ChanteSez.com

Connecting you to worthwhile events, information and people

Tag: ChanteSez

ChanteSez … Check the facts

Posted by on in ChanteSez Tip of the DayLeave a comment

I made a mistake last week. I made it because I took for granted how to spell the Facebook handle of one of my most loyal followers. What a way to repay her. I feel terrible.

I can’t stress enough how important it is to check the facts. If it’s not your own name, double-check the spelling.

After doing this for a couple of decades now, I’ll often hear that “little voice” that tells me to look over something just one more time, or to do a more thorough fact-check.

But save yourself the trouble — or should I say more trouble later — and make it part of your routine to check each and every fact that you can. That includes names and places, and running spellcheck once you’ve given your post the once over and don’t intend to make any further edits.

You’ll feel good about it once the article or post is published, and so will the folks who trusted you with an interview or their readership.

ChanteSez … Don’t commit bigamy in your writing

Posted by on in ChanteSez Tip of the Day1 Comment

It’s illegal in the U.S. to have more than one spouse. But it happens all the time if you pay attention to what’s written. A pair of commas makes all the difference.

When you don’t set off a spouse’s name by commas, the indication is that there is more than one spouse.

If you’re providing the name of a husband or wife in a story, it’s probably a nonessential phrase.

A nonessential phrase is an extra bit of info that adds some detail to the sentence, but isn’t required to make the sentence understandable.

How to tell if you’ve got a nonessential phrase? You can take the phrase out of the sentence and it still makes sense. It’s “nonessential” to the sentence.

And nonessential phrases must have a comma before and after them.

Here’s what I mean:

She married her husband, Thomas Williams, in 2013.

The nonessential phrase here is the husband’s name. If it’s removed, the sentence still makes sense:

She married her husband in 2013.

Now, if you take the commas out, but keep the nonessential phrase in, you’re indicating there’s more than one husband. Thomas Williams just happens to be the one we’re talking about in this sentence:

She married her husband Thomas Williams in 2013 (and hey, maybe she married her other husband back in 2003).

Keep it legal, folks.