Have you ever seen those websites – “Well-Paid Work for Freelance Writers”? I spent a couple of hours this week looking at a few, in case there was any work that appealed to me. After all, it’s good to find new clients: you never know when you’ll need them. But what a revelation! There were […]
Category Archives: Writing style
The Pedants’ Revolt
I mourn the demise of the Queen’s English Society. Its leaders jacked it in earlier this week (June 2012) in the face of universal apathy. Their crusade to stem the deterioration in our use of language is finally over after 40 years. Their heart was surely in the right place, though their motives were often […]
The basics of style
English is more than one language. Apart from U.K. (Queen’s) English, there’s obviously U.S. English. But where did it all start? Because the UK has been invaded countless times over the centuries, its language is an amalgam of many tongues. The Roman occupation some 2,000 years ago lasted 400 years, so much of our vocabulary […]
English is a worldwide language
If you are reading this comfortably, you could be one of the 375 million people worldwide who speak English as their first or main language. Just think of the countries that includes – United Kingdom Ireland USA much of Canada Australia New Zealand South Africa There are many other smaller countries and I apologise to […]
Good English – why bother?
The purpose of words Words are just raw materials; but what a difference the hand of the craftsman can make! Just as the skilful carpenter creates a work of art by his craftsmanship and selection of tools, so the trained writer turns simple words into magnificent sentences by a careful choice of shape, rhythm, weight […]