2019 - Judy Gregory Writer

Logan: Gold Standard for Plain English

Logan City Council website meets a gold standard for plain English This week, Logan City Council became the first council in Australia to achieve gold-level certification for its website from PlainLanguageProThe certification confirms that Logan City Council applied plain language principles in developing its new website For Logan City Council, plain language certification is part of an overall effort to ensure its website is fully accessible and user focused By March 2020, the council...

Would you like an apostrophe with your coffee’s?

I notice apostrophe errors Like many writers, I silently correct greengrocers’ apostrophes and misplaced possessives, and I put reasonable effort into making sure I dont make the same mistake’s myself I’m the proud owner of a t-shirt promoting the Apostrophe Protection Society Like many word-lovers, I was disappointed this week to hear the Society is closing Apparently its 96-year-old founder, John Richards, admitted defeat, claiming that ‘the ignorance and laziness present in...

Using email to get the job done

My working day is centred around email I use email for client conversations, project quotes, project delivery, and invoicing Even though I like to meet clients face-to-face whenever possible, it’s not uncommon for me to conduct entire projects by email Email makes work communication easier and faster Because of its asynchronicity, I no longer need to worry about telephone tag and missed calls I also spend a lot less time travelling to meetings I can read and respond to email when it suits...

A roadmap for writing

‘Write Away’ by Elizabeth George You’ll often hear writers talk about the value (or lack thereof) of planning Some writers (like James Patterson) are dedicated planners who write extended plot outlines Others (like Lee Child) claim to fly by the seat of their pants and be consistently surprised by the twists and turns their stories take Of course there’s no right choice between the planner vs pantser approach to writing Each writer needs to develop their own...

On being a word nerd. A word nerd, I be.

I’ve just finished reading ‘The story of be: A verb’s-eye view of the English language’ by David Crystal (2017, Oxford University Press) Until I discovered this book, I hadn’t given a great deal of thought to the humble word ‘be’ In writing training, I advise writers to avoid over-using ‘be’ My concern is that ‘be’ in its various forms weakens their writing Instead, I suggest they look for ways to introduce action into their work For example, I might...

Being specific with modifiers

I’m often troubled by vague modifiers (things that describe something else within the sentence) Here’s an example, a caption in today’s Weekend Australian: Geraldine Hakewill stars in Ms Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries, a spin-off from the Phyrne Fisher series set in 1964 The problem here is that a naïve reader can’t understand whether the original Phyrne Fisher series was set in 1964 or whether Ms Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries is set in 1964 The sentence doesn’t...