The things that really irritate me are the obvious (ok, maybe obvious to me!) things like the ‘your’ vs. ‘you’re’ and just all round bad grammar and typos. And mostly, I see these type of things not on blogs, but on company websites. Sometimes I see them when I get called to fix things, other times I come across them by accident. But I really think that if people want customers, they should try and make sure they have a site that looks professional.

Looking at my post, I probably went a bit OTT, and again I’m sorry if I came across as anal.

Perhaps instead I shall share some of the tips and tricks I have learned as a copywriter, which people can use, lose or abuse as they choose. (that was totally not a planned rhyme by the way, lol).

As for the exclamation marks, they’re like emoticons – you can get away with them in many cases, especially as they indicate tone… but just don’t try them when you’re doing a proposal or business letter, hehehe.

By the way…

‘I frequently find myself googling basic grammar stuff that I have completely forgotten’

That is the key point – you take the time to check things if you’re not sure. I even do that when I’m having a brain-dead day, and I use tools like Dictionary.com and Thesaurus.com a lot, and spellcheck too.

You’re spot on about it being a learning thing, and it IS fun. This is how we become good writers, by learning and improving our skills on a constant basis.

I am actually starting to feel freaked out about sending this post! You have made me nervous Rox

Of course if you lack basic grammar and spelling education, and have insufficient writing skills, perhaps you are not in the best position to try and educate at all.