The Second of 7 Deadly Copywriting Sins is a Sly Guy
While the first of seven deadly sins is a temptress, sin number two is a Devious Dude. He’s sneaky and stealthy and often slips by unnoticed—even under the most scrupulous of editors.
Whereas before, I urged you not to be tempted by the sultry siren of plagiarism, this time, I warn you to be vigilant and watch your back. Bad grammar lurks around every corner and slips by in broad daylight.
None of us want to make grammar mistakes—we know they look terrible and make us look bad—but they happen anyway. Why?
Well, as Erik Noble famously said on Twitter, “English doesn't borrow from other languages. It follows them down dark alleys, knocks them down, and goes through their pockets for loose grammar.”
We speak a language that doesn’t have one root but four: Greek, Latin, French, and German. That makes for some crazy spelling patterns and somewhat unpredictable grammar rules.
We’ve also stolen words from New World languages as we encountered them (barbeque, anyone?) and invented new ones as needed (bromance and glamping are my personal faves).
As the years go by, the meaning and spelling of words change according to the needs and preferences of we the people. Old grammar rules get dropped and new ones come into fashion.
English is a living, breathing language that takes no prisoners!
So, how does one keep up? How do you ensure that every piece of writing you do is always error-free when things are constantly changing?
You need to get solid training and use reputable grammar guides to inform your writing. Then, you need to painstakingly edit your work according to those rules before publishing.
Luckily, there’s an app for that!
Yay, technology!!
Here’s the process that I follow for clean, error-free writing.
Have (or get) proper training. It’s never too late to take a course or read a book to improve your writing and grammar skills.
Use professional grammar guides to inform your work.
Use at least two grammar checkers. One while you’re writing and a second one to check your work when complete. Sometimes they fight each other, it’s fun!
Ask someone to read your work or use a text-to-voice app to hear it out loud. Listen for awkward sentences, commonly mistyped words, or incorrect names.
Walk away. Try to build in at least a day between when you finish writing and your deadline. Time reveals all things!
Final Edits. Run it through one final round of “eyeball” editing and one last grammar app before publishing. Don’t let those sneaky mistakes see the light of day!
Here are some fun resources to help you out. These are not affiliate links, just ones I like or have heard good things about.
Word Nerd Resources
Grammar Books | Grammar Guides | Grammar Apps |
Chicago Manual of Style (for Publishing, Business, History, and Fine Arts) | ||
MLA Format & Style Center (for Humanities) | ||
APA Style Guide (for Language Arts & Social Sciences) |
Is doing all this work really worth it? Yes.
Producing even one piece of writing with an egregious error could turn off your customers, cause a legal issue, or worse…make you the laughing stock of the internet!
So, stay vigilant, my friends. Every time you open your laptop to write, that Devious Dude is lurking right behind, just waiting to trip you up. Be armed and ready with knowledge and grammar apps. Don’t let bad grammar happen to you.
You know what else you shouldn’t let happen to you? The 3rd of Seven Deadly Copywriting Sins: long, dry, boring content. You don't want your readers to fall asleep while reading your emails, do you?
Learn how to avoid this terrible sin in my next post.
Until then, stay vigilant and always triple-check your work!
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