My name is Ann and I am a grammar geek. There, it is out and I am relieved. Does this mean my composing is perfect and consistently conforms to grammar guidelines? Heck, no. It does mean that I invest hrs perseverating about serial commas, dangling participles, and feeling guilty if I finish a sentence with a preposition. I worry endlessly about what I call the PowerPointification of America (i.e., the trend toward composing brief chunks of information in bullet factors – which, incidentally, is what sells). I can’t deliver myself to use abbreviations in e-mail or instant messages. I don’t use emoticons. I can’t help it. For a lot much better or even worse, I am a phrase nerd.

In my technical composing planet, I get compensated to think about these issues. I ought to stay on top of instructional style developments, produce to fit my audience rather than myself, and make certain that my copy is error-completely totally free each technically and grammatically. Frequently, I ought to check my ego at the doorway and conform to composing styles with which I don’t agree. Why? I ought to make certain you my customers. It is my career. There are occasions in existence when we all ought to conform and comply to guidelines we don’t like. Occasionally, nonetheless, you just have to stand up for what you think. For me, it is a strongly held belief that the exclamation stage is a harmful grammar tool that ought to be used sparingly and with caution.

Why do I choose on the exclamation stage? I’ve noticed a trend in current many years that correlates with the growing status of e-mail and instant messages. It is the proliferation of the exclamation stage. I see so a great deal Internet copy with numerous exclamation factors (e.g., “This widget is the greatest in all of widgetdom!!!!”) or an whole internet web page of Internet copy in which every sentence ends with an exclamation stage. This tends to make me really feel like somebody is yelling at me. It “hurts” my virtual ears. And frankly, if you use the exclamation stage too a great deal, you are like the boy who cried wolf. Who is heading to think you if you are generally yelling to get attention?

What is a newbie copywriter or small company owner who can’t handle to invest a professional copywriter to do about exclamation pointitis? Follow these simple suggestions:

Still stuck? That is okay. We small company proprietors are not anticipated to know every thing. Chances are there’s an additional company owner out there who enjoys to produce killer copy. Have other individuals you believe in study your perform. Make it a behavior to check out the composing styles of individuals and companies you admire. Uncover Internet pages with exclamation pointitis and think about how you would enhance them. And generally remember, the beautiful factor about Internet websites and your blog is that you can change your content material when you want.

The bottom line is that well-created copy portrays a professional and polished picture. Is your advertising copy up to snuff?

Copyright 2005, Ann Zuccardy, All rights reserved.

Ann Zuccardy is a freelance technical and copy author with 17 many years of company expertise in advertising and technical communication. She presently consults with IBM in Essex Junction, Vermont where she writes software program system customer manuals, training guides, and start notes. Ann is also the owner of Vermont Shortbread Business. She can be attained at http://wordbrains.com/