Whether we realize it or not, we all use relative clauses in our grammar. The main use of the relative clause is that it tells us which person or thing we are referring to, in a sentence. A relative clause is easy to recognize because we use one of these four “W” words: who, whom, [...]
First, The Easy Way When you visit a news site or blog with a long story and very few paragraph breaks, you probably find it difficult to read. Very long paragraphs are hard to read for many reasons. A massive amount of text in a single block doesn’t give you any visual clues about what [...]
Nothing makes an editor cringe as much as seeing a spelling error in a published headline – and I’ve seen too many! In print, there is nothing you can do about it. Online, it used to be that you had a window of opportunity to make a correction, but now, with fast-acting search engines and [...]
Effect and Affect are similar words, with subtly different, importantly different meanings. The way to (almost) always get the right word (any word) is first to understand the meaning of the word you are using, and second, to actually speak it, either out loud or silently. Once you understand the words thoroughly, as long as [...]
Nothing makes an editor cringe as much as seeing a spelling error in a published headline. In print, there is nothing you can do about it. Online, it used to be that you had a window of opportunity to make a correction, but now, with fast-acting search engines and social media buttons, that window is [...]
I really don’t like apostrophes in headlines. Recently, a United Nations story came in with two apostrophes in the headline The Headline was: NGOs’ Assistance Vital to United Nations’ Battle Against Drugs I think this is bad because it makes the headline too complex and difficult to read. Simple style is usually better. Editors need [...]
There are two problems in this headline Together as One Combined Security Forces Assists Local Village This is why Del Marbrook suggests you read your headline aloud. I am a word reader, not a skimmer, so these jump out at me. Many people, even editors, skim read. When you skim, you can easily miss errors. [...]
Writing “On the other hand” is a common phrase for many South Asian writers – Indians, Pakistanis and Nepalis use this a lot, but the way they often use it isn’t good English. You can’t say “on the other hand” if you didn’t say “on one hand” and explain something else. In this case, “on [...]
Welcome to the NewsBlaze Editor’s Blog. Each week, we will write about writing – how to make your writing more readable, things to do or things you shouldn’t do. NewsBlaze has over 350 registered writers, from all over the world. Although they all speak and write in English, sometimes their local dialect shows through and [...]
