Each week we'll post a new writing tip. Check back often to learn more of the ins and outs of good (and not so good) writing!
Tip #7:
Writing Groups Work!
Join a writers’ group, such as the ones hosted by the Writing Center, where you can have a safe, supportive environment in which to share your writing.
Tip #6: Assure/Insure/Ensure
What’s the difference between assure, ensure, and insure? They all come from the same Latin root meaning “to make secure,” and they all have very similar meanings, having to do with making something certain or guaranteeing something. Ensureand insure are often used interchangeably in the US, but they are, in fact, slightly different.
The difference between insure and ensure is that you insuresomething (usually by procuring a financial insurance policy) to be prepared in case something bad happens, while you ensurethat something will (or won't) happen. For example, you insure your house against hurricane damage, but you put a glass of water on your nightstand to ensure that you will have something to drink if your throat gets itchy during the night. Assure is usually means putting someone's mind at rest and promising that something will be done, as in “I can assure you that next week’s ‘Tip of the Week’ will be as awesome as this one.”
Here's an example of all three words used in a sentence: “Sally assured Kate that she would insure their home to ensure that fire damage would be covered.” In this case, the hero of our little story assuressomeone, putting her mind at ease so she doesn't have to worry by guaranteeing that something will be done. She promises that she will insure their property against fire damage, preparing for an unfortunate event, to ensureor be confident that if their home is set on fire, they will be able to recover their losses.
Tip of the Week #5: Between Us
The word “between” applies to two people or things; the word “among” applies to more than two people or things. For example:
· Let’s keep this big secret BETWEEN the two of us.
· Let’s split the dinner bill evenly AMONG the three of us.
Tip of the Week #4: Pour/Pore
When you intently study a book, you pore over it. If you pour over it, you are going to have a dripping wet book.
Tip of the Week #3: Words you can end sentences with...
The Grammar Police may arrest me for this one, but I’m going to say it anyway: It is not always wrong to end a sentence with a preposition.
When Winston Churchill was once mocked for doing this, he retorted, “That is the sort of thing up with which I will not put!” See how horribly wrong that sounds? I contend a good writer would rather be natural than “correct.” And if anyone tells you you're wrong, tell them you’re not actually using a preposition but an adverbial particle. Works every time.
Tip of the Week #2: To Lay or to Lie?
I’d like to explain the correct use of the words “lay” and “lie” without getting into mind-numbingly boring grammar jargon like “transitive and intransitive verbs.” I think it’s actually easier just to memorize a few simple examples:
Today or tomorrow you are going to lie down. Yesterday you lay down. At times in the past, you have lain down.
Today or tomorrow you will lay your paper on the professor’s desk. Yesterday you laid your paper on the desk. At times in the past, you have laid your paper on the desk.
Tip of the Week #1: Hemingway says...
Author Ernest Hemingway was famous for his minimalist style of writing that used no flowery adjectives and got straight to the point. He was once challenged to write an entire story in six words. He wrote:
For sale: Baby shoes, never used.
Hemingway had four rules for writing that he used all his life:
1. Use short sentences.
2. Use short first paragraphs.
3. Use vigorous English.
4. Be positive, not negative. (Say what something is, rather than what it isn’t.)