Write It Well

Many businesspeople have to manage distractions as we write for work. Here’s a tip to keep your punctuation correct after an interruption takes you away from your keyboard.

Sometimes, a supplemental thought appears in the middle of a sentence. A second comma must follow the thought if an initial comma sets it off from the rest of the sentence. Here are two examples:

Economic competition, of course, is the only real reason … and, in my opinion, it is not a good enough reason to validate the resulting doubling of effort.

— Christopher Butler, “The case against apps,” Salon.com, July 27, 2011

It’s incorrect to omit that second comma after a supplemental thought. E.g., it would be wrong to type, “Economic competition, of course is the only reason.”

It’s especially easy to forget that second comma if you become distracted while you’re typing this kind of sentence. When you start typing after a distraction, rereading what you’ve typed and applying this rule can keep your sentences crisp and correct.

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Write It Well’s e-learning module Just Commas includes self-paced quizzes to help you master punctuation rules, and our book Essential Grammar includes a full chapter on commas. We’ve made all the book’s exercises available as a free download here to accompany the e-book, which is now available on Amazon.com!

Do you have an important document but not enough time to double-check your punctuation or untangle your sentences? Just use Write It Well’s editing services. We’ll make sure your prose is correct, clear, concise, and engaging so your readers will respect your voice and follow all your ideas easily.

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Some brilliant writers are terrible role models to imitate when you write your business documents. This beautiful passage about e-mail manners includes a bush-league grammar mistake:

In some instances, we are told that our e-mail went into spam, a statement that activates either our inner skeptic or our sympathy. (“It’s the permissible white lie,” Ms. McKean said. “It’s the equivalent of ‘I can’t go to your party, I came down with food poisoning.’”)

— Henry Alford, “When Your E-Mail Goes Unanswered,” nytimes.com, July 15, 2011

That orange comma creates a comma splice — a run-on sentence that could be corrected with a period or colon.

This writer can get away with a nonchalant comma splice because the rest of his prose is carefully crafted and error free. His grammar error is a conscious choice to strike an informal tone. But a comma splice in a high-stakes business document could make an educated stranger think you’re simply uninformed or careless.

Thorough grammar knowledge helps your writing project reliability. Building up your grammar knowledge is an ideal way avoid mistakes, maintain your professional credibility, and earn some confident elegance of your own.

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Write It Well’s e-learning module Just Commas includes self-paced quizzes to help you test your knowledge of punctuation, and our book Essential Grammar includes a full chapter on commas.

We’ve made all the book’s exercises available as a free download here to accompany the e-book, which is now available on Amazon.com!

Do you have an important document but not enough time to double-check your punctuation? Just use Write It Well’s editing services.

We’ll make sure your prose is correct, clear, concise, and engaging so your readers will follow all your ideas easily and respect your voice.

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Many business writers trip up when they add or omit commas. Here’s a comma that many writers would mistakenly leave out:

[A recent survey] ranked San Francisco sixth among U.S. metropolitan areas [in] providing goods or services that help the environment. San Jose [ranked] 26th, behind such contenders as Kansas City, Mo., and Albany, N.Y.

— David R. Baker, “S.F. ranked 6th in U.S. for green jobs by survey,”

sfgate.com, July 13, 2011

It’s necessary to mention Missouri in that sentence since there’s also a Kansas City, Kansas. And it’s necessary to include commas both before and after the state name since the quoted sentence continues after it.

Commas are the most frequently misused punctuation marks in U.S. English. Using them correctly makes your own prose look carefully written, and careful, correct writing boosts your credibility as a businessperson.

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Write It Well’s e-learning module Just Commas includes self-paced quizzes to help you test your knowledge of punctuation, and our book Essential Grammar includes a full chapter on commas.

We’ve made all the book’s exercises available as a free download here to accompany the e-book, which is now available on Amazon.com!

Do you have an important document but not enough time to double-check your punctuation? Just use Write It Well’s editing services.

We’ll make sure your prose is correct, clear, concise, and engaging so your readers will follow all your ideas easily and respect your voice.

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Careless writing can confuse your readers even when it sounds perfectly clear to you. Correct punctuation can prevent this confusion.

Careless punctuation leaves this article title unclear:

“No Pseudonyms Allowed: Is Google Plus’s Real Name Policy a Good Idea?” Audrey Watters, nytimes.com, July 12, 2011

Adding a hyphen makes the article topic immediately clear: “Google Plus’s Real-Name Policy.” This hyphen is also grammatically necessary.

Without a hyphen, it’s not clear if the article topic is the company’s real policy about names. The hyphen makes it immediately clear that the policy concerns real names as opposed to pseudonyms.

It pays to spend some time and effort on your punctuation: readers will grasp your ideas immediately, and they’ll see you as a effortlessly clear communicator.

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Write It Well’s book Essential Grammar is a thorough review of the punctuation rules you need to project credibility, clear thought, and professionalism through all your writing.

The book includes two user-friendly chapters on punctuation, including hyphenation guidelines that enable you to project an especially polished image as a business writer.

Do you have an important document but not enough time to polish it or boost reader comprehension? Just use Write It Well’s editing services.

We’ll make sure the prose is correct, clear, concise, and engaging so your readers will follow all your ideas easily and respect your voice.

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Bulleted lists can help readers follow your ideas as easily as they’d step down a staircase. Here are two illustrations, starting with an intricate sentence about an array of covers you can buy to protect an iPad 2:

There is the shockproof CoverBuddy from SwitchEasy.com, available in 10 colors (plus ultraclear) for $25; the Snap Shield cover from Belkin.com, which comes in clear, Apple Pink and Smoke and sells for $30; the BackBone from ifrogz.com, which sells for $35 in matching Smart Cover colors, plus white and clear; or the higher-end iFrogz Summit for $60, which combines a folio style with a snap-in core.

— Mickey Meece, “Options Abound to Protect the iPad,” nytimes.com, July 6, 2011

The same information is much easier to read when it’s unpacked and reformatted as a bulleted list:

Here are four cover options for the iPad 2:

• The shockproof CoverBuddy from SwitchEasy.com is available in 10 colors (plus ultraclear) for $25
• The Snap Shield cover from Belkin.com sells for $30 and comes in clear, Apple pink and smoke
• The BackBone from ifrogz.com sells for $35 in matching Smart Cover colors, plus white and clear
• The higher-end iFrogz Summit sells for $60 and combines a folio style with a snap-in core

Any time a series of items gets longer than about 30 words, back up and ask yourself if the information would be easier to follow in list format. Your readers may thank you for helping them move forward.

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Write It Well’s book Essential Grammar is a thorough review of the fundamental grammar you need to project credibility, clear thought, and professionalism through all your writing. The book includes two user-friendly chapters on punctuation, tips for using colons correctly in list introductions, and tips to maintain parallel structure inside a list.

Do you have an important document but not enough time to polish it? Just use Write It Well’s editing services. We’ll make sure the prose is correct, clear, concise, and engaging so your readers will follow all your ideas easily and respect your voice.

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