Grammar and

Blogging 101

Visual approximation of the English language

Most Common Errors

They’re vs. Their vs. There

Your vs. You’re

Its vs. It’s

Who’s vs. Whose

Affect vs. Effect

Me vs. I

Peek vs. peak (and pique, but whatever)

Who vs. That vs. Which

Most Common Errors

Most Common Errors

Me vs. I

“I” is a subject pronoun, “me” is an object pronoun.

“Can you save a piece of corn for Nacho and I?”

Most Common Errors

Affect vs. Effect

Affect is (typically) a verb, Effect is (typically) a noun.

Most Common ErrorsAffect vs. Effect

Affect is (typically) a verb, Effect is (typically) a noun.

Active Voice vs Passive Voice

“Dutch aimed his grenade launcher as Mac fired wildly into the jungle, hitting nothing.”

“Dutch‟s grenade launcher was held steady as Mac‟s gun was being fired wildly into the jungle.”

Active Voice• I love those chicken wings.

• Subject – verb – object

Passive Voice• Those chicken wings are loved by me.

• Object – passive verb – subject

HemingwayApp

Identifying Passive Voice

“To be” is the most basic verb in the English language. It can also be

the most overused.

Forms of “Be”

• I am;

• You are; We are; They are;

• He/she/it is;

• I was;

• You were; We were; They were;

• He/she/it was;

• I have been; I am being;

Easily form passive sentences by relying on “be”

To Be or Not to Be

Easily form passive sentences by relying on

“be”

“The skull was made by Hamlet in arts and crafts.”

“Hamlet made that skull in arts and crafts.”

No matter what something is or might be, there

will almost certainly be a better action verb to

tell your story.

Easy ways to avoid:

• Stay away from “due to” or “because of”

• Get active

• Our groups are often split by our teacher.

• Our teacher often splits our groups.

• Get rid of padding in your sentences

To Be or Not to Be

Literary Devices

Metaphors – (Two things are the same)

He is just as sharp as a tack.

Analogies – (Like/as comparison) Mike’s

jokes land like a bag of rotting garbage.

Alliteration – Frank frantically followed.

Colloquial Language – Does a wild bear

crap in the woods?

Master Metaphors

“This weekend was so much fun.”

Master Metaphors

“This weekend was so much fun.”

Master Metaphors

“This weekend was more fun than

a barrel full of monkeys.”

Analogies in Action

Do Less

Do Less

I am your Kunu.

Writing is not a mystical art. It’s just words.

You are the boss of words.

Don‟t try too hard.

Do Less

7th – 8th grade reading level

Short paragraphs

Use bullets

Don’t use a $10 word when a $5 word will suffice. Better yet, but that for a dollar.

Avoid jargon unless it’s required.

Get rid of adjectives

• Adjectives are messy and mean different things to different people

Keep It Simple

“Airtight privacy controls on your accounts can bean effective way to keep potential employees fromfinding personal information, but it’s not alwaysthe best protection for everyone.

“Making your accounts private builds an extrabarrier between you and employers, but it is not aperfect protection.”

Great content should be…

• „Customer‟ focused

• Authentic

• Compelling

• Entertaining

• Surprising

• Valuable

• Interesting

On Writing

Truth – Even if it’s not truth, it has to have truth within it. Even if you have no specific experience, you have experience that can relate to your content.

Relevance – Content has to matter.

Passion – Need to care about what you’re writing.

Human Element –Even if the post is more of a business article, you can relate content to what makes a manager tick. Find their hurt.

Originality – Not new, but bring a fresh perspective.

Surprise – Don’t stick to just the common place, bring an unexpected twist – and surprise can take many forms.

On Writing

Finding Your Voice

Voice

• How you write

• Research the field

• Fit your audience

• Empathy is crucial

• Don‟t write to limits

Finding Your Voice

Write What You Know

Personal filter is the most important thing

Write Basic Points or Subheadings- Dont Outline

Consumption experts

On Writing

ANYTHING can be a story

• Start with a headline, then research

• Content Food Chain

• Not repurposing or cannibalizing

• Dig deep for new ideas

Thinking of Content

Research like crazy

Attribute

Experiment

Use cold hard stats and then write about them

Read it out loud

On Writing

On Writing

Relax

• Be natural• Tell a story• Lose the buzzwords (not the keywords)• Be informal, figurative• Grammar can be flexible

Be Original

• To a point• Originality is elusive, perspective is

inherent• Oakley Hall – “Steal wisely.”

On Writing

Be Confident and Back It Up

• Readers can sense BS• Have proof• Believe what you‟re writing

Two types of content:

• Help someone learn• Personal accounts

Get people to ask Questions

Write to Your Strengths