Is there an ideal sentence length?
Do you know what happens when your sentences are longer than 40 words?
Five fast fixes to add flavour to your writing
We all spend a lot of time communicating in writing.
Whether it’s through briefs and reports or emails, tweets and Facebook posts, good writing skills help us communicate effectively both at work and in our private lives.
Here are five ideas to spice up your writing so it is appetising no matter what you’re serving up.
To boldly go against the rules
Some grammar rules can be broken.
You can start a sentence with ‘and’. And depending on the product and audience, you can even start a sentence with ‘but’.
It is also acceptable to split the infinitive. Sometimes you just have to boldly go…
Before you start writing: know your purpose
About a month ago, a little wattlebird started making a nest in the tree outside our lounge room window. From the moment we first noticed her, that mother bird was 100% clear about her purpose. No dithering, no distractions, no dilly-dallying. Watching her, I realised there’s a lesson in that: If you need to write something, know your purpose before your fingers hit the keyboard.
Declutter your writing: the value of a good clean up
A friend recently told me she had just decluttered her whole house in two weeks. I’m in awe. It would take me two weeks just to clear a path to the back of our garage. My friend was inspired by author Marie Kondo, who says a decluttered environment becomes ‘a place where there are no unnecessary things, and our thoughts become clear’. Sounds good. But instead of tackling the garage (have to work up to that daunting task) I thought about how well this theory applies to writing.