A web page devoted to news and views on WordTask training courses and on good writing practices in general. FEEDBACK | PREVIOUS ISSUE | HOME PAGE INDEX OF ARTICLES | LIST OF WEBNOTES ISSUES May 2000 IN THIS ISSUE-- NEWS BRIEF | WORD PLAY | COURSE PROFILES | TIPS 'N TECHNIQUES NEWS BRIEF Summarizing skills now made easy! WordTask has now released a new two-day course, Summarizing Skills. It's an art that many find difficult. This new course makes the task a whole lot easier and more efficient. A major challenge for writers of summary information is to compress detail without losing the essence of intended meaning. This is perhaps the most time-consuming part of the summarizing task. The new WordTask course makes the effort more efficient through a logical process. Following a simple six-step procedure, writers confront the detailed information with a clear view of how to reduce content without losing substance. Another challenge to effective summarizing is to separate what's important in the source document from what is not. Without some effective tools, the writer is left to guess. This course provides exactly those tools. It also addresses summary information of various types, such as executive summaries, research notes, and literature reviews. * * * WordTask Jump-Start customizes writing training for new employees If your organization is growing, Jump-Start can help get your new-hires up to speed in the writing of specialized or templated documents. It can be difficult for new employees to understand and apply very specialized document types or templates. With WordTask Jump-Start, you can combine overall writing skills training with a customized information session in the use of organization-specific documentation practices and documents. This program can be integrated with any WordTask writing course. Customers will save consulting dollars with the combination of the generic training and the customized materials packaged in the one session. [Course description] WORD PLAY This is the fifth installment of our monthly survey of potential trouble words. The others have appeared in previous issues of webNOTES. continuous vs continual When an action is continuous, it extends over a period of time, without interruption. By contrast, a continual action is recurring, intermittent. impact (used as a verb) It's become fashionable to use this word as a verb, as in "How will the change in suppliers' prices impact your budget for next year?" Instead, write "How will the change in suppliers' prices affect your budget for next year?" alternative vs alternate An alternative is an option, another choice. An alternate is the sequential ordering of two things one after the other. In business English, "alternate" is often used incorrectly to mean an option or choice instead of the proper word, "alternative." fewer/less Like "amount" and "number" in last month's Word Play, these words are frequently used incorrectly. Use "less" with nouns that can't be counted (non-count nouns), as in "less time," "less money." Use "fewer" with nouns that can be counted (count nouns), as in "fewer times" (where "times" means instances or occasions), "fewer people." The following sentences are incorrect: Less dollars doesn't mean poor quality. (Correction: "Fewer dollars") I fell less times on the ice when I went skating last night. (Correction: "fewer times") COURSE PROFILES THESE ARE ONLY THREE OF OUR MORE THAN 15 WRITING PROGRAMS TO CHOOSE FROM PROPOSALS WITH THE COMPETITIVE EDGE (2 days) A writing process focused on the necessary competitive strategies for your proposals. TAKING EFFECTIVE MINUTES (1 day) Invaluable tips and techniques to improve your productivity & the quality of your meeting minutes. THE EDITOR'S TOOLKIT (2 days) The essentials for editing with accuracy, authority and diplomacy. TIPS 'N TECHNIQUES Draft quickly without pausing to revise: A guaranteed time-saver! Most experienced workplace writers have learned, sometimes the hard way, that pausing to revise at the same time as drafting prolongs the writing process unnecessarily. Draft quickly to get the essentials of your ideas in place. The objective of the drafting phase is not to get everything letter perfect. That's what the revision phase is for. Rapid drafting is only possible when you proceed from a detailed structure of your intended ideas. Without this structure, you may still need to pause while you draft to determine what to write next. The better the design of your document in the previous phase of the process, the faster you will draft, thus reducing the total writing time. FEEDBACK | PREVIOUS ISSUE | TOP OF PAGE | HOME PAGE | INDEX OF ARTICLES | LIST OF WEBNOTES ISSUES © 2000 WordTask Information Strategies