Free Word Plug In

For those who are auditory learners/ editors, or process  info. better through auditory means... here is something below that may be of help. 

http://www.wordtalk.org.uk/home/  ---   reads Microsoft Word aloud. but Windows only.

Some recommended books for effective writing

Here are some  English text books someone recommended to me that may prove useful in your daily writing endeavours.  

 

McGraw-Hill Handbook of English-- Canadian Edition:
Mind the Stop: a Brief Guide to Punctuation

We bear our own autograph.....

We bear our own autograph in every word we write.. so it is imperative that we examine each word to ensure it represents the essence of who we are and we stand for.

Maintaining a professional online presence

As we observe every day in the news,the power of social media can never be underestimated. Therefore, maintaining a professional online presence is a critical part of a successful career path , whether you be a writer, a teacher, or whatever profession you are in. 1- You never know what is on the Internet these days with your name on it... One way to maintain some scrutiny in this is to set up Google alerts using your name.. You will then get notified anytime your name appears on Google. However, if you have a common name, your alerts will be including these people. 2- Set your privacy settings on Facebook so that no one can tag you without your permission. Review your privacy settings on a regular basis... Do this with other sites that you may be registered with as well. Remember to only post items that provide a good image of yourself. Think before you post! Once it is on the Net, it is there forever. 3- Set up blogs or websites with your name to establish and maintain a professional persona. Remember to keep them up –to-date.

Advisory panel --Mastermind group for writing goals

How many of us have an advisory panel-- mastermind group-- that you can access for feedback to evaluate your writing goals.

Such persons can guide, motivate and mentor us... But choose wisely-- try to choose people whose strengths are your weaknesses, and come from very diverse backgrounds and writing perspectives.

Common Sense Writing

I recently discovered the book “The Art of Plain Talk”-- real oldie but goodie-- by Rudolf Flesch . As the book quotes: ” it shows you how to say and write what you mean in English that people understand.”

It is well worth a look through for those interested in what I call “ common sense writing”.

The Importance of Plain Language for the Web

A lot of websites suffer from a bad combination of “gobbledy gook” corporate speak addiction, excessive jargon use and superfluous words.

The literacy level of these sites are also often too high for their target audience/market niche. As a result, they are turning off existing users who may become potential customers and in the process, giving users/clients headaches who are trying to access the info. they need to use the service or product the site is offering.

Most websites have way too much info. that speaks too little about their services or programs . They fail to emphasize the “FAB factor” of using their product or services “Features, Advantages and Benefits”. Because most of today’s products and services are highly complex ,along with the barrage of daily communications from all directions and sources, we often end up acquiring the 21st century’s condition of attention deficit disorder/ information overload. Such a situation makes it critical that all content on websites be in Plain Language/Plain English- no matter what the type of info. it is and what format it is in.