Articles on writing, editing, improving content and more

We all use superlatives, even if we don't know the term. A superlative is a fancy way of saying something is the absolute best it can be – typical examples are: most best top fastest ultimate premier most trusted.

Writing needs to reflect speech – which is why punctuation marks that add pauses are so important.

Preview text (some call it the preheader) is so important it can make the difference between someone opening your email or ignoring it – and yet many marketers have no idea what it is.

It might sound like the name of a strange sex cult, but the inverted pyramid is the most common way you can structure a story.

Using positive language is a great way to make sentences short and snappy. At the risk of sounding like a Grinch, this isn’t about being happy and upbeat.

Everyone can have a bad day when it comes to proofreading. Even the most experienced editors can (and do) read and re-read the same bit of copy only to miss a glaring typo that even a primary school kid can spot.

If you find yourself swearing while figuring out when and where to use an apostrophe, you’re not alone.

You don’t expect to find great advice for writing online headlines from a book over 50 years old – and yet that’s exactly what I found while rereading Confessions of an Advertising Man by David Ogilvy.