Hi Guys,

The time of year has finally arrived… sun, sea, sand and relaxation for the next week or so as I finally jet off on my summer holiday .

But do not fear as I will be leaving my blog posting in the very capable hands of my good friend Mandy Allen. Mandy really knows her stuff when it comes to the written word so please take this opportunity to make the most of her knowledge. As always feel free to leave comments and I will see you all next week .

Over to you Mandy…

Many people ignore or do not know the basic rules of the written word. It has become common practice in recent years to use lower case (small) letters where there should be capitals.

Many people do not know where to use a full stop, instead creating ever longer sentences dissected with misplaced commas.  Spaces are randomly scattered through the document, before characters that ought not to have a space before them.  (There is no space required before a punctuation mark!)

Equally disappointing is seeing no space where there should be one.  Too many people do not put a space after a full stop, instead continuing straight on with the next letter.  (Capital or not!)  In fact there should always be 2 spaces after a full stop, but not a lot of people seem to know that.

Simple rules to follow are:

• Always start your sentence with a capital letter, and make sure you use capital letters at the beginning of names or titles.  When including book titles in your text you should use a capital letter at the beginning of each word in the title.
• Always space twice between a full stop and the beginning of the next sentence.  Never space before punctuation marks.
• Always hit return twice to start a new paragraph.  (Except in WordPress visual – they automatically put an acceptable space before a new paragraph).
• Check you have used the right punctuation mark.  If a green line appears under your text something is amiss!
• Do not use the work ‘which’ in restrictive clauses.  The word to use is ‘that’.  Again, if a green line appears under your text and you have used ‘which’ try changing it to ‘that’.  The green line should disappear.  A restrictive clause is a sentence where the words either side of ‘that’ are directly related to each other.  It is a hard one to get a grip on, but look for the green line!

Make an effort to create a better than average impression with your product.  Don’t feel ‘got at’ if someone proof reads your document and points out the errors.  Feel pleased that they have taken the time and been concerned enough to want you to succeed. 

Remember, you have written the quality content.  Your success is all down to you.

Mandy Allen.

http://mandyallen.com/

To Receive Your 6 Day Product Creation Crash Course, Sign Up In The Boxes and I Will Email Your Course Straight Out To You!
Share on Facebook