Writing

Three Short Pieces To Reframe Your Day, by Pavithra K. Mehta. Never Put Two Spaces After A Period. Illustration by Slate.

Can I let you in on a secret? Typing two spaces after a period is totally, completely, utterly, and inarguably wrong. And yet people who use two spaces are everywhere, their ugly error crossing every social boundary of class, education, and taste.* You'd expect, for instance, that anyone savvy enough to read Slate would know the proper rules of typing, but you'd be wrong; every third email I get from readers includes the two-space error. (In editing letters for "Dear Farhad," my occasional tech-advice column, I've removed enough extra spaces to fill my forthcoming volume of melancholy epic poetry, The Emptiness Within.) The public relations profession is similarly ignorant; I've received press releases and correspondence from the biggest companies in the world that are riddled with extra spaces. A Slate Plus Special Feature: Never, ever use two spaces after a period: Listen to Mike Vuolo read Farhad Majoo’s classic takedown of an enduring typographic sin.

Inspirations

How to Write. Storytelling. Revolving around the Writing Revolution - Lingua Franca. I’ve been following a raging debate in The Atlantic over the pedagogy of writing, a subject dear to my heart but clear as mud when it comes to formulating a position.

The leadoff to the online debate, which continues through mid-October, was an article by the education reporter Peg Tyre about a new approach taken at Staten Island’s New Dorp High School. The follow-ups—more than a dozen as I write this—have been from people who have a stake in this matter of writing instruction. They range from the “Freedom Writer” diva Erin Gruwell to the president of Hampden-Sydney College. To me they all seem, variously, to be selling their products, and they read the original article like a Rorschach to discover the argument they can counter or agree with.

It’s a volleyball match: two sides, many players, some who set the ball up for their teammates and others who spike it over the net, with a couple who keep insisting they can take the net down and create a happier game. Why not? Return to Top. An Engaged Audience [INFOGRAPHIC] Every web publisher — and especially content marketer — yearns for an engaged and loyal audience.

But with the sheer volume of noise, clutter and — well, content — online it can be hard to figure out how to reach people and keep them coming back for more. The content marketing agency BlueGlass knows a lot about how to do this well. They've run successful campaigns for clients including eBay, Conde Nast and Greatist. Now BlueGlass is ready to share some of its secrets with Mashable readers. The company produced this exclusive infographic to run down some of the ways you too can build an engaged audience online.

Here are a few quick tips: Make sure you have a gripping headline, keep your copy to the point, make sure to provide value and promote, promote, promote. Why are these approaches so important? Check out the infographic below for the fuller picture. 750 Words.