One of the best pieces of advice that I received when starting out in journalism was: ‘Don’t worry about hyphens, that way lies madness.’ Wise words indeed – life is too short to worry about whether two words should stay separate, be hyphenated or combined into one word. World wide web, world-wide web, or worldwideRead more about Don’t worry about hyphens…[…]
In an earlier blog, I discussed the notion of conscious and unconscious ideological bias and one way to spot where a writer may be trying to obscure who is ‘doing the deed’ for ideological reasons. Another way is through nominalisation, the process of transforming a verb into a noun. As I explained in the previousRead more about Is the blog you are reading biased? (Part 2)[…]
Anyone learning French will at some point come across the subjunctive tense. Get round it, get through it, avoid it, but it has to be tackled somehow. It is how the French express wants, desires, needs, fears, doubts, possibilities, obligations and suchlike. What makes it difficult for English learners is that the subjunctive in EnglishRead more about Obligations, desires and possibilities (in French and English)[…]
(With apologies to all grandmas who can already suck eggs) Get to the point. People are busy. Unless you are writing a florid intro for your forthcoming novel, you need to quickly get to the point and say what you want to say, clearly and concisely. Don’t say ‘there are a variety of ways toRead more about 5 ways to instantly improve your writing[…]
Every single thing we read is authored by somebody and is, ultimately, just one person’s opinion. It sounds obvious, but sometimes we forget. We click onto an official website or a respected newspaper and our critical faculties dim as we consume what we consider to be facts. They may indeed be facts, but the authorRead more about Is the blog you are reading biased?[…]