or website address. While doing some reading on perceptions of the word “cheap,” I also got lots of results for sites with names like “cheapseo” and “cheapcopywriting,” etc.

I can’t say for sure that those were also the business names (although they very well may have been), but it doesn’t matter. I saw the website address and knew that I would never even trust information coming from someone who is telling me their service is cheap. Low quality. Untrustworthy.

Pass.

So the next time you go to write “cheap…”

…Pause and reflect. Do you really mean that it’s cheap, or do you mean that it’s discounted? Low cost? On sale?

Smart shoppers aren’t going to sit and analyze your copywriting for very long. Sure, some will be lured in by the promise of cheapness, but many others will find it off-putting. They’ll assume that you mean you have some kind of inferior product, because you get what you pay for. If there’s no reason for your low price (again, sales, discounts, etc.), they might wonder if, in your case, “cheap” really means “low quality.”

That’s a lot of power for one little word, huh?

… and forget as adults, it would seem.

Now I’m a writer. I spend a good deal of time interacting with other writers, reading blogs, and immersing myself in what it means to publish online. It’s rather astounding to me that there are people who make careers out of online publishing (or try to) and still don’t truly understand what plagiarism is.

The general belief is that, “Oh, it’s just when you copy someone’s writing.” 

Plagiarism is much more finely nuanced than simply copying someone’s writing. In fact, that’s something of a frustrating reduction.

It’s also one that serial plagiarists commonly use to excuse themselves from other dubious “borrowing” practices.

Because so many writers with good intentions don’t fully understand all the ways in which a person can plagiarize, they’re committing the act unknowingly. That’s a pretty big risk to take, as it only takes one major publication calling you out before you can land yourself in a world of trouble, legal fees, and lost trust.

What is plagiarism?

Ignorance isn’t bliss when it comes to plagiarism. In fact, it can be costly. So let’s take a look at some different ways that it takes place. Please note that these examples will focus specifically on online plagiarism, but the ideas are the same for print. I just find that the ease of locating, copying, and pasting information online makes it a more susceptible medium.

#1: The complete straight-up ‘copy-and-paste’: This is what people generally think of when they think of plagiarism. In this form, someone copies another document word-for-word and uses it as his or her own.

#2: The partial ‘copy-and-paste’: In this method, the writer (and I use that term loosely) will come up with some of his or her own content, but will pad it with some of someone else’s work.

#3: The change-a-roo: For whatever reason, some people really believe that you can copy someone else’s work and use it as your own as long as you change some of the words. Save yourself the time flipping through a thesaurus. This is still plagiarism. Don’t believe me? Ask Fareed Zakaria, who was suspended by both Time and CNN when parts of an article he wrote matched up a little too closely with sections of a longer piece by Jill Lepore in The New Yorker.

When it comes to online writing, there is “spun content” — the words are lifted and spun into “unique” content (sometimes very poorly), but still plagiarized. If you’re spinning content to trick Google because you’re worried about the duplicate policy, but you’re not worried about plagiarism, something is very wrong.

#4: Composite artistry: Some people are stupid enough to copy work from well-read sources like The New York Times or Mashable and try to pass it off as original work. Others are much craftier (and, many would agree, more calculating). They’ll hit up a series of smaller, lesser known websites, lift content, and stitch it together as their own.

#5: Ideas, headings, and flow: This technique combines some of the others, namely the change-a-roo and composite artistry. It frequently happens that a writer (again, still using the term loosely) will visit other websites looking for inspiration for a piece he or she is working on. In and of itself, this isn’t a problem. Most writers are also big readers, and we take inspiration from the things we read.

The problem here is when the writer “borrows” the setup. He takes the shell of a piece — the headings or sub-sections — and uses it as his own. The wording might be exactly the same, or it might be changed. He might rearrange the order. He might copy a few sub-titles or -sections from one site and a few from another and piece them together. The content under these headings could be completely original — maybe he just needed the ideas. Then again, it could be lifted and reworded from the source, as well.

So while it might not be an exact match (and therefore more difficult to catch), when you look at the original next to the piece it “inspired,” the similarities are typically undeniable. The ideas have been stolen.

Why do people plagiarize?

There are any number of reasons why plagiarists do what they do. Among them:

• A lack of original ideas or no strong thoughts on an assigned topic
• A lack of understanding when it comes to an assigned topic
• They aren’t strong writers but want to be seen as authorities or thought leaders
• They “didn’t have time to write”
• They’re taking on freelance work or otherwise being paid to write about such a wide variety of topics in a short amount of time, and they know little to nothing about many of them
• They couldn’t be bothered to create 100% original content because the content wasn’t as important as just getting the links published (shady SEO alert)
• They’re trying to improve their site’s search engine rank with “fresh” and frequently-updated content, but they don’t want to take the time to actually write it
• Plain laziness

Note that there is no acceptable excuse for plagiarism.

How does plagiarism hurt readers?

It goes without saying that plagiarism destroys your personal brand and your credibility as a writer, but it also hurts your readers. Do you have favorite blogs or writers that you frequently read? I do. And after spending so much time reading a person’s work, I come to trust them. Their ideas interest me and I support their work. I might even share their articles on social media or cite them in my own writing.

So if I were to find out that one of those writers had been stealing someone else’s work that entire time, not only would the trust be completely broken, but I’d also feel fraudulent (and stupid) for sharing that person’s work and believing [in] them.

Whether your readership and/or social following is large or small, you owe it to your readers to provide them with original content and to be an authentic voice. If you want to quote another writer or paraphrase some content, be sure to cite it. You can do this by linking or by formal citations at the end, but not doing it at all is bad business.

Are content scrapers plagiarizing?

Content scrapers are a thorn in the side for many online writers. What these individuals and sites do is “scrape” content to re-post on their own sites. The problem is that they’re doing this without permission (meanwhile, other more ethical sites are obtaining permission before publishing anything).

But is it plagiarism? Technically, if the author’s name appears with the content (and it’s often grabbed with everything else), he or she is being credited — even inadvertently. That would mean that it’s not plagiarism per se, but it’s also not exactly ethical.

That’s a wrap.

Hopefully you’ve got a better understanding of plagiarism and its nuances now. As a reader, expose yourself to a variety of content. You’ll develop a discerning eye and know when you smell a rat.

In the mean time, tools like Copyscape can help you to check for copies of your work (a paid version allows you to check copy for matches before publication), and Dupli Checker can help you to make sure that your writing is plagiarism-free.

What did I miss? What questions do you have? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

Image Source: 
photo credit: DerrickT via photopin cc
photo credit: Kalexanderson via photopin cc

Unfortunately, this method can be rather hit-or-miss for the businesses involved. When a freelance writer or content generation firm is good, fantastic! You’ve found yourself a gem.

But what about when they’re not so good? What about when they don’t seem to have a good enough grasp on your material? What about when they aren’t able to convey your ideas as well as you might like? What about when you find yourself making so many edits to their work that you wonder if it’s worth your investment at all?

Knowing the risks involved

Before you make the decision to have someone else create your content, you should be aware of the risks involved. Some people have wonderful experiences while others discover that it’s not all sunshine and sparkly unicorn smiles.

When it comes to freelancers, make sure you look at their writing samples and portfolios. That’s a no-brainer, of course, but it’s so important to look at writing styles. If you determine early on that a person isn’t a very adept writer, you can rule them out immediately and save yourself a headache later.

On the other hand, a person might be a fantastic writer and still not be a good fit for your site. Why? Every writer has a different set of interests and a different voice through which to convey them. For this reason, you might find any number of really skilled writers who will be a great fit for someone else, but their interests and voice just don’t match your business. This isn’t to say that they couldn’t learn, but look at it realistically. I could learn about a variety of business topics, but if you asked me to write about practical uses for advanced calculus, you’d be setting yourself up for disappointment. I am not your girl.

(I know what you’re thinking. Who could easily say no to practical uses for advanced calculus, right?)

When you’re looking to go the outsourcing route with a content generation firm, understand from the start that you get what you pay for. Yes, you might find a firm that promises you new original blog posts five days a week for a ridiculously low cost. Sounds fantastic, doesn’t it?

… Until you realize that the posts are really poor quality and the writer, while perhaps a skilled wordsmith in his or her own native language, doesn’t quite grasp English (or whatever language your blog is written in). This isn’t meant to sound rude or alienating. It’s just to say that you need high quality content in your own language, and someone who doesn’t have a native-like command of that language won’t be able to provide it for you. (Google Translate won’t do the trick either.)

And you know by now that you’re not doing yourself any favors with Google by settling for low-quality content. (And don’t forget about what such content does to your professional reputation and your site’s credibility.)

And where does this leave you?

Assuming you aren’t settling for low quality content, these problems can leave you with a ginormous headache.

You find yourself editing the content, changing things here and there, or even completely re-writing it. You might find yourself going back to optimize the post to rank higher in the SERPs.

The thing is… when you have to do all of that, the work ceases to be the writer’s and becomes yours instead. That, of course, totally defeats the purpose of paying someone else to do it in the first place.

Feedback: the little solution that is often overlooked

When content creation gets to this point, many site owners are quick to move on to a new writer or firm. If the writer is truly just awful, then that might be a good route to take. In an effort to keep fresh content moving, however, the decision on a new writer might be snap and you, the site owner, could find yourself right back in the same position — a vicious cycle.

Most people forget about providing feedback as a viable option, though. If it does cross their minds, they think that it’s too long and involved a process to be worth it.

Is it longer and more involved than rewriting all of your content?

Writers who take themselves and their work seriously want to receive feedback (provided it’s constructive criticism and not a bunch of put-downs). In fact, if such a writer notices that you’re changing their work before you publish it and you’re not telling them why, it becomes frustrating and off-putting. Writing is a craft that must be honed. It’s difficult to do that with no feedback.

5 quick tips for providing feedback

1. Keep the lines of communication open from the start and check in frequently. If you develop an actual organic relationship with your writer in this way, it will be easier to approach the subject.
2. Schedule a quick phone call. Going back and forth through email can make editing seem like a longer and more drawn-out process than it needs to be. A phone call is quicker and more personal.
3. Make some suggestions. This is particularly useful if your writer is relatively new as it helps to give an idea of your vision for the content.
4. Give some direction. Some people produce much better content when they’re given some direction. It can actually be more frustrating to work with someone who is hands-off. If you’re unhappy with a piece of content, send a quick email with some ideas, thoughts, and suggestions for next time. This makes you more approachable, gives the writer some guidance, and it takes five minutes out of your day (if that).
5. BE POSITIVE! Feedback is only useful if it’s constructive. When you only focus on the bad, the writer feels that he or she will never be able to please you and will eventually just stop trying (plus you get a reputation as a jerk). Be polite but direct. When you find fault, make suggestions for correction, and then also point out the positives.

What feedback techniques do you employ? What do you find to be the most frustrating aspect of using outsourced or freelance content? I’d love to hear from you!

Caption: Keeping a notebook with you is a great way to work on developing your writing voice.

Content creators often miss a crucial step in the process. This step comes between the initial idea and the moment they hit “publish” on the finished product. I’m not talking about doing keyword research, optimizing the content, or proofreading the post.

I’m talking about failure. I’m talking about total crap writing.

Read a few blogs. You can tell right away which ones have a good command of voice and which ones sound like they were possibly written by Ben Stein (which is to say flat and pretty boring). You probably much prefer the ones with a strong voice, right? It gives the site character.

The difference between the blogs that are informative as well as fun to read and the ones that make your eyes glaze over with the generic-ness is that the good ones learned from being bad. In reality, everyone starts as a bad blogger. This is perhaps not in writing skill, but we all struggle to find our voice and our purpose for creating content.

I love Gini Dietrich’s site, Spin Sucks. In a recent post on keeping content fresh, Gini made a little aside about how she didn’t start out as a great blogger, and was recently reminded of that when she looked at some of her early posts. You’d never know it to read her blog now, though. Her posts are fun to read because of the way in which she’s developed her voice.

If you’re doing the content creation, having a strong voice humanizes your brand — whether it’s personal or corporate. If you want to make your content stand out above the others, you need to let a little personality shine through.

This is where free writing can really be a useful exercise, and it’s one that many content creators and new bloggers could benefit from practicing. When you free write, you’re basically mind-dumping and getting ideas down with no regard to form, grammar, mechanics, or any of those other English-y things you learned in school.

The trick is in realizing that this kind of writing isn’t necessarily publishable (although there is certainly no shortage of evidence in the blogosphere to indicate that everyone understands this). What it does do, however, is help you find your voice.

Think of it a bit like journaling. Quick anecdote time!

My grandmother bought me my first journal when I was eight years old. It came from the Dollar General Store and it was hideous, but I loved it. I started filling the pages with third person accounts of my day, telling them like stories. Over the next sixteen years, I filled a diary and several other journals (you know, just diaries with more writing space and without chintzy locks) with first person accounts and observations. At first they were really weak. For example:

Today my mom yelled at me. My sister is annoying and my little brother cries a lot.

But at some point between the ages of 9 (when I might have written that entry) and 25 (when I stopped journaling my life on a daily basis, either in written form or via LiveJournal), what happened was that I’d written enough crap to develop a voice. My entries were no longer sterile, boring anecdotes. I employed some creative writing techniques and realized it was a lot more fun to write in conversational tones — the same way I might tell these stories to my friends or family.

It had all been one gigantic free writing exercise preparing me for bigger, better things.

And when I started freelance writing and blogging for a wider audience, those lessons served me well because I was able to apply them across the board.

So if you’re writing crap…

Writing is a skill. It’s something you can hone and become better at doing through practice. Some people are naturally better at it, yes, but that doesn’t mean that working hard won’t pay off. In fact, I’m a big believer that hard work is the only way.

So take a look at your content. If you’re creating a lot of crap, start working to identify the good ideas among it. Have some other people read it and help you to identify those points if you like. When you’ve extracted the strong points, target them. Then work on writing for no one in particular — a lot of unpublished free writing to help you develop your voice. Sure, it’s extra work and you’re undoubtedly very busy. But in the long run, I really believe you’ll see a return on your time investment. Your voice will be more distinctive and your content will be stronger.

photo credit: Amir Kuckovic via photopin cc

The Internet has changed the way we write and speak. Part of the reason that blogging has become such a useful way for businesses to humanize their brands is because of the conversational tone that it allows. People researching products and companies would much rather read something with some character (read: brand humanization) than something that’s sterile and lacking personality.

Still, just because blogging is a bit more relaxed than, say, academic writing, it doesn’t mean you can get sloppy. Blogging is still writing, after all, and writing skills are among the most important to have. It’s important to be cognizant of grammar rules so that you sound interesting and intelligent! Remember, especially if you’re blogging for your business, that how you write says as much about your personal brand as it does about your company.

In honor of this year’s National Grammar Day, here are some little tips that you can start implementing today (and every day) to help you make a big difference in your writing.

1. Stop using apostrophes to make things plural.

Please. For the love of everything that is good in this world, please stop using apostrophes to indicate plurality. This is such a common mistake, but there’s no excuse for making it.

Simply put, apostrophes indicate possession:

• Kate’s kite
  
• Albert’s car 
• Estelle’s wig

This shows that the kite, car, and wig belong to Kate, Albert, and Estelle, respectively.

Apostrophes are also used as a kind of placeholder in contractions:

• Kate’s kite didn’t fly. 
  
• Albert’s car wouldn’t start.
• Estelle’s wig isn’t very realistic. 

In these cases, you see how an apostrophe is used to replace the ‘o’ in ‘not’ when the words become a contraction.

Look at these example pictures. Hopefully you saw “words” like mom’s, dad’s, chef’s, and cook’s and recognized that these were supposed to be plural nouns. For the life of me, I really can’t understand why mom’s and dad’s both have an apostrophe to indicate plurality, but grads is correct. Don’t make these mistakes!

2. Understand reflexive pronouns.

We’ve all seen this one. Maybe you get an email that says something like this:

Hi folks!

We’re taking up a collection for Sally’s birthday so that we can buy her a cake from the whole office. If you like Sally and you like cake, please consider making a donation. You can give the money to Ronald or myself.

Insert screeching tire sounds here. The funny thing is that, when you really stop to think about it, you can’t give anything to myself. You can give something to me, but I am the only person who can give myself anything. I can’t give yourself anything. Only you can give yourself something, but I can give you something.

If that just really confused you, I apologize. Simply put: a reflexive pronoun (myself, yourself, ourselves, himself, herself, etc.) is used to refer back to the subject of a sentence or clause. “I” was not the subject of that sentence in the example, so there’s no reason to use “myself.”

You can also use reflexive pronouns as intensive pronouns. Some examples of this include:

• Charles himself built the house. 
• Harry fixed the leak himself. 
• If you aren’t going to help me, then I guess I will just do it myself.

When reflexive pronouns are used as intensive, they don’t change the meaning of the sentence. Instead, they provide emphasis.

3. Everyday ≠ every day.

This might be my biggest pet peeve because I see it plastered incorrectly all over the place. Apparently it’s a little known fact that everyday and every day have two completely different meanings and are not interchangeable. I couldn’t let National Grammar Day go by without pointing out the differences.

This is something that’s not really a tiny problem. In fact, businesses and pop culture alike are helping to promote the misuse of these two terms on a regular basis. I’m looking at you, Phil Collins, Buddy Holly, James Taylor, Sheryl Crow, Hobby Lobby, and countless others.

Billboards, bags, promotional materials, titles… you name it, it’s somewhere on public display, using “everyday” when it means “every day.” Interestingly enough, Walmart is one correct example:

In short, far too many people and businesses are using the term everyday to mean “each and every single day.” In reality, everyday is an adjective that means commonplace. Waking up to an alarm, brushing your teeth, and driving to work are all everyday activities. They’re commonplace.

On the other hand, if you want to convey that something happens each day, you’re looking for every day, an adverb.

There is a super easy way to distinguish between the two. Add the word “single.” If it fits, you want every day. For example:

• I take the back roads every (single) day I go to work.
• My mom packs me a peanut butter sandwich every (single) day.
• Spilling coffee on myself is an every (single) day occurrence.**

**You’ll note that the last one doesn’t quite fit and would sound better and more natural as “an everyday occurrence.” In that case, everyday is the one you want.

Don’t let the National Grammar Day party stop now! Check out some of these sites and party on: 

• Olivia Roat of Mainstreethost always writes amusing grammar-related posts.
• Grammar Girl’s site is entertaining and informative when it comes to grammar.
• The Red Ink, Grammar Chic’s blog, is a great place for writing tips.

Those are my three top tips for improving your grammar in celebration of National Grammar Day. What tips would you add? Are you celebrating National Grammar Day, as well? If you’ve got a post, video, or anything else to share, leave a link in the comments! 

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photo credit: Walmart Corporate via photopin cc

Friends+ is one of the more annoying features that Facebook has rolled out recently, in my opinion. If you aren’t familiar, there was a period of time during which every tagged photo on Facebook was automatically set to Friends+ and there was nothing you could do about it. This meant that all of your friends saw every picture of you that someone tagged, and everything you tagged was shared with all of their friends.

All of this had nothing to do with your privacy settings. If your photo album was set to “Friends Only,” it didn’t matter. Friends+ was Facebook’s way of forcing you to share more than you might have been comfortable with.

It was also really annoying for friends of someone with a friend who tagged everything.

Eventually everyone started complaining because people they didn’t know (aka their friends’ friends) could now comment on their pictures because of the automatic Friends+ setting.

I don’t know about you, but I just stopped tagging my content on Facebook. Better safe than sorry — you don’t know who your friends’ friends are!

The good news, however, is that Facebook has changed this setting back.

Eliminating the Friends+ Setting From Facebook Photos

Step #1: Locate the gear image on the album or photo

Please note that no matter what your current setting is, you must choose ‘Custom.’ This won’t change your previous setting, it will just customize it (read: allow you to change the Friends+ setting).

Step #2: Uncheck “Friends of those tagged”

This is easy enough, but it’s also where it gets a bit frustrating.

You might find that every album is different, and this setting won’t even exist on albums created prior to Friends+. All of my albums from July 2011 on have this setting. The good news is that you can check each album individually and pretty quickly from the photo album main page.

That’s not the most annoying part, though. You can change the settings for full albums unless those albums are mobile uploads or wall photos. On photos in those albums, you have to change the settings on every. single. photo. separately. If you don’t tag anything from your phone, then it’s not a big deal at all. If you do, though, or if you go back and tag people later, you may want to double check on that, because every photo you upload in one of those two ways will automatically become Friends+ again. There is currently no way that I’ve found to opt out of that default.

Step #3: Save your settings

Why should you care if other people can see your photos?

First and foremost, it negates the “privacy” of those photos. I like the content I post to Facebook to only be seen by my friends, and I know there are others who feel similarly. I understand that nothing you put online is ever totally private, but you can do your best.

You might trust your friends, but how do you know that you can trust their friends? When you leave those privacy settings on Friends+, you really never know who’s going to see that picture. It only needs to come across one wrong screen for you to regret ever tagging it in the first place. (I’m looking at you, in particular, college students.)

Second of all, and what is the tipping point for me, anyway, is that it’s a matter of courtesy. I don’t know about you, but I get annoyed when I’m scrolling through my newsfeed and it’s being clogged up by 27 tagged pictures of my friends with people I don’t know. I have no clue who these people are, much less where they are and what they’re doing.

Also, you forfeit the right to complain or be creeped out when someone you don’t know starts commenting on your photos if you choose to leave them on Friends+. You’ll probably find out later that it’s your friend’s great aunt’s estranged husband from 1973, but you’ve sort of left yourself open for that one.

Are there cases when Friends+ could be useful? Maybe. The only two events that come to mind are babies and weddings, but even then… I’m not convinced.

Oh, and one more thing: If you ever want to check out how your profile looks to any of your friends or to the public, “View As…“ is one of the most underrated Facebook features. You’ll know right away what the public sees when they visit your profile. It’s one of my favorite tools, but sort of hard to find in Timeline, so here you go!

Click on the gear image below your cover photo and select “View As…”

What do you think of Friends+? Love it? Hate it? Find it kind of annoying to see a bunch of other people’s pictures? Leave a comment and let me know, and feel free to share this post with your Facebook friends!

Image Source: mconnors/morgueFile

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What was that about everyone being a critic?

After tenth grade, I found myself heading off to Susquehanna University (my future alma mater) for a week-long Writers Workshop, conducted as part of Susquehanna’s nationally recognized Writers Institute.

During that one summer week, I learned a tremendous amount about writing and myself as a writer from Drs. Gary Fincke and Tom Bailey. The most important lesson for me, as a fairly sensitive person, was in regards to constructive criticism.

When you’ve spent your entire life being told what a great writer you are, it can take the wind right out of your sails when someone tells you otherwise (especially the first time). I would go on to attend the Writers Workshop again the following summer, and, upon enrolling as an undergrad at Susquehanna, declare writing as my first minor. But that first lesson in constructive criticism has stuck with me.

Whether you’re writing creatively, for academia, or blogs, one of the most important aspects of writing is often overlooked: the ability to give and receive constructive criticism.

If you know providing such constructive feedback isn’t your forte, you’re not sure if you’re doing it well, or you just want a refresher, you’re in luck! I have some tips and examples for you.

Giving Constructive Criticism

• Understand that “just being nice” isn’t always helpful. If you read something that’s seriously terrible and you know that, but you smile and say, “Wow, this is really great!” you aren’t doing that writer any favors. Help the writer see where changes should be made.
• Please never just say “it’s good” or “I liked it.” Okay, I’m glad… but what made it good? Why did you like it? I need a little bit more feedback. And that includes what you didn’t like. In fact…
• What you don’t like is probably the most valuable information. What is it about this piece that you don’t like? For example, “the voice didn’t seem very authentic,” or “I just don’t feel like this part fits in with the rest of the post.” Help me see where I can improve. That’s important, so let me say it again.
• Help the writer see where he or she can improve. There is no such thing as a perfect first draft. Even thoroughly edited final drafts are often not without their faults. Speak up and let the writer know what you think.
• Be tactful. There is a line (and it’s often a fine one) between providing constructive criticism and bashing someone’s work. Constructive criticism will be helpful, tactful and polite, though firm when it needs to be. Mind your tone (and how it could be perceived).
• Balance the bad with the good. For every criticism you have, make it constructive by offering up something positive as well. “I’m not sure I really understand why you included this XYZ piece of information, but you made excellent points on ABC and DEF.”

Receiving Constructive Criticism

• Remember that you are not your work. Just because I don’t like your outfit or your taste in music doesn’t mean that I don’t like you as a person. Likewise, just because someone doesn’t like something you’ve written, it doesn’t mean they don’t like you.
• Understand that not everyone is going to love everything. Sometimes a blog post or anything else you can create just might not be a winner. Don’t let that discourage you from trying it (whatever it is) again.
• Prompt the critic. When you ask for someone’s opinion, they might not always know how to give constructive criticism. If they say something like, “that’s good,” ask them why they liked it. Ask them where they think you can improve or what they found confusing. The more you prompt them, the more likely you’ll get the information you need (and the more likely they are to provide this information to you up front in the future since they know what you’re looking for).
• Don’t retaliate. Set an example. If someone gives you bad feedback, your instinct might be to rip them apart when it’s your turn. Resist that urge. Instead, set an example for what constructive criticism looks like. Show ’em how it’s done. Be diplomatic and positive.
• Listen completely before you defend. Hear your reader out. When they’ve finished, offer up some explanation or defense of your work. Be careful not to be too defensive or make them feel like you don’t value their opinion (especially if you asked for it).
• Remember that you are the author. In the end, it’s your work. You need to be happy with it. So while you can consider all of the feedback and constructive criticism you receive, you’re ultimately the one who decides whether or not to accept it.

What constructive criticism tips would you add? Do you think it’s valuable to understand how to give and receive this type of feedback?

Image source: alvimann/morgueFile

I’m not.

People get the wrong idea about introverts. They think we’re perhaps a bit too shy or that maybe we just can’t keep up with rapid-fire conversations happening around us. In general, there’s an awful lot of negativity associated with being an introvert, especially in the business world.

‘How will she work as part of a team?’
‘How can he contribute anything meaningful to the conversation when he’s so quiet all the time?’ 

Plenty of people talk about introversion like it’s an unattractive quality and some affliction that can’t be overcome. The truth is that introverts are just fueled differently than extroverts. We’re in our own heads quite often. The quieter we are, the more we’re thinking and generating ideas. It’s not that we don’t know or don’t “get it,” but we’re just considering all avenues. It’s not that we can’t work with clients, but that we like to think about our approach first. And it’s certainly not that we hate being around others and prefer only to work alone. In fact, I find that working as part of a small team can actually boost my “introvert superpowers.”

Throughout my quest for full-time employment, I’ve had numerous occasions when my introversion seemed to hang in the air like southern humidity in mid-July. I prepare myself for job interviews by thinking ahead about what questions I might be asked, but there are always those ones that sort of sneak up on me. I don’t know how many times I’ve wanted to ask if I could just think a bit about what I would do in a given scenario and email my interviewer back the next day.

Something tells me that wouldn’t go over well.

So I flail a bit, trying to make a split-second decision that it’s totally against my nature to make. I like to think about things before I speak or act so that I feel confident in my decisions, ideas, and information.

Still, if there were something I’d love to tell hiring managers, it’s that hiring an introvert is actually a great idea. Here’s why:

3 Reasons to Hire an Introvert

1. We think before we speak.

You can read stories every day where an employee says or does something that damages the reputation of the company in some way, whether it’s in person or through social media. While there are certainly exceptions, introverts are less likely to make off-the-cuff remarks or say things that can be misconstrued because it’s not generally in our nature to do so. We think about outcomes and allow that to help us choose our responses.

2. Later on, we’re still generating ideas.

Sure, it seems likely that we’ll have some ideas to throw out there during brain-storming sessions, but some of our best ideas might come to us later. The more time we have to think about something, the more likely it is that we’ll come up with creative ways to do what hasn’t been done and improve upon what has.

3. Strategy is kind of our thing.

Because we’re in our heads a lot, thinking about outcomes before we make a move, it’s only natural that strategy is an area in which we can excel. If you’re looking for someone who can weigh the outcomes of different actions and plan accordingly, an introvert might work very well for you.

On a final note, Lisa Petrilli has a great eBook that I highly recommend: The Introvert’s Guide to Success in Business and Leadership. If you’re interested, you can read my review here. In the book, Petrilli shares stories of leveraging her own introvert superpowers to go on to become the CEO of C Level Strategies. Her story and the lessons she shares are truly inspirational for introverts, but there’s more. The book also stands to enlighten extroverts on their introverted counterparts. If you read reviews, you’ll see that it has provided extroverts with quite the eye-opening experience. Whether you’re introverted or extroverted, you stand to gain something by spending an afternoon with this eBook.

Your turn: What strengths do you see introverts bringing to the workplace? Have you leveraged your introversion to find success? 

Image source: stock.xchng/krilm