• Use quotes when you are using slang and wish to indicate this to the reader. (i.e. I told the man he could "get lost.")

Remember that a number of slang terms have been adopted by a majority of people and no longer need quotation marks. Both guy and kid were once considered slang.

3. When using boldface, ask yourself if italics or quotation marks would be more appropriate. Most professional editors reserve boldface for headers or for special effect and very rarely use it in text.

2. Choose Your Level of Formality and Keep it Consistent:

Formal v. Informal Writing

Decide how formal your text needs to be. If your style is informal, you may choose to use some of these newer grammar guidelines.

1. You may begin a sentence with and, but, or or. You may or may not choose to set the word off with a comma.

2. You may end your sentence with a preposition. Consider, "Who are you going to the party with?" versus "With whom are you going to the party?" When was the last time you read something like the latter in print? I bet it has been awhile.

3. You may use the third person plural they to refer to an individual. This is a very new usage, and many editors still frown on the practice. However, I am still seeing it more and more in print.

The reason for this is that the English language has yet to come up with a gender neutral third person singular pronoun (other than "it") that may be used to refer to humans, so people are continually coming up with alternatives. Consider this sentence: "If a customer walks in, he or she may want to meet you, or he or she may want you to make an appointment with him or her."

Terrible, isn’t it? In the past, writers used the gender inclusive "he," but today, many people choose to use the less sexist "he or she." Recently, people have begun to use "they" instead, probably because we use this form so often when speaking. Consider this sentence: "If a customer walks in, they may want to meet you or they may want you to make an appointment with them."

Whether you use "they/them" in this way depends on how casual you want your writing to appear.

4. Don’t Hesitate to Use the Dictionary (Not Spell Check!)

Here are some of the most misused words. If any of these confuse you, be sure to look them up in a dictionary or usage guide. With more people using spell check programs these days, more misused words are slipping through.

ensure v. insure
compliment v. complement
it’s v. its
envelope v. envelop
then v. than
lie, lay, lain v. lay, laid, laid
affect v. effect

5. Double-Check Your Punctuation

1. Colons and semi-colons are always placed outside quotation marks. Always put periods and commas inside quotation marks. Question marks or explanation points that are not part of the quote may be placed outside the quotation marks. Consider the following sentences:

What kind of statement is the phrase, "I am happy"?

v.

The man asked, "Are you happy?"

2. Never place a comma just before a parenthesis. Always place it after the parenthetical material. For example, "If you see an owl in a tree (any kind of owl), stay quiet and observe it carefully."

If your sentence ends with parenthetical material, place the period outside of the parenthesis. "The woman’s gown was covered with jewels (and those jewels must have cost a fortune).

If you have a parenthetical statement independent of a sentence, capitalize the first word and place the period within the parentheses. (This sentence is independent.)

3. Be very comfortable with colons and semi-colons if you use them. Here are the three most common uses for colons.

a) If you are connecting two complete sentences wherein the second sentence is dependent on the first for meaning or context, or which completes the meaning of the first sentence, connect them with a colon. "The doctors were all tired and weary: ten of them, for instance, fell asleep while operating this morning."

b) If you are writing a list, use a colon. Example: "Three towns dominate the North County coastal area: Del Mar, Solona Beach, and Encinitas."

c) If you want to introduce a statement or quotation, use a colon. Example: ß The "example" is the example.

4. Always use an em dash (—) when you want to create a break in a sentence. Never use a hyphen (-). Macintosh users can find the em dash by pressing "option" + "-" (hyphen).

By applying these rules (adapted from The Chicago Manual of Style), you can clean up your text and eliminate some of the most common formatting, usage, and punctuation errors. If in doubt, a scan of your text by a professional copyeditor can reveal all these imperfections to you. Precise editing such as this can give your writing the professional "glow" that builds credibility and can help sell your products or services.