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Schools, businesses and people everywhere seem to be getting back into 'normal' mode now, although summer certainly hasn't gone yet. There is a lot to be said for simplicity, in general but also in communications. Keeping things simple leads to less confusion and greater understanding - and lets everyone get on with other things. It is always my aim to make my writing simple - short sentences, easy words, simple explanations. Professionally, I am very proud of being able to take 40 plus A4 regulatory documents and turn them into 24 A5 page documents that still meet regulatory requirements but also in Plain English for the general public. I know others in that industry admired and copied some of my work, so I did well obviously. Yesterday, the Government announced a working party into make financial regulatory documents shorter and simpler to understand. It's nice to see even the Government and financial industry (two notoriously over complicated areas) see the value in simple communications. One way to simplify your writing is to cut out everything unnecessary; even when you feel every feature is a benefit, there are details you don't have to include except in every document Use your words wisely! Tash
PS My apologies for
the delay with this newsletter. I was inundated with 10 urgent
projects for clients for four days and was unable to finish off this
newsletter.
blog -
wordconstructions.wordpress.com
Running a competition Competitions can be a great promotional tool for a business and/or website. They can also be fairly easy and cheap to run, too. However, having seen some competitions recently that weren't run as well as they could have been, I think it is important to realise that running competitions needs to be taken seriously. If for no other reason than to avoid legal problems. My newest article is about the details behind running a successful competition. It is also important to consider the arrangement before running a competition with another business. For instance, many businesses donate prizes to other sites' competitions. In these cases, it is a good idea to be sure of what is required from both parties in terms of responsibility, results and promotion. And remember, even if you donated the prize and someone else is running the competition, you could benefit further by promoting the competition as well.
Happy
Valentines Day It is February and we're almost at Valentines Day. Personally, I don't care about the commercialism of the day. I consider it a reminder to acknowledge those people we care about, both romantically and otherwise, in a way we probably don't think of throughout the year. I aim to send a note, letter or email to people close to me for Valentines Day, just so they know I care all year, even when I forget to tell them. For those romantically inclined, I wrote an article on writing love letters, and another on how to present love letters in a special way. I also wrote a number of Valentines articles for Save Time Online, including Valentines ideas for singles! And for those interested, Valentines Day, Valentine's Day and Valentines' Day are all grammatically correct! It depends which grammar rule you believe is more important as to how you write the word! Valentines Day - the name of an event, such as Good Friday or Christmas Day Valentine's Day - the day owned by or relating to Valentine Valentines' Day - the day owned and celebrated by valentines (lovers) everywhere The same answer applies to Mothers and Fathers Day, too.
Poor examples Sometimes, the easiest way to learn the correct way to do something is to see it done poorly so in this section of my newsletter, I show you some real-life examples of writing that need a little help. Today's example comes from a website of someone who does coaching and public speaking - note I have changed the name in the example below.. example: Issues with this example: There are simply too many ideas in this sentence for it to work. She would have been better off putting each idea into its own sentence. As it is, I'm not sure if she is excited about the future dates or the Ballarat session. And if she is doing events throughout the state, including only one in Ballarat, why does Ballarat get a special mention. My interpretation is that either there are multiple Ballarat sessions (missing one letter is significant in terms of meaning!) or the state trip is much smaller than she would like us to believe. Not to mention that the Ballarat session must be a long one as it is 'going fabulously' (present tense)! A better version would be: (without changing the meaning) Daisy is doing amazing work around the state. Her Ballarat sessions have been going fabulously. She is excited and looking forward to upcoming dates... OR Daisy is doing amazing word around the state and is looking forward to her future sessions (dates listed below.) The recent sessions in Ballarat have been exciting and particularly well received by attendees. You are welcome to pass this newsletter on to anyone you think will be interested, but please send it as is without changes. If you were passed this email by a friend, you can subscribe here. This newsletter is only ever sent to my clients and people who request the monthly newsletter & writing tips found at www.wordconstructions.com. Your email details will never be given, lent or sold to any party whatsoever and you are free to leave this service at any time by unsubscribing here. Important: This email (including any attachments) is intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain confidential information. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender. Whilst Word Constructions has taken reasonable steps to ensure this email is virus free, it accepts no responsibility and makes no warranty. The recipient should take its own steps to ensure there is no virus. Word Constructions accepts no liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this email. |
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© 2008, Tash Hughes