Oh, no! Were we wrong about exclamation marks?
Psst! I know your little secret. Come closer. Ready? You use exclamation marks. There! I said it. And in case you’re feeling embarrassed, let me state for the record: I use them too. We all do. In our social media posts. In …
Results of our 2014 blogging competition
The results are in. But before I reveal the winner and runners-up in our blogging competition on The Future of Copywriting – here are a few thoughts on how the event turned out. The first thing that surprised me was the apparent …
Why I hate grammar nazis
Here’s a little tip for getting traction in the Twittersphere. Tweet about grammar. I did it this morning, asking why copywriters feel that “good grammar” matters so much. Roughly eight milliseconds later my Twitter feed lit up. I think I’m still catching …
18 free copywriting ebooks
Here is a list of 18 sites offering free or almost free copywriting ebooks and PDFs to help budding copywriters find their feet. I have linked directly to the download/signup pages so you don’t need to hunt around once you’re there. I …
Ten copywriting ‘rules’ you should break before you die
Rules, eh? Doncha just hate ’em? Do this. Don’t do that. Show me a rule and I’ll show you a baseball bat. Copywriting is plagued with rules. You know, you buy a book by someone who says they’re going to teach you …
The Copywriter’s Prayer
Oh Word, Let me compose sentences providing both meaning and pleasure. Guide me towards clarity, simplicity and truthfulness, And away from the seductive path of waffle, and the words whereof the weasel availeth himself. Teach me to care about punctuation without sharing …
Apostrophes left to rot in fields as punctuation values slide
Despite the best efforts of grocers to prop up falling values, it seems apostrophes are headed for a long period in the doldrums. In South Wiltshire, traditionally a strong punctuation-growing area, farmers are finding it unprofitable to harvest apostrophes, and are leaving …
What is the plural of greengrocer’s apostrophe?
We’re all familiar with the greengrocer’s apostrophe. The question is, what happens when you want to refer to more than one of the little bleeders? First of all, we have to do a little old-fashioned parsing. Is the greengrocer’s apostrophe an actual …
Tense, nervous adjectives?
Copywriting ought to be a reasonably healthy job. No heavy machinery – unless you count lugging your old 486 down to the storeroom. No noxious chemicals – OK, so you sniff your old fountain pen now and again just to remind yourself …
Why grammar doesn’t matter
Driving home from London last weekend, we pulled in for lunch right in front of a huge poster for Goldfish credit cards. Part of the “Me and My Goldfish” campaign, it was the start of a short story by a British actor …
Giving your copy the death(ly) sentence
What do a good copywriter and a liberal judge have in common? They both like short sentences. To judge by much of the copy that I see in an average week, there are plenty of people who view long sentences as the …
Things your English teacher told you (and shouldn’t have) – part I
I run regular training courses on copywriting. And every time I do, there comes a point where we discuss some of the sacred cows of written (and spoken) English. Reactions from participants range from knowing nods to looks blending the deepest horror …
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