Every copywriter takes pride in delivering clean, error-free copy. That’s why you proofread, run a spell checker, or use a program such as WhiteSmoke to catch goofs.

But sometimes you can spell a word correctly and still have a spelling mistake when two words are similar and you type the wrong one. Spell checkers never catch these errors. It’s up to you to watch for them.

Here are some of the most commonly confused and misused words.

loose vs. lose

• My shoelaces always come loose when I jog.
• It’s embarrassing to explain to my neighbors why I lose my running shoes.

it’s vs. its

• It’s time to have another long meeting with management.
• Management never understands why its employees never get anything done.

they’re vs. there

• Dad just had heart surgery, but they’re planning a surprise party anyway.
• After we all yelled “surprise,” the ambulance took Dad to the hospital over there.

effect vs. affect

• When you wear those jodhpers, the effect is less than masculine.
• I told you those jodhpers would affect your social life!

you’re vs. your

• Danny, you’re going to get sick if you put hot sauce in your cereal.
• Now I’ll have to call your dad and tell him your stomach is upset.

lay vs. lie

• Cutting down that tree made me so tired I have to lie down.
• Sorry about the tree landing on your house. Just lay the broken window over there and I’ll fix it after my nap.

a lot vs. alot

• I hate it when people show off with a lot of trivia.
• “Alot” is not really a word. Well, actually Alot is home to the 5,000-year-old ancestral temple of Shiva in the Ratlam district of Madhya Pradesh, India.

who’s vs. whose

• “Hey! Who’s been eating my candy bars?”
• “I don’t know whose candy bars these are, but they’re fantastic!”

lets vs. let’s

• Mary lets her husband fix the plumbing whenever there’s a leak.
• Let’s not panic. We’ll just bail out the house and replace the carpet.

You can find some excellent proofing and editing tips in the resources area.

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This one always makes me stop and think. Should I write different from or different than?

By itself, the choice won’t affect whether someone buys the widget you’re selling, but it’s one of those little details that can add just a smidgen of extra clarity to your writing. In the aggregate, such things can improve your message and affect the response to your copy.

So, which one is correct? Different from or different than? Here’s what Elements of Style says:

Here logic supports established usage: one thing differs from another, hence, different from. Or, other than, unlike.

So that’s that. Different from is correct. But hold on, is it that simple? The University of Houston suggests that different than may sometimes be correct.

Here’s how they explain it:

Use different from for simple comparisons, as in comparing two persons or things.

Ex.:  My car is different from (not than) her car.

Ex.:  The book I bought is different from the one sold in the bookstore.

Because of increased use, different than is sometimes considered acceptable in American English. When in doubt, just use different from, as it is preferred by most people. According to the American Heritage Dictionary’s usage panel (1992),  different than is acceptable only if the words following different than make up a clause—especially if the clause is elliptical (referring to an aforementioned context without restating it). Here’s an example:

Ex.:  It seems so different than Paris.

In this example, if different from were used, Paris, the city, would be the object of comparison.  Using different than creates a subtle distinction in meaning. Since different than is used, the clause following different than is interpreted as elliptical and suggests “the way things were in Paris” or “than Paris was” or “what happened in Paris.” If you have doubt when to use different than, you might just use different from following the parallel construction rule.

Clear as mud, right? Well, if you think about it, it does make sense. So noodle it for a while. But when in doubt, just use different from and you can’t go wrong.

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Do you ever have a hard time getting the words to flow? Of course you do. It’s called writer’s block. And it happens to all writers from time to time.

But writer’s block is not inevitable. There are specific reasons you suffer from it and specific ways to avoid it. Here are 8 that help me get my fingers moving on the keyboard.

Do your research. After all, how can you write about something if you don’t have anything to say? Ask questions, collect your facts, and decide on the main points you want to make. Writing is a bit like cooking. You have to gather your ingredients before you fire up the stove.

Start with a structure. You don’t have to use a standard outline (unless you want to). After you’ve collected enough information, just put your ideas into an order that makes sense. The simpler the structure, the better. For this article, for example, my structure looks like this: 1) Introduction, 2) Series of bullet points, 3) Closing remarks. This gives you a modular approach that can further help you avoid writer’s block. If you get stuck on one section, write another section first. Writing doesn’t have to be linear.

Get it down. Writing and editing are separate processes. If you try to do both at once, you’ll hesitate on every word or come to a stop. Instead, just let loose. Write as fast as you are able and don’t worry about perfection. Allow the imperfections on your first time through. It’s always easier to edit something that’s written than to write something from scratch.

Don’t re-read. This is a big problem for me. When I’m not sure about what to write next, I go back and re-read what I’ve written up to that point in the hope that I’ll built up momentum that will carry me forward. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. It’s better to never stop writing in the first place.

Finish. If you don’t know what to say as you’re writing, it’s not likely that walking away will help. Keep writing until you’re done. Don’t stop. Even if you think what you’re writing is total crap, that’s okay. Once you’ve come to the end, you can shift into edit mode and everything will get easier. Never walk away from a project before it’s done.

Write in parts. Okay, I know I just told you to keep writing until you finish. But medium and large projects should be broken into sections. So when I say “finish,” I mean write one part at a time and always finish a part before walking away. So if you’re writing a brochure and you have 5 main sections, plow through a section start to finish. Then plow through another. And another.

Take a break. This is self-explanatory. A fresh mind works better. It’s important to schedule your writing so you can give yourself breathing room between writing and editing.

Edit ruthlessly. Now comes the easy part. If you’ve used a good structure and you have solid facts in your copy, all you have to do is clean up your sentence structure, grammar, and spelling. You should also be brutal and cut anything that doesn’t belong. Edit until your copy is crisp. If you think you’ve left something out, fill it in. But don’t get carried away. You don’t have to say everything that pops into your head.

Sounds simple, eh? It’s not. As I write this, I’m trying to follow my own advice and failing. I’m pausing, editing, and re-reading. But knowing how to write more efficiently does prevent full-blown writer’s block. And it helps to write faster, too. Usually, that’s good enough.

Related posts:

1. 7 writing workflow tips to double your writing speed