Changes in the MLA Handbook 9th Ed.

The good news for writers who rely on MLA style is that the nitty gritty…

Curse of the Proofreader’s Brain

The curse of professional language persons, you see, is that they are always language persons,…

How Macros Improve Writing

Macros are little programs you can add to Word to make it do pretty much…

When and How to Use a Proofreading Service

A professional edit is not a shortcut to quality writing; that comes only from rewriting,…

More Tips for Word’s Spell and Grammar Check

Spell check is a great tool to let writers know when they’ve made spelling errors,…

Pronunciation Diacritical Marks

A frequent complaint of language learners of English is that the pronunciation of a word…

Adding Diacritics with MS Word’s Insert Tab

Let’s say you’re writing a paper about the history of the United Nations during the…

How to Make a Table of Contents in MS Word: Basics

MS Word’s Table of Contents (ToC) feature works quite well and is more than worth…

Microsoft Word: Inserting Symbols

Ever wonder how documents manage to have text that isn’t on your keyboard? Ever wonder…

3 Warnings for Using a Thesaurus

In my teaching and editing experience, there are three basic thesaurus user types: EFLs, native…

The Writer’s Bookshelf

However and wherever you find them, the right books can help improve your writing and…

Top 10 Changes in APA’s 7th Edition

Here are the top ten changes to the APA manual, selected because these are the…

Style Guides and House Rules

Periodicals often have their own in-house style guides laying out exceptions. Such house rules can…

AMA Referencing Style

The next style we’re looking at is another of these specialist fields: medicine. The American…

Easy Cross-References in MS Word

With long electronic documents, it can be useful to make links that take readers to…

Customizing the Spellchecker Dictionary

There’s a dictionary that lives in your copy of Microsoft Word. In fact, there are…

How to Use Microsoft Word AutoCorrect

Microsoft Word’s autocorrect can it fix common spelling errors and automate routine formatting and capitalization…

When Grammar Check Is Wrong

I’ve already talked about the limitations of spell check, but grammar check is actually a…

3 Tips for Using a Thesaurus

When used correctly, a thesaurus can help you punch up your writing by using just…

Using MS Word Lists: Bullets & Numbers

All writing tools or techniques should help you express yourself more clearly. Lists can be…