Time for another look at the stories we tell, about ourselves and about our business. As one of the resident Story Folk for our local 1MC community, I give this advice on a weekly basis--though usually I don't have this kind of space to develop my thoughts. When thinking about your story, it's important to … Continue reading Telling the Right Story
Category: Quick Tips
Let’s be More Un-just
Welp, it's the new year and I'm just now getting to just my first blog, because it's been just a whirlwind so far. I just wanted to say just a couple of things about just the start of the year, and just move on to the part where I just crank these out on my … Continue reading Let’s be More Un-just
Rule of Thumb
Look, if I'm going to use this tag to collect this series, it makes sense to take a look at the origin of this phrase. It's a favorite for highlighting the risks of defaulting to inherited grammar rules without understanding how they've been set in the first place or whether the story you're told has … Continue reading Rule of Thumb
Let’s Know better: Articulate
This week, a man called me "the articulate one"; I was the only woman currently in the room and had spent the last hour pushing back on the wild assumptions of older white men. I don't embody the social strata markers most affected by this term, so I don't suspect it came laden with the … Continue reading Let’s Know better: Articulate
CTrl-F, Then What?
Ok, you've identified some comfort words and developed a habit of searching for them as part of your revision and cleanup process. So you can find them. Now what? Like most strong writing habits, shifting the reliance on the same old thought placeholders depends on your understanding your own contexts a bit more fully. But … Continue reading CTrl-F, Then What?
When to Break the Rules
Most of the time, I actively work against my impulse to correct every language mistake I see in public because I don't work for free Most English grammar rules are contextual at best And rooted in oppressive power structures at worst It's just really annoying and usually not welcome enough to be helpful I am … Continue reading When to Break the Rules
Ding Ding
Most of us know we'll lose readers with a single big block of undifferentiated text: one of the many reasons legalese is so hard to sift through. Fewer of us know that we're just as likely to lose readers with rapid-fire single sentences featuring repeated double line breaks and strategic emoji: think those obnoxious marketing … Continue reading Ding Ding
Let’s Know better: Gypped
Language evolves, and our usage of it does the same thing on both macro and micro scales. Words that our teachers drill us on might shift usage by our adulthood, and even get added to the dictionary as the opposite of what we were taught they meant (looking at you, literally). At the same time, … Continue reading Let’s Know better: Gypped
Habitual Forgiveness
Look, at the risk of getting out of my lane and into life coach territory, I think it's important at this shift-into-the-second-quarter point to pause and look at where we've come so far this year. Personally, I've fallen a little short of where I hoped to be by now. I set out in 2023 with … Continue reading Habitual Forgiveness
Break it Up Already
This morning, I attended a presentation by a verified expert. He'd crammed so much useful information onto each slide that I was squinting from the second row (and I know my contacts are up to date). As I struggled to make out the small words on the wall-sized screen and pay attention to the additional … Continue reading Break it Up Already
Something Polished 