Preventing Readers from Having to Reread Your Sentences

Careless writing can confuse your readers even when it sounds perfectly clear to you. Correct punctuation can prevent this confusion.

Careless punctuation leaves this article title unclear:

No Pseudonyms Allowed: Is Google Plus’s Real Name Policy a Good Idea?Audrey Watters, nytimes.com, July 12, 2011

Adding a hyphen makes the article topic immediately clear: “Google Plus’s Real-Name Policy.” This hyphen is also grammatically necessary.

Without a hyphen, it’s not clear if the article topic is the company’s real policy about names. The hyphen makes it immediately clear that the policy concerns real names as opposed to pseudonyms.

It pays to spend some time and effort on your punctuation: readers will grasp your ideas immediately, and they’ll see you as a effortlessly clear communicator.

Write It Well’s book Essential Grammar is a thorough review of the punctuation rules you need to project credibility, clear thought, and professionalism through all your writing.

The book includes two user-friendly chapters on punctuation, including hyphenation guidelines that enable you to project an especially polished image as a business writer.

Do you have an important document but not enough time to polish it or boost reader comprehension? Just use Write It Well’s editing services.

We’ll make sure the prose is correct, clear, concise, and engaging so your readers will follow all your ideas easily and respect your voice.