Author: Michelle Troutman

Michelle Troutman has spent more than a decade crafting attention-getting newsletters and other content for service providers. She specializes in creating standout e-newsletters for law firms and economic development organizations. Her marketing and business administration background and education enhance clear and persuasive copy that speaks to the right clients. Through features in publications like "Attorney at Work" and "Law Fuel," and her e-newsletter and YouTube channel, she inspires service professionals to create engaging content. She enjoys helping businesses that sell their expertise reach their ideal customers.

writing advice

5 Ways to Get Customers to Love Your Writing

1. Edit. Some of us don’t want others to see rings around our collars or dandruff on our shoulders because we want to leave a good impression. Likewise, the quality of your writing affects your business or organization’s image. Take care to rearrange jumbled words, remove unnecessary apostrophes, add any missing commas, and to downsize letters that shouldn’t be capitalized. It will make your writing easier on the eyes and the ears.

2. Be active. Sentences about actions done “by” someone or something are a sign of the passive voice.

You can’t always avoid the passive voice, but many times, your sentences will be shorter and people will read them more easily if you rework them. Too many sentences in this style can make people struggle to finish reading.

Example: The telephone pole was hit by a car.

Don’t be afraid to enliven and embolden your passages. “A car hit the telephone pole” is shorter and stronger.

3. Omit needless words. Don’t use two words when one will do. These days, for busy customers, the fewer words, the less time it takes them to read. You don’t need to write a novel to get your points across.

4. Junk the jargon. Or, at least, explain it to those who aren’t in your industry; to them, it is like trying to understand a foreign language. Plain English should be the official language of bureaucrats and businesspeople in English-speaking countries.

5. Maintain your balance. Too much information, especially if it’s disorganized, can confuse readers and turn them away. With a length in mind, it’s better to plan the scope of your piece ahead of time. Use headings and bullet points to separate large blocks of text or use a table of contents to guide readers through longer works.

Quotes

“Good sense is both the first principal and the parent source of good writing.” ~ Horace

“Writing is thinking. To write well is to think clearly. That’s why it’s so hard.” ~ David McCullough

Comments? Suggestions? Need help? Feel free to contact me.

Michelle Troutman
classywriting.com

writing advice

5 Common Proofreading Errors to Avoid

1. Dates and times — When you refer to any of these, make sure that you include them. It’s easy to name an event and then not mention when it happens. Also, ensure they’re correct, and if you’ll include the day of the week, that it’s also right (e.g., Tuesday, not Wednesday), otherwise, no one will attend, especially if you host your grand opening on April 31st.

2. Math — Always check that all numbers you reference truly add up, which is important, not just for the mathematically-challenged.

3. Links — Whether your document is for online or offline reading, always check all links if you want your readers to get somewhere.

4. Incompleteness — If you’ve just hosted a successful fundraiser, and you’ve thanked staff in your newsletter, did you remember to thank any volunteers, and of course, your donors? To them, these are true “sins of omission.”

5. Missing pieces — If you forward someone’s email address to a colleague, it can be embarrassing if you fail to include that email address in your message. So, always double-check your writing and the details within it before other people see it.

Quotes

“Those who seldom make mistakes, seldom make discoveries.” ~ John Marks Templeton.

“Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.” ~ Conrad Hilton

Comments? Suggestions? Need help? Feel free to contact me.

Michelle Troutman
Classy Writing
207.332.8379
classywriting.com

passive voice, writing advice

5 Tips to Activate Your Writing to Captivate Readers

1. An easy way to activate your writing: make the subject of your sentence a noun, not a verb, to add verve.

Example: At Medco’s 3rd Annual Dinner Party, enticing entrees will be served by Tasty Bites.
Revised: At Medco’s 3rd Annual Dinner Party, Tasty Bites will serve enticing entrees.

2. Don’t be afraid to say who did something, or, as above, to make a noun the subject of your sentences. Sometimes people avoid naming the subject(s) because they don’t want to, they simply don’t know who’s involved, or they don’t want to take personal responsibility, which appears timid and causes a lapse into the passive voice.

Activate your writing!

Example: The Best in Show award was given to Dolly Dachshund.
Revised: Champion breeder Dave Diamond awarded Dolly Dachshund Best in Show.

3. We can’t always avoid “to be” verbs, such as “is/are” and “was/were,” but they sometimes weaken passages. With a little creativity, we can spice up bland phrasing and make it shorter and stronger.

Example: Our cakes are decorative and delicious and delight our customers.
Revised: Our decorative, delicious cakes delight our customers.

4. As I’ve shown in the examples above, active writing is more specific writing. Add more details, when appropriate, for more appealing copy.

Example: Check out our new, more sophisticated website.
Revised: Don’t miss our redesigned website, which features exciting new step-by-step how-tos, detailed diagrams, and the Builder’s Corner, where you can share ideas with fellow do-it-yourselfers.

5. Might/may/can/could/possibly — these and similar words show indecisiveness, and in some cases, look weak. If possible, avoid them.

Example: Food pantry donations can be dropped off at Riverton Town Hall.
Revised: Riverton Town Hall will collect your food pantry donations.

Quotes

“Each time I see a split infinitive, an inconsistent tense structure or the unnecessary use of the passive voice, I blister.” ~ Sonia Sotomayor

“Two pages of passive voice — just about any business document ever written, in other words, not to mention reams of bad fiction — make me want to scream. It’s weak, it’s circuitous, and it’s frequently tortuous, as well.” ~ Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

Uncategorized

5 More Common Punctuation Errors

1. Misplacing apostrophes when referring to decades (1970’s).

2. Placing hyphens between words that shouldn’t be hyphenated. When in doubt, check your dictionary; generally, you hyphenate words to avoid confusion in understanding the meaning of a sentence.

3. Using semicolons for items in a series. Semicolons and commas provide appropriate pauses between words and sentences, but they’re used differently. Commas separate independent clauses and items in a series, etc.; semicolons create a pause between sentences in place of a period.

4. Putting only one apostrophe (or none) in place of “and” between two nouns in informal writing (e.g., rock n roll).

5. Using dashes to introduce items in a series.

The Classy Writing Blog

How to Fix More Common Punctuation Errors‏

“Don’t follow the blunderers — be a leader and punctuate properly….” Read more.

Quotes

Em dash or en dash.
On typewriters it’s easy,
On keyboards, less so. ~ Craig Harrison

For some odd reason, I’ve always been interested in punctuation. It’s just always been that one subset of literacy that has really intrigued me. I still sit around and read the paper, and sometimes I have a red Sharpie in my hand. I play a little game: How many errors can I find today? ~ Jeff Rubin, “father” of National Punctuation Day®, Not to Put Too Fine a Point on It, This Guy Cares About Writing’s Jots and Tittles

Comments? Suggestions? Need help? Feel free to contact me.

Michelle Troutman
classywriting.com

apostrophe abuse, apostrophe catastrophes, apostrophe usage, apostrophe use, apostrophes, apostrophies, apostrophy, apostrophys, how to use apostrophes, punctuation, punctuation errors

How to Fix More Common Punctuation Errors

As noted in my newsletter, these punctuation mistakes are among the many people make regularly. Don’t follow the blunderers — be a leader and punctuate properly. Here’s how.

1. Misplacing apostrophes when referring to decades.

Example: the 70’s
Revised: the ’70s, the 1970s, or the seventies

The plural form of “seventies” shouldn’t be used in a possessive form. With the apostrophe in front of the numbers, we clarify that it’s a shortened form of the 1970s.

2. Placing hyphens between words that shouldn’t be hyphenated. When in doubt, check your dictionary; generally, you hyphenate words to avoid confusion in understanding the meaning of a sentence.

Example: “Fireworks light-up the night.”
Revised: “Fireworks light up the night” or “Fireworks light the night.”

However, “light-up backpack” (a backpack with lights) is acceptable, compared to “light up backpack,” which can have more than one meaning.

Example: oranges; apples; bananas; pears; and grapes.
Revised: oranges, apples, bananas, pears, and grapes or oranges, apples, bananas, pears and grapes

4. Putting only one apostrophe (or none) in place of “and” between two nouns in informal writing.

Examples: rock ‘n roll; rock n roll
Revised: rock ‘n’ roll — the slang term, or “rock and roll” if you’re “old school.”

5. Using dashes to introduce items in a series. Use a colon (:) instead.

Example: Computer skills — graphic design and editing, HTML programming, Internet browsing, and email.
Revised: Computer skills: graphic design and editing, HTML programming, Internet browsing, and email.

What do you think? Does certain punctuation cause problems for you? Which errors do you see most often?

And if you need help with your own punctuation, I can help. Don’t hesitate to contact me.