The Write Blog

This question came up during a round of in-house editing this week, so – of course –I wanted to share: Complete this sentence:  I spent hours  _______ over the pages of the magazine. A.)   poring B.)   pouring The correct answer is A, “poring.” “Pore” means to study or read something with great care.  You’d pore [...]

It’s no secret that Facebook is a social networking tool that most of us use to keep up with personal contacts. And we’ve seen over and over again how businesses are using Facebook as a social media tool to successfully network with clients and customers. Which got me thinking – how can writers harness the [...]

Good news for all word nerds: The Associated Press has finally made the switch from the old-fashioned “Web site” to the simpler, more natural-looking “website.” Yay! To me, “Web site” has always seemed a little stuffy and English teacher-ish. Good for AP to know when it’s time to change things up. According to the AP’s [...]

Need a creative boost? A good laugh? A few style pointers? Maybe you’re into science fiction or mysteries. Perhaps you prefer nonfiction or graphic novels or biographies. Or fantasy novels. But whatever you’re into, if you’re a writer, you probably love books about writing. This week, I thought I’d share a few of my recent [...]

Here’s just one more example of two words that are often used interchangeably – and incorrectly. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen something like: Our IT department is comprised of five full-time experts The book is comprised of three sections Image via Wikipedia It’s a widespread assumption that “compose” and “comprise” basically [...]