Ready to carry on?

Rule Six – Use Commas Properly

Punctuation rules are sometimes complicated but is it necessary to know the difference between a Harvard, Oxford and a serial comma? No – they are all the same! Be sparing in your use if you want but do use them in the right place at the right time. Look at this example:

“You can forget about editing and the people reading your work might not notice but your ideas will be lost”.

Can you forget about editing and people? You should have added a comma between “editing” and “and”. Most people will work it out but it interrupts their flow.

The important thing is, your readers understand exactly what you mean so put the commas where you think they belong.

Rule Seven – Use Noun Modifiers

This technique is not one you will use often but you should understand it.

When two nouns are used together, the first modifying the second, we are using a noun modifier. These can take the flab out of your writing, shorten your sentences and create a bigger impact. Here are a few examples:

Instead of “Tips on Editing”, use “Editing tips”;

Instead of “Good advice on how to boost traffic”, use “Good traffic-boosting advice” – “traffic-boosting” is a compound noun;

Instead of “Information about registration”, use “Registration information”.

No Excuses!

None of these tips is complicated; they are neither mystical nor magical. You could say they were nothing more than inconsequential, plain and boring. You could also say that they are nothing more than common sense.

Be smart; apply these rules to your writing and put yourself streets ahead of the competition. Make your readers sit up and take notice for all the right reasons; not because your writing is rambling nonsense but because it is powerful stuff.

And if you write blogs, don’t think these rules only apply to your future posts; go over your old work and see what changes you can make.

Do not kid yourself that your writing is perfect. There is no such thing and even the biggest best-selling authors in the world must apply editing rules like these. Test it out now; open an old piece of work you wrote and see how many of these rules you broke.

Read every word and determine:

Is it a grammar expletive?

Is it a weak verb?

Is it a weak adjective?

Is the sentence flabby?

Have I used nominalization?

Have I broken any of the other rules talked about here?

I guarantee you will find at least one thing in your work that you can improve on using these rules. The result? Powerful, compelling writing that makes powerful, compelling reading.

Nobody is perfect all the time and you should never stop trying to reach it. It may take time to proofread your work and edit it but it is part of the process and it’s the reason why the bestsellers are where they are and you are where you are. They edit, so should you.