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Writing Tips of the Month
There is no secret formula to
writing well. Practice helps, as well as remembering
some helpful tips:
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Write
directly to your audience. |
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Use language
that connects with your readers. |
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Develop
a logical order of information. |
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Be concise. |
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Revise.
Revise some more. |
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Check
your message for errors and consistency. |
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To learn more about communicating effectively, click
on the writing tips below.
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Log in vs. Login, October 2018 |
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Are you still using ‘the Internet’?, June 2018 |
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The Markle Sparkle: Historic vs. Historical, May 2018 |
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Compound Constructions and -ly Adverbs, April 2018 |
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First Annual vs. Inaugural, March 2018 |
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Allude vs. Elude, February 2018 |
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Free Rein vs. Free Reign, December 2017 |
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Anyway vs. Anyways vs. Any Way, November 2017 |
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Yes, Spelling Counts, October 2017 |
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Word Usage and Placement Errors, June 2017 |
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Tamp Down vs. Tap Down, May 2017 |
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Last vs. Past, April 2017 |
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Chance vs. Opportunity, March 2017 |
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Recur vs. Reoccur, February 2017 |
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Hyphenating "Well," January 2017 |
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Possession and Compound Nouns, December 2016 |
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Avoid Unneeded Use of Basis, November 2016 |
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Ultimate vs. Penultimate, October 2016 |
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Between vs. Among, September 2016 |
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Using ‘Literally’ Literally, August 2016 |
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Myriad vs. a Myriad Of, July 2016 |
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The Internet is dead, June 2016 |
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Test Your Hyphen Skills, May 2016 |
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Chomping or Champing at the Bit, April 2016 |
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Because vs. Since vs. As, March 2016 |
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Use Positive Language, February 2016 |
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Serve vs. Service, January 2016 |
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All Right vs. Alright, November 2015 |
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Using Whether and If, October 2015 |
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Adverse vs. Averse, September 2015 |
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Colon Uses and Misuses, July 2015 |
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Tenable vs. Tenuous, June 2015 |
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Don't Get Caught with Your 'Pants Down,' May 2015 |
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On to vs. Onto, April 2015 |
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Got Comma Splices?, March 2015 |
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10 Questions for Compelling Content, February 2015 |
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Despite vs. In Spite Of, January 2015 |
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Gold, frankincense and...myriad?, December 2014 |
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Emigrate vs. Immigrate vs. Migrate, November 2014 |
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Reluctant vs. Reticent, October 2014 |
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College Application Essays and Other Memorable Stories, September 2014 |
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Compliment vs. Complement, August 2014 |
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Commas and Coordinate Adjectives, July 2014 |
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Using Male and Female Words, June 2014 |
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Capitalization of Business Titles, May 2014 |
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Cancelled vs. Canceled and Similar Words, April 2014 |
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What Our Language Says About Us, March 2014 |
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Gain Attention Using Whom, February 2014 |
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Incomplete Comparisons Create Confusion, January 2014 |
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Choose an Object for the Holidays, December 2013 |
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Get Active with Your Voice, November 2013 |
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Watch Out for Misplaced Modifiers, October 2013 |
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Avoid Non-Word 'Words,' September 2013 |
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Allow vs. Enable, August 2013 |
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Agreeable Subjects and Verbs, July 2013 |
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Then vs. Than, June 2013 |
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Infamous vs. Famous, May 2013 |
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In to vs. Into, April 2013 |
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The Power of Stories, March 2013 |
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Apostrophes and Plural Nouns, February 2013 |
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Apostrophe Abuse of Plural Nouns, January 2013 |
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More Than vs. Over, December 2012 |
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Impossibility of 'Center Around,' November 2012 |
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Continual vs. Continuous, October 2012 |
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On to vs. Onto, September 2012 |
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Using Chairman, Chairperson or Chair, August 2012 |
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Between vs. Among, July 2012 |
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Home In vs. Hone In, June 2012 |
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Use Hyphen with 'Free,' May 2012 |
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This vs. That, April 2012 |
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Agreement with Collective Ideas, March 2012 |
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Flesh Out vs. Flush Out, February 2012 |
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Grammar Goof on the Campaign Trail, January 2012 |
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Capitalizing Short Words in Headlines, December 2011 |
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Proved vs. Proven, November 2011 |
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Apostrophes as Stand-Ins, October 2011 |
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Avoid Redundancies: Each and Every, September 2011 |
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Oriented vs. Orientated, August 2011 |
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Confused Words: Reticent vs. Reluctant, July 2011 |
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Use Positive Words. No Problem., June 2011 |
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Be Possessive with Your Gerunds, May 2011 |
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Confused Words: 'Jibe' vs. 'Jive,' April 2011 |
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Confused Words: 'Regardless' vs. 'Irregardless,' February 2011 |
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Confused Words: 'Fired' vs. 'Laid Off,' January 2011 |
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Confused Words: 'Amount' vs. 'Number,' December 2010 |
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Commas with Direct Address, November 2010 |
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Confused words: 'flounder' vs. 'founder,' October 2010 |
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Use 'me' with compound objects, September 2010 |
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Avoid 'me' as a subject, August 2010 |
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Confused Words: 'Principal' vs. 'Principle,' July 2010 |
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'Used to' vs. 'Use to,' June 2010 |
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Confused Words: Who's vs. Whose, May 2010 |
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Dealing with Dates and Apostrophes, April 2010 |
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The State of States, March 2010 |
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Capital letters get 'put down,' February 2010 |
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Writing Tip Resolutions, January 2010 |
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Confused Words: "perspective" vs. "prospective," December 2009 |
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Using 'try and' vs. 'try to,' November 2009 |
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Write from your reader's perspective, October 2009 |
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Retire tired business phrases, September 2009 |
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Pack your headers with power, August 2009 |
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Choosing Between 'A' and 'An,' July 2009 |
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Using Articles and Acronyms and Initialisms, June 2009 |
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Confused Words: Council vs. Counsel, May 2009 |
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How to Handle Trademarks, April 2009 |
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Responding to Customer E-mails, March 2009 |
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What's up with that?, February 2009 |
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May vs. Might, January 2009 |
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Writing Tips for Holiday Newsletters, December 2008 |
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Be Wary of Negative Questions, November 2008 |
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Effects of Emotionally Charged Words, October 2008 |
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Got Paragraphs?, September 2008 |
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To Bravely Split Infinitives, August 2008 |
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Where Is Your Preposition At?, July 2008 |
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Commonly Misused Words: Is It All Right?, June 2008 |
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Recognizing Academic Degrees, May 2008 |
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Oral vs. Verbal Communication, April 2008 |
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Create correct em dashes, March 2008 |
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Parallel Structure Boosts Comprehension, February 2008 |
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Avoid Incorrect Colon Interruptions, January 2008 |
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'Tis the Season to Avoid Comma Splices, December 2007 |
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Choosing between 'we' and 'us,' November 2007 |
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Never Use 'Him and I,' October 2007 |
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Throw out 'younger than him,' September 2007 |
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Helpful Writing Questions, August 2007 |
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How to Increase Text Readability, July 2007 |
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Using Hyphens and Dashes, June 2007 |
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Punctuation: Degrees of Interruption, May 2007 |
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How to Handle Long Quotations, April 2007 |
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Writing 'down' style, March 2007 |
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How to Handle 'Staff,' February 2007 |
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E-mail or Email?, January 2007 |
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Correct Placement of "Only," December 2006 |
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Comparatives vs. Superlatives, November 2006 |
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Correctly Place Modifying Phrases, October 2006 |
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When to use ampersands, September 2006 |
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Confused Words: Imply vs. Infer, August 2006 |
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Increasing Text Readability, July 2006 |
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Confused Usage: Work Out vs. Workout, June 2006 |
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Using Hyphens with Modifiers, May 2006 |
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Write Lean Sentences, April 2006 |
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Confused Words: Appraise vs. Apprise, March 2006 |
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Could you care less?, February 2006 |
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The Holidays and Apostrophes, January 2006 |
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Confused Words: Compliment vs. Complement, December 2005 |
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The Power of P.S., November 2005 |
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I Feel Good..., October 2005 |
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Good vs.Well, September 2005 |
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Misplaced Modifiers Cause Confusion, August 2005 |
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Go west or West?, July 2005 |
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Write Tight About Time, June 2005 |
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Write Tight: Cut "in order to," May 2005 |
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How to Use Semicolons, April 2005 |
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March Madness of a 'Different' Sort, March 2005 |
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Capitalization of Headlines, February 2005 |
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Confused Words: Less vs. Fewer, January 2005 |
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Capitalization of Professional Titles, December 2004 |
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Tips for Using Acronyms, November 2004 |
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Affect v. Effect and the November Elections, October 2004 |
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Capital vs. Capitol: What a Capital Idea!, September 2004 |
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Colons on the Loose, August 2004 |
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More Confusing Words: Disburse vs. Disperse, July 2004 |
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Feeling Bad or Badly?, June 2004 |
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Confusing Words: Moot vs. Mute, May 2004 |
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Rules for Writing Dates, April 2004 |
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Correct State Abbreviations, March 2004 |
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Which is Correct? Assure, ensure or insure?, February 2004 |
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New Year's Resolution: Cut Expletives, January 2004 |
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Confused Words: Anxious and Eager, December 2003 |
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Choosing Between Which and That, November 2003 |
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Fall Cleaning of Unnecessary Words, October 2003 |
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Write Tight: Decide or Make a Decision?, September 2003 |
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Life's a Beach:
Using Lie and Lay, August 2003 |
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Pay Attention to
me, myself, and I, July 2003 |
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Which Goes First?
Quotation Marks and Punctuation, June 2003 |
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Effective Letter Openings:
WIIFM, May 2003 |
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Watch
Your It's, April 2003 |
