Become more successful

by becoming a better writer!

The Dean of a top-ranked Engineering School once asked, “What’s the difference between an engineer, and an engineer who can write?” Then he answered his own question: “About $40,000 per year.”

For people in any business, any profession, the ability to write well can mean the difference between career advancement and stagnation. In fact, for the businesses themselves, well-written documents of all kinds provide a first-class image and a competitive edge. Write Way Tutoring makes an impact by offering workshops and one-on-one training to sharpen the communications skills of adults, and of students in middle school, high school, and college.

Steve Schroeder, the owner of Write Way Tutoring, likes to say, “we help people become successful — or more successful — at work, in school, or in that fascinating game called life.”

Many schools today seem to regard their primary mission as teaching students how to take tests — because teachers, and the schools themselves, are being judged so emphatically on how well their students do on such tests. But doesn’t this approach miss the point of good education: teaching skills needed (long after the last test results have been recorded) for success in life? Of all these skills, excellence in written expression may be the most important.

Contact us to learn more about Write Way Tutoring one-on-one training for students and adults, and about workplace programs.

Take “The Write Way Challenge,” an entertaining test of your ability to spot the faults in some examples of really bad writing!

If your answer is “No,” then, on behalf of the students in your family, you should look into our programs. We’re on duty all year long!

We tutor middle school, high school, and college students — and adults too. We do it one-on-one. And we do it seven days a week with session times available to meet your needs, between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m.

Is there any student who wouldn’t benefit from getting a head start on next semester’s classes? Or who wouldn’t benefit from better writing, reading, thinking, organizing, studying, and problem-solving skills?  We’ll answer those questions for you: No! And that’s why we opened Write Way Tutoring.

Contact us for more information about our Summer Learning Programs!

All-Star athletes hire personal coaching. Why? Because they want a competitive edge in the sports world. They may be good, but they know they could be better.

Corporate CEOs hire personal coaches. Why? Because they want a competitive edge in the business world. They may be good at leading and managing, but they want their skills honed to meet any challenge.

Now you can hire a personal coach to give you the edge in your world…at work, in the job market, in school, or in that fascinating game we call “life.”

Write Way Tutoring helps people become successful…or more successful! People just like you!

Contact us so we can create a one-on-one training or tutoring session personalized to your needs.

Can you spot the shortcomings in English grammar, usage, structure, or clarity in the following passages? Give it a try, then compare your findings to those of an experienced professional writer/editor who sees — and corrects — errors like these daily.

1)  If we want the race to be fair for all contestants, we must insure that the rules are strictly enforced.

2)  I believe credit will free up, but for now you want to see a three year track record because we really do not want to extend credit to individuals that do not show the ability to repay.

3)  In well-documented and scientifically conducted road tests authorized by the Environmental Protection Agency,  the Toyota Camry had better gas mileage than any car in it’s class.

4)  Since the offer of an $8,000 tax credit is about to expire, first time home buyer’s should act now rather than wait and hope for an extension.

5)  If you have ever laid awake at 2 o’clock in the morning worrying about your business, you may be comforted knowing that other business owners report having the same experience.

6)  We don’t want other people to know about this problem, so let’s keep it a secret between the three of us. With five possible solutions, we can choose the better one without help from anybody else.

7)  I enjoy many different leisure activities, but my favorites are biking, playing tennis, and to go for a walk on the beach.

“The fack can’t be no longer disgised that a Krysis is onto us.”

How did you do? Perhaps this exercise was challenge enough so that you see our point: examples of “bad” writing abound; even if your writing skills are good and your knowledge of grammar rules is above average, Write Way Tutoring can help you become an even better communicator!

Here are the professional writer/editor’s comments:

1) “insure” is used incorrectly here. The word should be used only when referring specifically to insurance policies. “Ensure” would be correct — meaning “to make certain.”

2) The full article is even worse than this excerpt, which suffers from awkwardness and “pronoun distress” as the writer switches from the first person singular “I” to the ersatz “you” to the royal “we” in short order — with a “that” thrown in where a “who” would be more appropriate.

3) This sentence has two glaring errors: the use of “it’s” — a contraction of “it is” — instead of the correct word “its” which is the possessive form required here; and it is impossible for the Toyota Camry to get better gas mileage than “any car in its class” because it would then be getting better gas mileage than itself. The sentence needs to read “…than any other car in its class.”

4) The plural of buyer is buyers, not buyer’s; to coin a word, this writer and countless others have apostrophitis. Fortunately, the condition is curable.

5) Two problems: “laid” is incorrect usage — the correct word is “lain”; and we don’t believe the writer intended to say that other business owners lie awake worrying about your business — but that is the way the sentence reads.

6) “between” should be used when two people are involved; for three or more, the correct word is “among.” And among (not “between”) five solutions, you would hope to choose the “best” one; “better” is appropriate only when comparing two alternatives.

7) Lack of parallel usage makes this statement awkward. Much better: “…biking, playing tennis, and walking on the beach.”

Ha! Trickery on our part: there is absolutely nothing wrong with this passage. It is purposely — and delightfully — written in the dialect of Artemus Ward, a character created by 19th century humorist and author Charles F. Browne.  Quote marks serve as a do-not-tamper-with-this warning in most editing situations.

Effective communication relieves stress

Effective communication helps avoid mistakes

Effective communication sells your products and services

Years ago, I bought a poster at a store selling teaching aids. With tongue lodged firmly in cheek, the grammarian who created it listed “Rules for Good Writing.” I wish I still had that poster! Here are the rules as I recall them, along with a few I’ve added:

• Don’t use commas, that aren’t necessary.
• Every pronoun should agree with their antecedent.
• Avoid clichés like the plague.
• About sentence fragments.
• Don’t use no double negatives.
• Learn to spell correctily
• Make certain your using possessive pronouns and contractions properly in you’re writing.
• Choose the right homonym to insure precise meaning.

Let’s agree we can all learn from these while also admitting that there might be a few more substantive (and straightforward) rules to benefit the grammar-challenged (i.e. all of us, to varying degrees). I propose the following:

• Keep it simple.
• Clarity is the foundation of good writing. (Skip this rule if obfuscation is your goal — as, for example, it often seems to be when politicians take non-positions on controversial issues)
• If you are reasonably adept at conversation, write as if you are speaking — minus “you know,” “man,” “I’m like” (for “I said” or “I thought”), and other affectations. Except in very formal or academic writing, you can’t go too far wrong using a conversational style.
• Read aloud what you write. If any part sounds awkward, revise it.
• Whenever and whatever you read — newspapers, magazines, books, Internet content, and all else — absorb more than the subject matter. Notice grammar (the way words and punctuation are used), sentence structure, paragraph structure, and whether or not the ideas expressed flow smoothly. Make this kind of analysis a habit, and soon you will recognize the difference between good and bad writing. Then you can imitate the good.
• It’s OK to use the terminology or jargon of your profession if doing so contributes to readers’ understanding. Always keep rules #1, #2, and #7 in mind, however.
• Know your audience, and write for it.
• The best substitute for knowing everything is knowing where to find it. Acquire a good dictionary, a thesaurus, a guidebook on grammar, and a library card. Become familiar with techniques for doing research on the Internet.
• When you borrow the phrasing of another writer, acknowledge the source in your own writing. This practice is called “attribution.” Failure to attribute is called “plagiarism.”
• Spell-checking software may be infallible, but you are knot. Proofread! If your writing is really important, have another person proofread it as well.
• If you depend solely on grammar-checking software, you will never learn to write better than you can right now.
• Use word games and puzzles (crosswords, etc.) to build your vocabulary.
• You’ll encounter other helpful guidelines for good writing throughout your life. Add them to this list.