Aug 13, 2024 — With kids starting classes again soon, we thought it might be fun and timely to offer you your own quick Writing Tips 101. 😃
Respected content strategist and editor Megan Krause put it beautifully when she wrote, “Language is the tool with which we try to make sense of it all. It’s how we describe and report on ourselves, the world, and our reality. We use it to discern truth, woo partners, topple governments, and make peace with our souls. And as such, it deserves our respect. Good grammar honors the power and beauty of words.”
She went on to simply say, “Poor grammar harms your credibility and makes you look careless.”
Our Creative team learned that the hard way the time we sent a Cardie Newsletter in which we’d missed the “i before e except after c” and a dozen Cardies promptly pointed the slip out to us. As well they should! If this community can’t trust that Cardthartic will be meticulous with grammar and punctuation when we’re creating cards for you to send loved ones, what good are we?!
It was in my college journalism classes that I learned to follow the Associated Press style guide. That said, the following list of writing tips is less authoritative than just based on my own pet peeves! 😆 Here we go …
1. Commas vs. periods
We’ve noticed that it’s becoming increasingly common to place commas where periods belong, causing run-on sentences galore. We try thinking of a comma as a speed bump — placed where the writer would like the reader to pause — and a period is akin to a stop sign.
Use a comma
– between Hi or Hello and the recipient’s name
“Hey, Paige. I miss you!”
– before and after addressing a person mid-sentence
“Thank you, Mary, for the amazingly thoughtful gift!”
– to indicate a pause between two related thoughts
“If I’d thought of it, I would have slipped a magnet (rather than that $100 bill!) into the neighbor-kid’s graduation card.”
2. You’re vs. Your
Use YOU’RE when you can replace it with the words “you are” and the sentence still makes sense.
“You’re the best card sender I know!”
Use YOUR when referring to ownership.
“Your card was my favorite of all!”
3. It’s vs. Its
Use IT’S when you can replace that one word with “it is” or “it has” and the sentence still makes sense.
“It’s lovely to hear from you after all these years!”
“It’s been too hot to even walk to the mailbox.”
Use ITS when referring to something belonging to someone or something.
“Eek, this envelope is missing its stamp!”
4. There vs. Their vs. They’re
Use THERE when referring to a location.
“When she moved her bed, omg, she found 5,000 cards stashed under there!”
Use THEIR when referring to something belonging to someone.
“Cardies should receive their orders within days.”
Use THEY’RE to mean “they are.”
“And they’re pretty excited!”
5. Me vs. I
To determine which is correct — I or ME — drop the name of the other person from the sentence and see if it still makes sense.
“Bianca and I will be working on new designs today.”
(You wouldn’t say, “Me will be working on new designs today.”
“This package is addressed to you and me.”
(You wouldn’t say, “This package is addressed to I.”
Honestly, like so many things in life, I find effective writing is about intentionality. “Do I want to take pride in how I’ve expressed myself? Have I been as clear and concise as I’m able to be? And is it worth the time and effort to read back through carefully to confirm that I’ve punctuated correctly?” Personally, I work on becoming a better communicator every day. And I love that, in this Cardie Community, we serve as role models for any kids in our lives … and for each other!
In the Comments section, we’d love to read any writing tips you’ve learned — or taught! — along the way. And below you’ll see eight Cardie-favorite boxed note designs. Let’s grab our pens and happily get to it!
Thanks for caring.
Jodee Stevens
Founder & Chief Creative
Aug 13, 2024 — With kids starting classes again soon, we thought it might be fun and timely to offer you your own quick Writing Tips 101. 😃
Respected content strategist and editor Megan Krause put it beautifully when she wrote, “Language is the tool with which we try to make sense of it all. It’s how we describe and report on ourselves, the world, and our reality. We use it to discern truth, woo partners, topple governments, and make peace with our souls. And as such, it deserves our respect. Good grammar honors the power and beauty of words.”
She went on to simply say, “Poor grammar harms your credibility and makes you look careless.”
Our Creative team learned that the hard way the time we sent a Cardie Newsletter in which we’d missed the “i before e except after c” and a dozen Cardies promptly pointed the slip out to us. As well they should! If this community can’t trust that Cardthartic will be meticulous with grammar and punctuation when we’re creating cards for you to send loved ones, what good are we?!
It was in my college journalism classes that I learned to follow the Associated Press style guide. That said, the following list of writing tips is less authoritative than just based on my own pet peeves! 😆
Here we go …
1. Commas vs. periods
We’ve noticed that it’s becoming increasingly common to place commas where periods belong, causing run-on sentences galore. We try thinking of a comma as a speed bump — placed where the writer would like the reader to pause — and a period is akin to a stop sign.
Use a comma
– between Hi or Hello and the recipient’s name
“Hey, Paige. I miss you!”
– before and after addressing a person mid-sentence
“Thank you, Mary, for the amazingly thoughtful gift!”
– to indicate a pause between two related thoughts
“If I’d thought of it, I would have slipped a magnet (rather than that $100 bill!) into the neighbor-kid’s graduation card.”
2. You’re vs. Your
Use YOU’RE when you can replace it with the words “you are” and the sentence still makes sense.
“You’re the best card sender I know!”
Use YOUR when referring to ownership.
“Your card was my favorite of all!”
3. It’s vs. Its
Use IT’S when you can replace that one word with “it is” or “it has” and the sentence still makes sense.
“It’s lovely to hear from you after all these years!”
“It’s been too hot to even walk to the mailbox.”
Use ITS when referring to something belonging to someone or something.
“Eek, this envelope is missing its stamp!”
4. There vs. Their vs. They’re
Use THERE when referring to a location.
“When she moved her bed, omg, she found 5,000 cards stashed under there!”
Use THEIR when referring to something belonging to someone.
“Cardies should receive their orders within days.”
Use THEY’RE to mean “they are.”
“And they’re pretty excited!”
5. Me vs. I
To determine which is correct — I or ME — drop the name of the other person from the sentence and see if it still makes sense.
“Bianca and I will be working on new designs today.”
(You wouldn’t say, “Me will be working on new designs today.”
“This package is addressed to you and me.”
(You wouldn’t say, “This package is addressed to I.”
Honestly, like so many things in life, I find effective writing is about intentionality. “Do I want to take pride in how I’ve expressed myself? Have I been as clear and concise as I’m able to be? And is it worth the time and effort to read back through carefully to confirm that I’ve punctuated correctly?” Personally, I work on becoming a better communicator every day. And I love that, in this Cardie Community, we serve as role models for any kids in our lives … and for each other!
In the Comments section, we’d love to read any writing tips you’ve learned — or taught! — along the way. And below you’ll see eight Cardie-favorite boxed note designs. Let’s grab our pens and happily get to it!
Thanks for caring.
Jodee Stevens
Founder & Chief Creative
Thank you, Jodee, for addressing these common grammatical errors. I am so old school, and it seems the whole world has forgotten what proper grammar even is! I think my favorite is one I heard all the time when I lived in Chicago and still hear on TV from time to time:
“You want to go with?” With who? With what? It drives me crazy! :)
Love to all of you, as always!
Judy
Thank you for the helpful hints and beautiful cards.
Fondest regards,
Cecilia (CC)
Such a kick reading all about grammar and punctuation. Takes me back to Catholic School days with our dear nuns drumming information, which we never thought we’d need, into our cute little heads!! Days of diagramming sentences and improving our penmanship while doing so!!
Well, at nearly 74 years of age, I believe it all served me well! Thanks for the memories, Jodi!!
Dear Babs,
Thank you for saluting Catholic-school grammar instruction. I had 16 years of Catholic education and then taught in public high school for 33 years. I did another 5 at a non-sectarian university as well. But my last 12, at a Catholic university were among my happiest years. And I can still diagram a sentence! Be well.
Speaking of spelling….sorry JODEE for the faux pas!!!
In our family, we take turns channeling Aunt Liddy, who taught high school English and kept all of us on our grammatical toes. At the same time, she encouraged us to write and helped us want to do it well. My own “nails on the chalkboard” cringe comes when people say “all of the sudden” instead of “suddenly,” or “all of a sudden.” Thank you, Jodee, et al!
Jodee, my eyes perked up when I read this headline. You hit the big ones–and beautifully. (I love those examples all referring to cards and cardies.) , May I add a couple more?
6. Sentences should have a subject and predicate. Sometimes, I know, this is thrown to the winds for effect. Lately, however, I’ve seen it so much, it’s beginning to rub off. I find myself writing incomplete sentences far, far too often.
7. MY vs. I’s
Both my niece and a cousin’s daughter got straight A’s in high school English, and yet they each wrote something like, “This is Ben and I’s project.”
MY and MINE are both possessive pronouns.
That sentence would properly be: This is Ben’s and my project.
Thanks for this email. Good grammar and punctuation are so necessary – as are manners.