Rob’s Megaphone

Posts Tagged ‘Writing

31 Jul, 2008

Twelve Interesting Words

Posted by: robertstevenson In: Grammar posts| Interesting stuff| Writing

Twelve Interesting Words
 How many words are in your vocabulary? The average high school graduate is said to know about 10,000 words. The average 4-year college graduate is said to know about 20,000 words. Do you have room for any more words in your vocabulary?
Here are some interesting words, which you may not know.
Upon learning an interesting [...]

12 Jul, 2008

Overcome the comma!

Posted by: robertstevenson In: Grammar posts

Puny but powerful, the itsy bitsy comma remains a foe to many folks striving to use good grammar. The comma is among the most confusing and misused punctuation marks in English grammar. Some people place a comma whenever they pause in their proofreading. While this strategy is a good guide, it is not foolproof. Some [...]

04 Jun, 2008

The left-handed ceramic tile cutter of writing

Posted by: robertstevenson In: Writing

In the back of the top shelf of your writing toolbox, sits three writing tools that often get dusty due to neglect. This post is meant to be a stepladder to help reach these tools to prepare them for more frequent use. If you’re like most people, alliteration, parallelism, and variety in sentence structure, are not the hammers, [...]

02 Jun, 2008

An exercise in brevity

Posted by: robertstevenson In: Writing

Brevity is an important goal in online writing. Longer posts can be intimidating. Many visitors will only scan long posts at best. The theory is that online readers have relatively short attention spans. Of course, there are exceptions, but in general I think it is good advice to think small. Keep it simple and clear. And when it [...]

18 May, 2008

The best way to get visitors to return to your blog

Posted by: robertstevenson In: Grammar posts| Writing

The best way to get your visitors to return to your blog is to reward them with your writing.
 
All the available social networks and blog marketing tools will do little to increase return visits to your blogs unless you first polish your posts. Follow these suggestions to improve your posts, and readers will come back [...]

We all know they exist, but we don’t speak of them. They are used everyday, but we dare not say them aloud. Their very existence requires us to be silent. And we comply without question. Most of them have no reason to be. They serve no useful purpose, but we accept that they are part [...]

21 Apr, 2008

How to use news values

Posted by: robertstevenson In: Writing

When considering your next newsworthy post or freelance article, it is important to consider the following news values: prominence, proximity, impact, conflict, timeliness, novelty/bizarre.
Prominence deals with the characters you include in your piece. If it is relevant, include the most well known people. Some folks shy away from picking up the phone and speaking to [...]

14 Apr, 2008

Stewardesses

Posted by: robertstevenson In: Life

Stewardesses. Stewardesses, Stewardesses
Why am I posting about Stewardesses?
The answer is I hurt my neck tossing heavy boxes into a truck over the weekend.
Stewardesses. Stewardesses, Stewardesses
Why Stewardesses. Need more info?
The neck pain is causing my right hand to hurt, and I am right handed.
Stewardesses. Stewardesses, Stewardesses
Another clue?
I want to post something this morning, and with the [...]

10 Apr, 2008

Overcoming writer’s block

Posted by: robertstevenson In: Thoughts| Writing

Many of us have experienced it: the urge to write, but nothing – no words, no ideas – bubble up like a shaken soda ready to burst forth. Writer’s block can be compared to a slump, or a rut, or the doldrums. It can be debilitating for a writer. When strickened with writer’s block, many of [...]

07 Apr, 2008

Write Good 3: subtly blatant

Posted by: robertstevenson In: Fun stuff| Grammar posts

 
1.      The passive voice should not be used.
2.      Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
3.      Don’t repeat yourself, or say again what you have said before.
4.      Who needs rhetorical questions?
5.      Don’t use commas, that, are not, necessary.
6.      Do not use hyperbole; not one in a million can [...]


 

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About

Hi! I'm Dr. Rob. I'm a father of two wonderful sons, a mass communications professor, and a blogger. Through Rob's Megaphone, my hope is to inform and entertain. Hope you get a chance to view my previous posts in the "Categories" menu below. Drop me a line if you have any feedback. Thanks a bunch!

BC

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