Michelle L Devon's Writer's Blog

Michelle L Devon

Commonly Misused Words in Writing: Principle/Principal - Two/To/Too - Your/You're

Today's words we will discuss are: Principle vs principal, two vs too vs to, and your vs you're.

However, before I begin, I would like to comment on a word that I regularly see misused that I don't believe is an error in use as much as it is a Spell Check problem. Many times, I have seen writers use the word DEFIANTLY when the word they mean to use is DEFINITELY.

Defiantly is defined as meaning: rebelliously: in a rebellious manner.

Definitely is defined as meaning: decidedly: without question and beyond doubt.

As you can see, these two words mean very different things, but many times, I see writers using defiantly instead of definitely. The reason for this is most likely because the writer has begun to type the word 'definitely' and spells it incorrectly, and thus Spell Check in MS Word auto corrects the word to 'defiantly'.

I beg of you writers, please be sure to watch for Spell Check grabbing a word and auto correcting it like this and make sure it truly IS the word you intended to use.

Okay, moving right along, let's talk about this article's commonly misused words.

Principle / Principal

The way I learned to remember this word was something my mother, an English major in college, taught me when I was a young child.

Your principal at your school is your pal.

When you are writing about a person who is the leader of a school, he is a principal, not a principle.

The definitions of principle are:

** A rule or standard, especially of good behavior;
** A basic truth or law or assumption;
** Rule of personal conduct

We can take a stand on principle, but you might get detention if you stand on your principal.

The only time it is proper to use princiPAL is if you mean the administrator in a school. Every other instance of these homonyms should use principle.

Two / To / Too

I rarely see the word TWO used improperly, but I frequently see the words TO and TOO interchanged, and they have very different meanings and different parts of speech.

I'll start with TWO since it's the easiest. Two is a number; it comes after one and before three. It cannot be used to mean anything else except a number.

Now, the word TO is a preposition, most frequently used in a prepositional phrase to provide additional information about the subject of the sentence.

Example: He is going TO the store. He is turning left TO get on the highway.

In this example, HE is the subject, and TO is the preposition, part of the prepositional phrase 'to the store'.

However, many people use the word TO instead of the proper word TOO when needing an adverb and not a preposition. Most frequently TOO can be replaced by the word ALSO or the phrase 'in addition'.

Example: Do you want to go with us to the store too?

'To the store' is the prepositional phrase, and as you can see, this sentence can be rewritten as: Do you want to go with us to the store also?

One way to remember when to use TOO instead of TO is to replace it with the word also, because TOO means to add something to the sentence. If you think of it this way, you can remember: when you want to add something to the sentence, you need to add an O on the end of TO. "I want to go too. (I want to go also.)" Add me to the list, because I want to go!

Now, I did say TOO as an adverb, and an adverb usually modifies a word, most frequently a verb but sometimes it can modify another adverb, and in this instance, the word TOO can be used like this:

This is too easy. The test was too hard.

Again, TOO adds an addition - add an O, add information - you are adding a word that modifies - it wasn't just easy or hard - it was too easy or too hard.

Your / You're

Again, I would like to direct you to my article about possessive and contractions.

Your is a pronoun and you're is a contraction that stands for 'you are'. When writing, if you can replace the word you're with the words you are and the sentence still makes sense, then you need to use You're and not Your.

Your is a second person pronoun, meaning something belongs to you. Your chair is over there. Your hat is on the stand. These are your keys, not mine.

As you'll note, you cannot replace you are with your in these sentences: You are chair is over there. You are hat is on the stand. These are you are keys, not mine.

But in this sentence: Are you sure you're okay with this?

You can rewrite this sentence: Are you sure you are okay with this?

Thus you now know when to use your and you're, simply by always replacing you're with the words you are, and if you can't, you must use your.

Okay, that wraps up this installment of commonly misused words in writing. Stay tuned, more articles on this topic are coming, along with some commonly misused phrases in writing too (see - too!).

Keep writing!

The Importance of Paragraph Breaks When Writing Web Content

Web content is a bit different than print items in that the reader will be viewing the content on a screen and not on a page or in a book. Many people use reading guides or their fingers or note cards to follow along while they are reading a print item, but this is nearly impossible to do on the computer without leaving unsightly fingerprints on your monitor. That brings me to the first reason why paragraph breaks are important: to make it easier for your readers to read your content without too much eye strain.

Another reason for proper paragraph breaks is to make the writing more attractive at first glance. A page with a long scroll of writing with no breaks is not only NOT attractive, but it is a bit intimidating to read too.

Also, paragraph breaks are important to break up when thoughts flow from one to another, allowing the reader to know when a thought or mood or tone shift has occurred in the writing. This helps break the elements of the writing up into distinct sections with similar content, allowing the reader to more easily focus on the key points of your writing.

So how do you determine where to place a paragraph break?

Good question… Let me try to give you a good answer that pleases both web copy writers and editors as well as hard core grammarians. A paragraph is a group of sentences lumped together by similar meaning, intent or content. When the thought changes or a new idea or concept is introduced, a paragraph break allows for a pause to shift the reader's mind to the new concept or idea.

Next, for web copy especially, paragraphs should be kept short. When writing for print, longer paragraphs are more acceptable, but for web copy, 3-5 average length sentences is usually a good paragraph and then a paragraph break is needed.

Paragraphs are also used to break up or accentuate something if you are trying to make a point, add impact. For example, if you have one sentence that makes a strong point and you really want to make it stand out, you could make that sentence a paragraph all by itself, with a break before and after, causing the reader to really take notice of that sentence.

For dialogue, there should be a paragraph break before each new speaker. This means that sometimes very short dialogue will be on a line all by itself. This is just proper punctuation for dialogue so that it is easy to see who is saying what. For quotes, short quotes can be included in the same paragraph as other text, but longer quotes, of more than one or two lines, should be in a paragraph by itself. (Please note that this information on quotes is best for web copy. If you write papers or magazine articles and newsprint, you should check out the AP style guide for newsprint, the Chicago Manual of Style, MLA, or APA style guides for how to properly cite quotations for other types of writing.)

Paragraphs are our friends!

When writing your copy for the web, keep these things in mind and be sure to use paragraphs properly. Doing so will make your writing easier to read, more attractive, and help it make better sense to the reader.

Writing for the Masses: An Opinion Article on Writing about Controversial Subjects

I have worked in social services, advocacy, criminal justice, and the corporate world, but alas, my love, my passion and my dream is to write. I write fiction, poetry, articles, what have you. Why do I write? Because I love it. Because I have a passion for it. But more than that, I read, I study, I research - just because I love knowledge and I love observing human behavior - reading and writing can bring those two things together.

However, I mostly write because when I read, I am intrigued by certain topics, read many various opinions and facts on the subject, and then put them all together to form my own opinion, which I then usually have a burning desire to share and discuss it with others. That's why I write many of the articles I have written.

I do my best to back my opinions up with facts and research, but we all know that statistics can be skewed to match just about any opinion on any subject if you want to make them match badly enough. Still, I love the debate. I love the discussion of an issue, when two or more people passionately relay their views to each other, seldom coming to a consensus, but knowing the topic was thoroughly explored and each side of the issue argued well.

It's exhilarating, exciting, and for me, dare I say, fun!

What is not fun is when people cannot keep the focus on the topic at hand and revert to attacking the individual for their opinions. I know many wonderful writers whose opinions on certain subjects I do not agree with, but I respect quality writing and conclusions, even if I disagree with the topics. I also try my best to respect the writer as a person, knowing there is not a single person on this planet with whom I will always agree about every issue.

If you want page views and lots of different readers, one sure fired way to achieve that, regardless of the quality of your writing or the quality of the conclusions you have drawn, is to write about controversial subjects and hold a strong opinion for or against that subject in your writing.

I prefer to take a different tack in my writing, and try to explore both sides of an issue before I draw my conclusions and state them as personal opinion. I realize this isn't going to get me heated arguments and debate, and it will reduce my page views, but I feel it keeps my writing balanced for me.

You see, I write about what interests me, and I hope it will spark something in another and interest them too. When I read, I want to read something that makes me think, causes me to question a belief or opinion I have enough to want to know more, or that sparks some type of emotion in me. THAT is what I consider good writing, even if I do not agree with the opinions held by the author. Someone who can do this, without turning me off with hate speech, biased 'facts', or blatant ridiculous conjecture is indeed an excellent writer.

It's true that page views and readers will flock to the popular and controversial. If you want to be this type of writer, that is quite all right with me. I respect that decision. On the other hand, some of the greatest writers of our time are little known authors who do not draw large crowds to comment on their pieces. However, these writers have developed a loyal readership, who respects their opinions even when they disagree, and they become respected in their skill and craft and unbiased presentation.

I'm not saying that controversial writers do not become respected for their craft. There are many controversial subject writers who I hold in high esteem - even those who I disagree with, provided their writing is not hate filled, ranting, and lacking of any factual evidence or theories to back up what is nothing more than a personal opinion, unfounded at best, fallacious at worst, and often just downright not worth the time to read or give credence too.

It takes a tough skin to be a good controversial writer, and honestly, I am too emotionally connected to my writing most of the time to write controversially, unless I truly feel very passionately about the subject. That is why I honestly respect an excellent writer who can write controversially but still make sense in doing so.

One should never write to offend - writing should be about education, sharing opinions, relaying information, and stating opinions backed up by facts and research. If all someone wants to do is rant about their personal opinions, perhaps a blog is a better solution for writing, instead of attempting to appear to be an expert on a subject, when all the writer is really doing ranting about things they don't like or promoting things they do.

My suggestion to those of you who do like to write to entice the masses and incite controversy, please keep doing it! I love to read a well written opinion piece that I can tell is passionate, but please back your opinions up with facts and research that I can follow to learn more about your topic and try to understand your point of view. If you truly feel so strongly about your opinion as to write about it, then let me know why you feel the way you feel, spark something in me to make me want to take a stand or have an opinion, opposing or not.

Then when others dare to hold differing opinions, respond with respect and facts, research, or additional information - attack the opinion, but not the person, and I guarantee you will find a loyal reader in me, even if I don't agree with all you have to say.

My hat's off to those excellent controversial opinion writers who do this properly. Yours is a skill and a craft that is most difficult to attain, and if you do it well, you deserve every page view or dedicated reader you have gained.

• Previous Posts:

• Commonly Misused Words in Writing: Principle/Principal - Two/To/Too - Your/You're
• The Importance of Paragraph Breaks When Writing Web Content
• Writing for the Masses: An Opinion Article on Writing about Controversial Subjects
• Goal Setting Tips for Freelance Writers
• Commonly Misused Words in Writing: They're / Their / There - Accept / Except - Its / It's
• Book Review: Keeper of the Flame by Catherine Chase
• Modern Poetry - Poetry for Everyone
• Ten Tips for Overcoming Writer's Block

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