I’ve stolen this phrase from the first book I read about writing that got me excited to be a writer. Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott left such an impression on me that it still sits on my reference books shelf. It was a revelation, getting to this specific chapter. I felt vindicated when she told me that, “all good writers write them,” because I’ve had some terrible first drafts. Before Anne, I’d stare at them in desperation, convinced this was the best I could do. My writing wasn’t going to get...

I sometimes find myself reading through feedback for a piece I’m working on, whether it’s via email or as comments directly on my working document. I look at them all, give myself a minute, then get a little verbally cheeky at my computer. It’s not that the feedback isn’t helpful, but maybe it’s not delivered in the best way. The hard thing is that, as a freelancer, I’m automatically not the subject expert. I may know a little, but I don’t know everything my client does about their brand or...

When I began my freelance content creator career I had just come off a long stint in marketing. For 15 years I worked in an environment where the message mattered most and the more concisely you could present that message the better. For a long time, SEO didn’t exist, and neither did social media, so the focus was print. There was no algorithm to write for, and no length restrictions other than how big the print piece was.

As I left the marketing world, writing for the Web was becoming more...

I was working on an article recently and came across a quote that I wanted to use. It fit the topic perfectly. As I read along to see how much I wanted to take, I came across a huge disappointment. It was almost enough to make me look elsewhere for a quote. Hidden among the meaningful content, the person in question had said, “close proximity.” This pair of words is like nails on a chalkboard for me. It was a dilemma. Give up this perfect quote to search for who knows how long for something...

I decided to write a blog post on this single topic because of my own personal interest. The very idea that a simple comma could create such controversy is both amusing and fascinating. How does this even happen? Why does this even happen? How can something be right and used everywhere one day, to simply become a matter of opinion the next? I decided to explore the issue, and here’s what I found.

Right or wrong

Interestingly enough, using or omitting the Oxford comma is neither right nor...