Category Archives: Writing tips

Writing tips for April holidays and events
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April Holidays
A screenshot of a message from Stylebot on Slack that reads: Capitalize Islamic titles such as "ayatollah," "imam" and "sheikh" only when they come directly before a name. Otherwise, do not capitalize: "He saw the imam at the mosque." The branches of Islam use the titles differently, so double-check before using a title.

Ramadan is on
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A screenshot of a message from Stylebot on Slack that reads: "Hollywood is a neighborhood in Los Angeles, not a city. Avoid implying that it is: “Hollywood stars will gather at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday for the Oscars." There is a city of West Hollywood, however: “The Standard’s West Hollywood location will close for good next week.”

🏆 The fun fact you might not know about Hollywood
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A screenshot of a message from Stylebot on Slack that reads: Don't use the abbreviation "OOO" without explaining it, as it stands for different things in different contexts: "His reply said that he was 'OOO until further notice,' using the common abbreviation for 'out of office.'"

Re: Your OOO message
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March holidays

Writing tips for March holidays and events
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A screenshot of a message from Stylebot on Slack that reads: Use "playwright" to refer to someone who writes plays and "playwriting" to refer to their occupation: "The playwright was heavily influenced by Christopher Marlowe." "Francisco's playwriting overtly challenges American expectations."

The writes and wrongs of theater 🎭
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A screenshot of a message from Stylebot on Slack that reads: "Use terms such as "actor," "host," "waiter," etc., for all genders: "She worked as an actor for 10 years." Sometimes, you can opt for a gender-neutral option such as "server," instead of "waiter": "All the servers were scheduled to work eight-hour shifts.""

Watch your (gendered) language
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A screenshot of a message from Stylebot on Slack that reads: "The phrase is "for all intents and purposes," not "for all intensive purposes": "Her family knew that the postponement of the wedding was, for all intents and purposes, a cancellation.""

These purposes are not intensive
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A screenshot of a message from Stylebot on Slack that reads: "You can use "octopuses" as the plural of "octopus": "They saw two octopuses at the aquarium." The word is of Greek origin, so if you want to get fancy, the plural is "octopodes." But "octopuses" is in wide use in English and is perfectly acceptable."

Octopuses, octopi…octopodes?🐙
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A screenshot of a message from Stylebot on Slack that reads: "Use an apostrophe in "Presidents' Day," a federal holiday celebrated on the third Monday in February: "The store advertised a Presidents' Day sale." The holiday's official name is Washington’s Birthday."

It’s actually Washington’s Birthday…
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