5 Ways To Write Better Poems

Poetry is a strange medium. It’s both heavily critiqued and profoundly subjective. A poem can be as timeless as the best classical literature or it might only ever move one reader. When a format is so artistic and personal, it seems absurd to impose rules or suggest ways in which one poem is objectively better than another. Nonetheless, there are certain ways in which a poet can make her own work the best it can be, regardless of how it compares to the mainstream.

This Is How to Properly Introduce Yourself in an Email

Meeting someone in person is pretty straightforward. You smile, shake their hand, tell them your name. But what if you’re not meeting face to face? What if you’re introducing yourself via email?

Maybe you’re reaching out to create a new connection, to ask for advice, or a collaboration, or a job. How do you compete with the other 700 emails in their inbox and convince them a response to you is worthwhile?

GRAMMARLY RESEARCH: Good Grammar Will Get You The Job

The informality of email, texting, and tweeting has crept into company communication–embarrassing management and leaving bad impressions with clients. Kyle Wiens, of iFixit and Dozuki, said in a July 2012 post on the Harvard Business Review blog, “I have a ‘zero tolerance approach’ to grammar mistakes that make people look stupid.” He requires job applicants to pass a grammar test before hiring them because writing is his business.

14 People Who May Love Books More Than You Do

Loving books is not a competition. There’s no such thing as a bookworm grand prix. But then again, it’s hard not to notice that some people are bigger bookworms than others or are expressing their love of books in ways that other people might find a little bit too out there. From creating elaborate reading corners and having tattoos of books to building bookshelves that spell “worm” and simply having a lot of books on a to-read list, people celebrate their love of books in many different, creative ways.

Why You NEED to Write Every Day

Alzheimer’s, dementia, and severe memory loss affect memory, thinking, language, and behavior—even beyond expected decreases in function from the typical aging process. But according to a recent study by the Medical Journal of the American Academy of Neurology, there are some strategies to help you avoid this type of cognitive decline that you can begin working on now.

Negatives and Negation–Grammar Rules

When you want to express the opposite meaning of a particular word or sentence, you can do it by inserting a negation. Negations are words like no, not, and never. If you wanted to express the opposite of I am here, for example, you could say I am not here.

Below, you’ll find lists of common negative words used to negate ideas.

Negative words:

• No
• Not
• None
• No one
• Nobody
• Nothing
• Neither
• Nowhere
• Never

Negative Adverbs:

Finding a Rhyme and Reason for National Poetry Month

Academia teaches us to use proper nouns, pronouns, and punctuation, but what about other types of writing? What about types of writing, like fiction or poetry, which capture a reader in ways beyond the period or comma?

April is National Poetry Month, and a great time to help writers to answer these questions — even if in an intangible way. For example, to strict grammarians, poetry may seem as though it has no rules.

What Is the Importance of Self-Promotion?

Self-promotion is rarely done well.

Maybe this is why the term “self-promotion” is regularly used interchangeably with showboating, and “self-promoters” are often considered jerks. Self-promotion is so problematic that some experts discourage it all together. Many of us, introverts and anxious types in particular, get squirmy at the possibility of being seen as a braggart.

Stop Confusing These Words: Immigrate and Emigrate

The difference between these two words is all about coming and going. When you immigrate, you’re coming to a new country. When you emigrate, you’re leaving your home country.

Immigrate: to move into a country from another one to stay permanently.

My ancestors immigrated to the United States sometime in the 1800s.

Emigrate: to leave the country in which one lives, especially one’s native country, to reside elsewhere.

7 Irish Proverbs Adopted Into Pop Culture

When Saint Patrick’s Day rolls around, everyone embraces a little Irish spirit. Sporting shamrocks and shillelaghs and wearing a bit o’ green, friends come together to celebrate this most Celtic tradition — and no one celebrates like the Irish!

Given the enthusiasm with which America endorses this holiday, perhaps it’s no surprise that Irish culture has blended so happily with American pop culture.

Mustache vs. Moustache: Which Is Correct?

• Mustache and moustache are both correct spellings of the same word.
• Mustache is the most common spelling in the United States.
• Moustache is is used in other English-speaking countries.
• Mustachio is usually spelled without an “o” in the first syllable, although in the UK it is commonly written as a plural: mustachios.

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From the pencil mustache of John Waters to the bushy moustache of General Melchett, upper-lip hair comes in variety of styles.

8 Ways to Hack Your Email (With Fun)

You’re not likely to count emailing as one of your top ten favorite pastimes. But you might change your mind after you read this article! Here are eight amazing ways to make your email experience enjoyable.

Challenge Your Friends to a Game

According to Chess.com, the very first correspondence chess game might date back to a competition between the Byzantine emperor and the caliph of Baghdad in the ninth century.

What’s the Problem with Passive Voice?

If you’re a grammar nerd, chances are you have an opinion about the passive voice. Whether you think it’s acceptable or should be completely avoided, it’s important to understand what passive voice is and how it’s used.

Passive voice occurs when the object of the action in the sentence becomes the subject of the sentence. The opposite of passive voice is active voice, in which the subject simply performs the action.

What Is a Subordinating Conjunction?

A subordinating conjunction is a word or phrase that links a dependent clause to an independent clause. This word or phrase indicates that a clause has informative value to add to the sentence’s main idea, signaling a cause-and-effect relationship or a shift in time and place between the two clauses.

Sound complicated? Let’s break it down.

A dependent clause, also known as a subordinate clause, is a clause with two specific qualities.

Funny Phrases: Nip It in the Bud

The phrase nip it in the bud means to stop something before it gets going. You’ve probably heard it used in this way: Nip that bad habit in the bud before it gets out of control!

What does this phrase actually mean? Nip means to remove by pinching, biting, or cutting with two meeting edges of anything; to clip. A bud is a newly formed leaf or flower that has not yet bloomed.

Use These Four Tips to Improve Your Writing Fast

Guest post by Meryl K. Evans

The valet pulled up in my car. I thanked him, tipped him and entered my car. I noticed both turn signals were blinking. What’s up? It took me a minute to realize the valet had turned on the hazard lights. I didn’t even remember if I had ever used them in this car.

I touched every switch, button and stick searching for the toggle. Sure, I could dig for the instruction manual in the glove compartment, but I didn’t want to hold up the folks behind me.

Gist or Jist?

• Gist means “essence” or “the main point.”
• In a legal context, gist is the grounds of a legal action.
• Jist is a common misspelling of gist.

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If you’ve only heard the word gist aloud, you might not know how to spell it. Both gist and jist might seem like good choices, but one of them is not.

Definition of Gist

When we say we want to get the gist of something, we’re talking about its essence or main point:

Do You Know the Correct Answer to Our Pop Quiz Question?

In a recent Grammarly Pop Quiz email, we asked readers how they would correct this sentence: I’m looking forward to purchasing tickets for the 2018 winter Olympics.

A: Capitalize the “W” in winter. B: Make “O” in Olympics lowercase. C: Accept the sentence as is.

44 percent of these readers gave the correct answer, A. Did you choose correctly?

Seasons are only capitalized when they’re used as proper nouns, as in the sentence above: The movie will debut in the spring of 2016.

Knowledge is Power: Using Idioms To Give Power To Your Writing

Some writers use idioms to “add color” to their writing, while others are adamant about keeping their text as simple as possible. While idioms can certainly clutter your work with unnecessary detail, they may also introduce powerful imagery into your text. Since “knowledge is power,” let’s take a look at the best way to accomplish this.

First, what is an idiom? An idiom is an expression with a figurative meaning that differs from the literal meaning.