One of the first rules of web copywriting is to use plain English, to give every reader the best chance of understanding your content. Your website is available to the entire world and will have visitors who have a first language different to your own. Don’t forget, however, that native speakers also have differing readingContinue reading “Simple, clear copy (in any language)”
Category Archives: Writing style
Originality is underrated
This might seem like an obvious statement, but I’ve been mulling over this a lot today. I know I should write more regularly on this blog, but I’m finding it hard to think of things that nobody else has covered a million (okay, ‘several’) times before. In this new world of web 2.0, ideas areContinue reading “Originality is underrated”
Book: ‘Eats, shoots and leaves’
I’m not one of those people who’s averse to using an exclamation mark. I also like commas, apostrophes and all the other types of punctuation. I don’t apologise if this sounds a bit geeky; I write for a living, so it’s right that I have an interest in how to use them to their bestContinue reading “Book: ‘Eats, shoots and leaves’”
‘Thoughtful, investigative pieces don’t work on the web’
An interesting article on the Guardian’s website today. Aida Edemariam looks at the issue of search on the internet and how this influences online writing in contrast to offline articles. This, of course, links in to how content for the web must be structured differently in general. Unfortunately, she thinks it makes ‘depressing reading’, interpretingContinue reading “‘Thoughtful, investigative pieces don’t work on the web’”
British English or American English?
Jakob Nielsen recently covered the issue of which English language variant to use in one of his recent Alertbox emails. This topic usually interests me or bugs me in equal measure (but for different reasons). I’ve written for companies that want to use British English and for those that prefer American English. As Nielsen pointsContinue reading “British English or American English?”