Picking a title can often be the hardest part of a writing project. Sometimes the title just comes to you, but more often than not, you have to put quite a bit of work into finding just the right one.…

Some time ago, I pointed out the perils of dangling modifiers, presenting sample sentences and offering annotated revisions. Unfortunately, my stock of such specimens, discovered in the course of my editing work and in leisure reading alike, has grown rather…

The image we published last Saturday was quite popular, so I decided to run another one this Saturday. The theme is the same: punctuation. For those who can’t see the image, here’s what it says: An English professor wrote the…

It’s Saturday, so instead of our usual writing tip we’ll have some fun. The image below appeared on Deborah Ng’s Google+ (Google’s social network) stream yesterday. Nice huh? For those who can’t see the image, the first line says: “Let’s…

English has adopted a rich store of words about feeling and suffering from the classical languages. The Greek pathos, for example, has come down to us intact to mean, in English, an evocation of pity or compassion, but that’s just…

We’ll be closing the doors of the DWT Freelance Writing Course this Friday, September 30, at midnight (GMT). That’s within 12 hours, so if you were planning to join, well, do it now! As we mentioned before the course is…

Pretty much every week we receive emails from readers asking when the Freelance Writing Course will take place again. Well, the time has arrived. We’ll be re-opening the doors next Tuesday, September 27. It’s a 6-week program designed to give…

I met Jonathan Fields last year. We were both speaking at the Blog World 2010 conference, and he also attended a small meetup I had organized for online entrepreneurs. During that meetup I was quite impressed with his business and…

Several DailyWritingTips.com posts have focused on, for example, phenomena and ideas named after people, and concepts or objects identified by the names of historical figures. This entry specifically suggests mythological, literary, and historical eponyms that may inspire you to employ…

As you probably know the Internet is growing faster than ever, and content is what fosters that growth. As a result there is a strong demand for writers online right now, ranging from copywriters to paid bloggers and magazine writers.…

One of the fastest growing segments online is freelance writing. As companies and organizations move to the Internet, they discover the importance of producing quality content, and as a consequence they start looking for freelance writers. For people who like…

Welcome to another edition of the Writing Clinic. This time we have an essay about a trip that one of our readers sent us. If you want to submit a piece for this column, please email it to daniel@dailywritingtips.com.…

It is time for another edition of the Writing Clinic. This week we have an article that one of our readers wrote for his company’s annual report. If you want to submit a piece for the writing clinic, please email…

Welcome to the first edition of the Writing Clinic. The piece edited today is an informal email that one of our readers crafted to salute friends and colleagues who helped him land a scholarship. If you want to submit your…

I am happy to introduce a new biweekly column on our blog. Called “The Writing Clinic,” the column will be a collaboration with one of our old time sponsors, Gramlee.com. Here is how it will work: Our readers will submit…

First things first: We hate spam. And we hate spammers. Maybe even more than you do. So this article isn’t about endorsing spam in any way, or suggesting that you do anything unethical. But as much as we hate spam…

Hermetic is an adjective, and it is used to described something made airtight by fusion or sealing. It can also be used more broadly to indicate anything isolated from external factors. The adverb is hermetically. Inside the somewhat hermetic Basque…

Mishap is a misfortune; an accident. All such confrontations contain combustible mixes of the money, power and mishap that seem to bubble out of the ground whenever a huge supply of oil or gas is for sale. (The Economist) The…

Offhand can be used as an adverb, where it means unprepared or brusquely; and as an adjective, where it means casual. President Clinton made an offhand confession on Tuesday night that he had raised taxes “too much” in his first…

Maim means to cripple someone. It can also be used generally, where it means to damage something, making it defective. Workers at drilling sites are surrounded by heavy machinery that can kill or maim in an instant. (USA Today) Automakers…

Ludicrous is an adjective used to describe something so absurd that it provokes laughs and mockery. One synonym is ridiculous. A San Diego stock adviser who is accused of bribing an F.B.I. agent to give him confidential government information may…

Subliminal is an adjective used to describe things or stimuli that work below the threshold of consciousness, thus influencing the individual without being perceived as clear thoughts or ideas. For example you can have subliminal advertising. There is, in fact,…

Ostracize means to exclude someone from society or from any group of people. It comes from the Greek ostrakízein, which was the practice of banishing citizens by popular vote. Yet there is still a woeful reluctance in Africa to…

A gestalt is a configuration or system so unified that it cannot be described by the sum of its individual parts. In Germany, a country that is home to Mercedes-Benz and the autobahn, life in a car-reduced place like Vauban…

Tautology is the repetition of meaning in two consecutive words, or the needless repetition of an idea. A tautology is considered a fault of style. Examples include “free gift” and “extra bonus.” There are scary stories, and then there are…

Cesspool is a pit or cistern, built to collect the sewage or other sediments from a house. It is commonly used to describe any filthy or immoral place. The problem is most Americans agree with Bolton that the U.N. is…

Veneer is a thin layer of attractive wood (or other material) glued on top of cheaper wood, to enhance the overall appearance. Usually the term is used figuratively, meaning anything that covers the real nature of something. Nelson Mandela wants…

Wrangle means to dispute something angrily; to argue noisily. But now, as planners try to figure out how to build and pay for the park, and lawmakers wrangle over the details, it is starting to look as if the political…

Splurge means to make a great display in any way. Usually, however, the display comes through expensive or extravagant things. America’s most vibrant political force at the moment is the anti-tax tea-party movement. Even in leftish Massachusetts people are worried…

A paroxysm is a sudden outburst of something, a violent emotion. It can also refer to the exacerbation of a disease. Contemplating the economic rubble from our most recent paroxysm of enthusiasm, I wonder whether we should do something about…

Derision is a scornful treatment of someone or something; a mockery or ridicule. The object that is being mocked can be called derision. President Reagan’s long-awaited announcement that he would run for a second term touched off celebrations last night…