Judy Gregory, Author at Judy Gregory Writer

2 space or not 2 space

When you write, are you a double spacer or a single spacer That is, do you leave two spaces after a full stop, or just oneIf any question is guaranteed to start an argument in a writing discussion, it's this one People who learned to type on typewriters (remember them) tend to advocate strongly for two spaces People who have actually been taught wordprocessing (and they're few and far between) prefer to use one And then of course, there are people who don't know, don't care, and don't...

When nouns become verbs

I've never been completely comfortable with nouns that transform into verbs I've learned to put up with 'impact' and 'action' The Telstra person I was speaking to today continually promised to 'action my request', and I barely grimaced I just hope that she really does follow through!But when did 'message' become a verb This morning I received this 'Sorry to message you so late 'Yes, I know, it's all part of the way that language develops And part of the beauty of English is our ability to do...

Communicating in the face of disasters

Last Saturday's 'Background Briefing' on ABC Radio National was about disasters - how to plan for them, how to manage them, and how to communicate about them The conversation about the benefits (or otherwise) of centralised control during disasters and about the benefits (or otherwise) of spreading insurance risk was fascinating But what really caught my attention was the conversation about disaster communicationFrom the perspective of clear communication, three comments stood out for me:The...

Getting started

February always seems like a good time to start new ventures The year is still young, for me work is quite scarce, and there's time to think about doing new things Last February I launched The Writing Circle, a Brisbane-based network of workplace writing groups We've got two groups meeting regularly to talk about ways to improve our workplace writing And while I'm the facilitator of these groups, I'm finding that I learn an enormous amount from all of the participants The groups have...