Language
Do You Need to Spell Well to Write Well?
Do you need to spell well to write well? This is a question people often ask me when they come to my creative writing classes. They feel self conscious about their education, or their standard of education in general. The school system encourages them to equate good grammar with writing ability. They almost feel that […]
Why Buzzwords Drive People Mad
Every time I put up a post on Facebook or Twitter about buzzwords that annoy people, I get a huge reaction. People are delighted to have an opportunity to rant about phrases like “going forward,” “blue-sky thinking” and “no problem.” I tried twisting people’s minds recently by asking them to come up […]
How Journalism Teaches You to Write
I was once a journalist. Now I’m more or less not. It’s because I realised that journalism is not as compatible with writing as we’re led to believe. Still, the skills I learned as a journalist have been hugely helpful in my writing. Here are a few of lessons that our friends from the media […]
Why the English Language Isn’t Going Down the Drain
In the 15th century, there were 50 different ways to spell church. People wrote words down as they heard them, and they heard them in a multitude of different ways. So why are grammar Nazis getting in a twist about how words are being spelt on Facebook and in text messages? Language Revolution We’ve all […]
5 Words About Words
The English language is wonderfully complex. That’s why it requires wonderfully complex words to describe how it works. For this week’s blog, I’ve turned the spotlight on five words that describe the quirky ways we use the language. It’s fitting that these words are quirky in themselves. And here they are, these weird and wonderful […]
The Manglification of the English Language
A few weeks ago, I heard a member of the Irish Arts Council say that her organisation was “FOI-able,” meaning that it was possible to look up Arts Council documentation under the Freedom of information Act. When I heard it, I shuddered. On the surface, there’s nothing wrong with the phrase. It’s not grammatically incorrect. […]
Quotation Marks: An Endangered Species
If the prospect of reading a post about quotation marks doesn’t cause you to roll your eyes to heaven, then please read on. These humble, comma-like marks have been getting a makeover in recent times. They’ve been swapping places. Sometimes, they’ve disappeared altogether. Single and Double Quotes When we were at school, we were taught […]
Apostrophic Errors
A fellow apostrophe warrior tipped me off to this tragic case of apostrophe abuse.l Such a misunderstood little mark.
Why Teenagers Make Great Writers
I’ve been giving creative writing workshops on and off for the last three years. Anyone who has dealings with teenagers may wonder if I’m mad. But I believe there’s more to teenagers than hysterical headlines and temper tantrums. I believe they deserve to be taken seriously and that the time is ripe to harness their […]
Tell Your Story in Four Ways
When I tell people that I write content that helps people tell their story, they say to me, ‘I’ve been sending a newsletter out and it’s had no response,’ or “I went on the radio to talk about this event I have coming up, but I didn’t get a single phone call.” So why didn’t […]
