Comma Queen discusses the semicolon; or mastering the giant comma
Traditionally, the semicolon has three uses: it can replace a comma in a series that includes interior commas, such as this one; it can...
The importance of stories ...
Since novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie warned of the 'danger of a single story' in her 2009 TED talk, writes Trish Nicholson for the...
Short and sweet
Marjorie is travelling during Spineless Wonders’ #MicrolitMonth so her A Bigger Brighter World posts will be short and sweet. Her first...
Become a better business writer
One thing guaranteed to release my father’s inner grammar Nazi is hearing TV news readers or sports commentators say, “There’s …”...
Program or programme: the politics of spelling
The government’s decision to strip funding from the Australia Council in favour of the newly-established National Programme for...
William Zinsser’s writing tips
Author William Zinsser died on May 12. His book, On Writing Well, has sold 1.5 million copies. Zinsser stressed simplicity and...
The psychology behind writing tips
Early this month Josh Bernoff wrote a post about ten writing tips. It went viral because they were good tips. And because he included...
Know what comprises what
Copyeditors, writes Mark Allen, know that the whole comprises the parts, that comprises means is composed of. Comprised of is considered...
Tips for authors, bloggers, columnists and journalists
Andrew Griffiths writes a lot and teaches people to write and publish everything from books to blogs. He says his 12 tips have helped him...
Learn from the Comma Queen
This is the début of Comma Queen, the New Yorker’s series on language in all its facets: grammar, syntax, vocabulary, spelling, usage,...