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Legal Writing

Daily Writing Tips

Are you trying to improve your writing skills? If so Daily Writing Tips is the right place for you. Featuring daily tips about grammar, spelling, punctuation, copywriting and more!

Post Frequency: 10.2/day

Last Entry: June 02, 2012 at 00:31:57

Learning a Lesson from ?50 Tips on How to Write Good?

Posted on June 02, 2012
Last week, I wrote a post I didn?t write. In the introductory paragraph, I clearly stated that it was a mash-up of two similar -- and, to many people, familiar -- packages of pronouncements that illustrate the writing errors (or are they?) they are intended to highlight...

13 Theatrical Terms in Popular Usage

Posted on June 01, 2012
The rich vocabulary of the theatrical world has inspired use of various terms of the art in other realms of human endeavor. Many of them are also employed in (or to refer to) politics -- which, we note with various emotions, has always been an activity akin to theater...

5 Number Problems

Posted on May 31, 2012
In the sentence ?The day the slain woman was to turn 28, 3,000 gathered at a church to recall her life,? the proximity of her age (assuming it is styled numerically rather than spelled out) and the number of mourners confuses the eye. Original Post: 5 Number Problems Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook...

Principal vs. Principle

Posted on May 30, 2012
What?s the difference between principal and principle? The principle is of principal importance. Here?s the background for these close cousins, as well as related terms. Original Post: Principal vs. Principle Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook...

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10 Tips for Constructive Correspondence

Posted on May 29, 2012
Business writing, or any communication for other than personal reasons, requires a higher standard of compositional conduct. Whether you are requesting service or complaining about it, or applying for a job or responding to an applicant, correspondents have certain expectations about how you approach them...

June 5: Our Freelance Writing Course Goes Live

Posted on May 29, 2012
A couple of years ago, we noticed that the demand for online freelance writers was booming. The Internet was becoming the predominant medium for companies to reach their customers, and people were spending more time than ever online (instead of watching television, listening to the radio, and so on)...

What?s the Reading Level of Your Writing?

Posted on May 28, 2012
In a recent article, the Los Angeles Times reported on a survey that found that the level of sophistication in oratory in the US Congress has declined. That conclusion reminds me of a reading-comprehension tool I came across when I was a schoolteacher ? a system that might provide you with some insight about your writing...

Do You Have to Be a Specialist to Succeed?

Posted on May 26, 2012
Do you need to specialize in subject matter to be a successful writer or editor? You?ll get different answers from publishing professionals, and both ?Yes? and ?No? are correct. The devil?s in the details. Original Post: Do You Have to Be a Specialist to Succeed? Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook...

7 Great Websites for Writers

Posted on May 25, 2012
From usual suspects to obscure gems, from grammar guides to usage resources, here are some websites of great value to writers. Original Post: 7 Great Websites for Writers Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook.

Coping with Quotations

Posted on May 24, 2012
A stock element of effective writing is to employ a quotation by a noted writer or other famous person to illustrate a point. But take care that when you seek to strengthen your work by alluding directly to another?s, you don?t in fact weaken it by committing one of the following errors...

50 Tips on How to Write Good

Posted on May 23, 2012
The contents of this post are an alphabetical arrangement of two lists that have been circulating among writers and editors for many years. In case you have missed out all this time, I?m sharing here the wit and wisdom of the late New York Times language maven William Safire and advertising executive and copywriter Frank LaPosta Visco...

Descriptions and Prescriptions

Posted on May 22, 2012
Question: How many dictionaries does it take to screw up the word lightbulb? Answer: How many you got? Original Post: Descriptions and Prescriptions Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook.

Do You Look Like a Writer?

Posted on May 21, 2012
Did you read under the covers with a flashlight late into the night when you were a child? Have you been methodically working your way through the Great Works of Literature since the onset of puberty (or, if you were properly precocious, before)? Do you seek out and absorb the advice and insights of authors past and present? Original Post: Do You Look Like a Writer? Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook...

Q Words

Posted on May 19, 2012
Have you ever noticed the similarity in vocalization when you utter words starting with wh- and those beginning with qu-? Go ahead and try it now. Don?t be embarrassed -- nobody?s looking. Original Post: Q Words Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook...

Noun/Verb Agreement with ?Number?

Posted on May 18, 2012
When a sentence begins with ?A number of,? should the verb that follows be singular, or plural? For example, when a sentence refers to a number of objections being raised, is was correct, or should you use were? In this case, number stands in as a vague reference to the quantity of objections, but the objections themselves are the focus of the sentence: ?A number of objections were raised...

Focus vs. Locus

Posted on May 16, 2012
What?s the difference between a focus and a locus -- is it all just hocus-pocus? -- and where does nexus fit in? Original Post: Focus vs. Locus Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook.

All About Ellipses

Posted on May 15, 2012
Three dots. Dot, dot, dot. What could be simpler? Then why do those dots make so many writers dotty? The rules for use of ellipses are not as simple as they seem. But they are manageable. Original Post: All About Ellipses Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook...

Does Everyone Know Every One?

Posted on May 15, 2012
Writers are sometimes confused about when to attach any, every, and no to one or body as a closed compound and when to treat one of these word pairs as just that: a two-word phrase. Here are guidelines and sample sentences for each combination. Original Post: Does Everyone Know Every One? Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook...

7 Terms with the Root ?-Vore?

Posted on May 14, 2012
Are you a locavore? Probably not -- it?s still a fringe movement -- but you should know what it means, even if you do not consider yourself a member of the class. A discussion of locavore and six related words follows. Original Post: 7 Terms with the Root ?-Vore? Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook...

The Rules of Engagement in English

Posted on May 11, 2012
In the same day, this site received, among readers? responses to my recent post Courtesy Titles and Honorifics, two diverse email messages: One was a reasonable, well-written support of the writer?s opinion that, as she was taught, because the courtesy title Ms...

Older vs. Elder

Posted on May 10, 2012
Which comparative adjectival term meaning ?more advanced in age? is more correct in usage? Many people still prefer to use elder and its superlative eldest, but they tend to be, well, older; the choice of that last word is becoming the alternative of choice...

Book Review: ?Spunk and Bite?

Posted on May 10, 2012
The Elements of Style, by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White, has been widely celebrated as one of the masterworks of English usage. Time magazine listed it as one of the one hundred most influential books written in English since 1923. Original Post: Book Review: ?Spunk and Bite? Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook...

15 ?Dis-? Words and Their Relations

Posted on May 08, 2012
Words with the antonymic prefix dis- are easily confused with similar-looking terms starting with mis- or un- that usually have differing connotations or entirely distinct senses. Here are comparative definitions of some of these terms, along with etymological identification...

7 Idioms from the Military

Posted on May 08, 2012
Military terminology and slang is a rich source of expressive expressions. Most, like ?bite the bullet,? are clich�s, but some, such as ?bomber crew,? are unusual (so much so, sometimes, that in writing they may require a partial explanation). Original Post: 7 Idioms from the Military Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook...

Courtesy Titles and Honorifics

Posted on May 07, 2012
There was a time when it was considered proper form to refer indirectly to people in writing with a courtesy title or an honorific -- a designation that identifies gender, profession, or title of nobility. That time, to the great relief of writers everywhere, has passed...

7 Heavenly Bodies as Sources of Adjectives

Posted on May 05, 2012
Through in modern usage our planet?s Latin name, Terra, appears only in science fiction, the adjective terrestrial is often employed to refer to phenomena associated with Earth or with land as opposed to water. Original Post: 7 Heavenly Bodies as Sources of Adjectives Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook...

Treatment of Words That Include ?Self?

Posted on May 03, 2012
Self, as a prefix, is attached by a hyphen to other words in several parts of speech. The combination can be a noun (self-control), an adjective (self-absorbed), a verb (self-medicate), or an adverb (self-importantly). Original Post: Treatment of Words That Include ?Self? Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook...

Denounce vs. Renounce

Posted on May 02, 2012
What?s the difference between denounce and renounce? Their related Latin ancestors shared a neutral sense, but in English they acquired exclusively condemnatory connotations. Denounce is externally directed -- one denounces another?s words or deeds -- while renounce is internally focused -- one renounces one?s own viewpoints or actions, or is called on to do so...

How to Convert an Adjective to an Adverb

Posted on May 01, 2012
How do you determine whether the adverbial form of an adjective should end in -ly or -ally? In this post we'll explore the issue. Original Post: How to Convert an Adjective to an Adverb Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook...

Another Quiz About Parallel Structure in Sentences

Posted on May 01, 2012
Errors of organization plague writing -- not just in overall structure or paragraph formation but also even within sentences. One frequent problem is a misunderstanding about how multiple elements in a sentence must be marshaled to clearly communicate relationships between the components...

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