Write It Well

It’s more important to use a colon correctly than to decide whether you’ll capitalize an ordinary word that follows it. Here’s an example of a correctly used colon in a sentence about the Oscars:

The awards show is working hard to pump up its social-media clout as it tries to leverage a growing phenomenon: More and more viewers are supplementing the experience of merely watching their favorite TV shows by joining in simultaneous running commentaries on Twitter and Facebook.

That sentence is from the Wall Street Journal site; capitalizing all words after a colon is their house style. Style decision aren’t a matter of correct and incorrect language. It’s only important to be consistent by capitalizing each and every word that follows a colon if you capitalize just one in a document.

The optional capital letter after a colon is a reminder of an important fact: a colon should only follow a word group that could stand on its own as a complete sentence.

Many sentences with colons are longer than the maximum length of about 30 words that keeps it easy for a reader to follow a business document. The quoted sentence above is 45 words long.

If you find yourself asking whether you’re using a colon correctly, just try substituting a period for the colon. It’s always correct to write two shorter sentences, and two briefer bursts of information may be easier for your reader to follow.

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Write It Well’s book Essential Grammar includes a chapter on ways you can keep your sentences easy to follow. 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 clarify your thoughts and double-check your punctuation and grammar? Just use Write It Well’s editing services to make sure your readers follow your ideas and respect your voice.

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Informal business writing can still be crisp and logical; here’s a tip to keep casual writing easy to follow.

This 37-word sentence is by professional food writer Mark Bittman:

My assumptions are that you’re using four chicken-breast halves, about a pound and a half altogether, not sliced into cutlets or fingers or pounded flat but left as they are, about an inch thick at the center.

That sentence beautifully conveys Bittman’s conversational speaking tone. You might want to sound as informal as he does for your company’s blog or your marketing copy. But especially for informal writing, try to keep your sentences under about 30 words.

It’s great to aim for a warm and casual tone, but don’t forget to keep the logic of your sentences easy to follow. If you string your ideas together too loosely, readers may get confused and find something else to read.

Here’s Bittman’s sentence reworded and divided in two, with clearer logic and cleaner grammar:

I assume you’re using four chicken-breast halves, about a pound and a half altogether and an inch thick at the center. Don’t slice them into cutlets or fingers or pound them flat; just leave them as they are.

When you aim for a casual tone, try keeping a sharp eye on how long your sentences get. Short sentences help you keep your thoughts clear. And the more clear your writing is, the likelier you are to hold your readers’ attention.

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Write It Well’s book Essential Grammar includes a chapter on ways you can keep your sentences easy to follow. 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 clarify your thoughts and double-check your punctuation and grammar? Just use Write It Well’s editing services to make sure your readers follow your ideas and respect your voice.

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There are rumors that Amazon.com will start selling merchandise at brick-and-mortar stores. The following sentence about those rumors illustrates a common punctuation mistake:

“There wouldn’t have to be any [store] inventory, you would simply play with the stuff, talk to a professional …, and have it at your house in the next 24 to 48 hours,”  Jason Calacanis wrote in a recent blog post.

The comma in red makes this blogger’s sentence incorrect. Many readers don’t know the grammatical term comma splice but still wince at this particular punctuation mistake.

Comma splices can lower your credibility, including on blogs and in e-mails, but they’re easy to correct. Just ask yourself if you could separate two ideas into two complete sentences rather than with a comma:

• There wouldn’t have to be any store inventory.
• You would simply play with the stuff, talk to a pro, and have it delivered.

Since these ideas are full enough to stand as two complete sentences, they need a stronger punctuation mark than a comma to separate them. The handiest solution to avoid a comma splice is just to type two sentences, like this:

There wouldn’t have to be any store inventory. You would simply play with the stuff, talk to a pro, and have it delivered.

As a rule of thumb, if you think your punctuation may be incorrect, try backing up and typing two shorter sentences. You’re more likely to be correct and easy to understand.

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Write It Well’s book Essential Grammar includes two chapters on punctuation. 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 clarify your thoughts and double-check your punctuation and grammar? Just use Write It Well’s editing services to make sure your readers follow your ideas and respect your voice.

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