Anthology of Ideas

Your writing style is your voice on the internet. Do you speak like James Earl Jones or Napoleon Dynamite? Remember that your words on the page are all that stand between you and your reader. They should catch the reader’s eye and draw them in. The following tips will help you improve your writing style.

Find your voice.

While styles grow and mature over time, there should always be some continuity in your writing. The way you set up your ideas and interact with them as well as the words you choose to use all make up your “voice.”

Write to your audience.

Not only does what you write matter but also how you write matters. You may a write a fabulous technical brief, but if it informal and uses too much slang it will not be given the attention it deserves. This applies to everything, if you write about informal things, be informal.

The comma has the most uses of any single punctuation mark making it one of the hardest for people to use properly.

The Basics:

1. They join sentences and ideas.
   • I am going on vacation for the summer, and I hope it doesn’t end up like last year.
   • If you are happy person, life seems much better.
   • However, it is best to just do it.
2. They aid reading and offset less important information.
   • Members, welcome! — If this does not have the comma then literally it is a command to the members to welcome.
   • However, no matter what your excuse is, it doesn’t change the fact that you were late.
3. They separate adjectives and list items.
   • I was attacked by a big, angry dog.
   • Tom, Fredrick, Negussie and Andy play football every day.
   • I am going to the grocer, butcher and florist.
4. They format numbers, dates, titles, and places.
   • 39,552,923
   • I was born on August, 22 1967 in Columbus, Ohio.
   • James Pratt, M.D., won the Nobel prize in medicine.