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Here to Edit is an online editing service that helps you produce higher quality pieces of writing. Please follow this blog for updates, helpful tips, and more. To register or place an order, please go to www.heretoedit.com. Thanks!

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The New and Improved 50 Successful College Admissions Essays | AdmitSee

The college application essay anthology, “50 Successful Harvard Application Essays,” was published over a decade ago. I remember reading my copy and being stunned that there were so many different ways to tackle the college essay. I had no idea you could be so creative and honest. I was enthralled. It remains one of the staples

Here's an article about the new book!

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Hey, I recently collaborated with Admitsee.com and published an ebook called “25 Successful Ivy League Admission Essays”. Please take a look and tell your friends! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M99FROO

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Ask An Expert: 5 Steps of Essay Writing | AdmitSee

This week, the founder of heretoedit.com shares the most crucial five steps you should follow every time you attack an essay for the college application.1. Create a TimelineYou need to give yourself enough time to produce a quality essay. Don’t wait until the very last minute to write it because you

Anyone striving to write better essays should read this article!

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Ellipses.

Here's a link that'll help you use ellipses the right way!

[its-a-writer-thing]

Four Ways to Improve Your Grammar and Punctuation

Let’s face it; grammar and punctuation are hard. Especially in the English language, it’s a vast and ever-changing pool of rules, regulations, and personal taste that can enhance your text or completely sink it.

Just as grueling a truth: We can’t do without them. We may hate it, but – just like your protagonist hates teaming up with the antagonist (even if the reader loves it) – we need it and we have to roll with it. Punctuation is mortar for a wordsmith and grammar is the clay in the bricks. If you want to build a successful and enjoyable story (fiction or non), you have to master these two incredibly vital, incredibly annoying elements.

“How,” you ask? Well, here are some of the easiest and most steadfast tips for getting a hold on it.

Reading. Now trust me - this really is the best way. Seeing it in practice engrains the proper usage in your head. It’ll help you develop an eye for it and catch those errors everywhere. Eventually – over the course of two books or two hundred – you’ll begin noticing errors by just feeling that something is off. You may not know the technical reason, but that certain comma in that place has such a faulty tone about it that you can’t help but change it to an em dash. Or a sentence will just sound slightly off and you won’t be able to leave it until you’ve achieved that perfect click of corrected perfection.

Writing. After seeing it in practice, putting it into practice yourself will solidify the entire process in your mind. It’s one thing to watch someone else ride a bike – and it’s helpful – but climbing onto one yourself and trying out the petals ensures you’ll never forget how to ride it. It’ll also show you which rules are hard and fast, and which are fashionable deviations. Bonus: Portions of grammar and punctuation are simply stylistic; so apply the hard and fast rules and then play with the stylistic portions to suit your own writing. Do you like the way a certain author lengthens their sentences? The way another uses commas? Neither are wrong, just a preference. Try out their methods and see which you prefer. You’ll probably fluctuate through a variety of styles while doing so and it’ll strengthen your writing voice.

Getting Feedback. After placing your newfound knowledge on the page, having others look over it to catch mistakes will help to guide you even further in the right direction. As much as you may disliked it, having that one reviewer who points out every single error will help burn those mistakes into your head and you’ll never make those specific errors again – maybe just to spite them. And remember, as you’re downing that entire pint of Rocky Road: Grammar and punctuation are rather technical things, so don’t beat yourself up about making mistakes. Really, it’s just a misplaced generic symbol.

Freelance studying. Certainly attending courses specializing in grammar and punctuation would be helpful, but maybe you don’t have the time or the funds to devote to that. Instead, as you’re writing, if you come across a comma you’re not quite sure about or a phrasing that’s not quite right, stop and Google your very specific question. “Does a comma come before or after a quote?” “Is [insert phrase] grammatically correct?” Usually a few results will come up with detailed answers, not only solving your problem but also explaining the rules behind this solution, which you can remember for next time. This is an invaluable step.

So whether you want to improve your use of grammar and punctuation for your own satisfaction or to get that one reviewer to shut up, the end result is master these two important bits of knowledge. It’s a long process, but these four tips will give you the most effective, most efficient, and least costly college course you can find.

I hope you find this helpful! Feel free to check out my website: Ember Ink Wordsmithing

Happy writing!

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Understanding the five most common grammatical errors can help you improve your writing. When you know which errors to look for, it's easier to act as your own editor.

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5 Career-Boosting New Year's Resolutions You'll Actually Want to Keep

5 Easy New Year's Resolutions for Your Career - The Muse: Instead of making the same old new year's resol...

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Fix It Friday

Here’s a new entry for Fix It Friday!

BEFORE

I hope you are doing great today, This is the second time am sending you this letter, the truth is i got your email contact on the internet and decided to contact you regarding this business proposal.

I am Mrs.Maya Wilson head of accounting udit department of United OverSeas Bank Kuala Lumpur Branch, here in Malaysia. I am writing you about a business proposal that will be of an immense benefit to both of us. In my department, being the manager Kuala Lumpur regional office, I discovered a Sum amount of money in an account that belongs to one of our foreign customers late business mogul mr. moises saba masri billionaire, a Jew from mexico that was a victim of a helicopter crash 10 Jan, 2010, killtinging him and his family members. Saba was 46-years-old. Also in the chopper at the time of the crash was his wife, their son abraham (Alberto) and his daughter-in-law. the pilot was also dead. 

Now our bank has been waiting for any of the relatives to come-up for the claim but nobody has done that. I seek your consent to present you as the next of kin/Will beneficiary to the deceased so that the proceeds of this account valued  can be paid to you. 

Please on your confirmation of this message and indicating your interest I will furnish you with more information.endeavor to let me know your decision rather than keep me waiting. 

Thanking you in anticipation of your favorable reply. 

Kind Regards Mrs Maya Wilson 

AFTER

I hope you are doing great today. This is my second time sending you this letter. The truth is, I got your email address from the internet and decided to contact you regarding a business proposal that would be immensely beneficial to both of us.

I am Mrs. Maya Wilson, head of the accounting audit department at the United OverSeas Bank in Malaysia. As the manager of Kuala Lumpur’s regional office, I discovered a large sum of money in an account that belongs to one of our foreign customers. He is the late billionaire business mogul, Mr. Moises Saba Masri, who was killed in a helicopter crash on January 10, 2010. Saba was 46 years old. His wife, his son Abraham (Alberto), and his daughter-in-law were also killed, along with the pilot.

Our bank has been waiting for relatives to take Saba’s claim but no one has showed up. I seek your consent to present you as the next of kin/will beneficiary of the deceased so that the proceeds of this account can be paid to you.

After you confirm this message to indicate your interest, I will send you more information. Please let me know your decision rather than keep me waiting.

I anticipate your favorable reply. Thank you.

Kind Regards,

Mrs Maya Wilson

==

There were punctuation, spelling, and other grammar mistakes, but the new version is in much better shape.

Well, I hope this was helpful! If you want to submit something for Fix It Friday, please send it by 5pm on Thursday. Have a nice weekend ^^.

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Fix It Friday

Here’s a new entry for Fix It Friday

BEFORE

Dear friend, 

Please everything concerning myself including my name and identity would be revealed in my nest email to you.I am left with no option than my present decision to secure my family future through your kind assistance towards investing my fund in your country or better place of your wish.My country, Syria was plunged into crisis that has forced many to flee our and become refugees to other countries including my family due to horrible killings here.Unfortunately i have not been opportuned to leave due to my position.I sincerely sort for your kind assistance to take position of my fund worth of Thirteen Million Seven Hundred Thousand dollars for investment in a profitable venture, and I humbly ask for you to make good arrangement to transfer my family to your country if possible.Every arrangement on concerning this fund and its transfer process would be made available in my nest mail to you, and more so making myself available for better knowledge and understanding.I assure to corporate and carry you along in every of the invested venture you made and a reasonable fair share percentage to you is assured.Please respond to me back through my personal mailing address: [email protected] in no distance time as i wait your interest reply. 

Thanks and best regards.  

A. Meddin.

AFTER

Dear friend, 

Everything concerning myself, including my identity, will be revealed in my next email. I have been left with no other option than to secure my family future through your kind assistance. My country, Syria, has been plunged into crisis. It has forced many, including my family, to flee our homes and become refugees in other countries due to the horrible killings. Unfortunately, I have not had the opportunity to leave due to my position.

I sincerely plead for you to take my $13.7 million for investment in a profitable venture, and I humbly ask for you to make good arrangements to transfer my family to your country, if possible. Every arrangement concerning this fund and its transfer process will also be in my next email. I will carry you along every aspect of the invested venture you make and I will give you a reasonable percentage of the earnings. Please respond to me through my personal email address: [email protected] as soon as possible. I wait for your reply. 

Thanks and best regards,  

A. Meddin.

--

This entry had some verb tense, punctuation and wording issues (e.g. nest instead of next); plus it was a bit wordy or repetitive in places. Also, large sums of money are supposed to be written numerically.  

Well, I hope this was helpful! If you want to submit something for Fix It Friday, please send it by 5pm on Thursday. Have a nice weekend ^^.

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Fix It Friday

Here’s a new post for Fix It Friday!

BEFORE

Dear Sir, Nice to know you through website. We know you purchasing castings from China,so our factory hope to have a chance on our cooperation. We mainly produce lost-wax casting for steel parts. We have own CNC machining shop. We specialize in this field for several years, with good quality and pretty competitive price. Any questions and enquiries will be highly regarded. Just email us the drawing and detailed requirement, you will get a complete quotation with technical analysis within 24 hours. FREE SAMPLES can be sent on request. Reply me, let“s talk more! Thanks and best regards, Yang Shengwu General Manager

AFTER

Dear Sir, Nice to find you through your website. We know that you purchase castings from China, so our factory hopes for your cooperation. The CNC Machining Shop produces lost-wax casting for steel parts. We have been specializing in this field for several years, and create good quality parts at a competitive price. We highly regard any questions or inquiries. Just email us a drawing with a detailed requirement, and you will get a complete quotation with a technical analysis within 24 hours. FREE SAMPLES can be sent on request. Reply to me and let’s talk more! Thanks and best regards, Yang Shengwu General Manager

--

This email is structured well, but it was difficult to read because of grammar and sentence structure issues. The cleaned up version is easier to read.

Well, I hope this was helpful! If you want to submit something for Fix It Friday, please send it by 5pm on Thursday. Have a nice weekend ^^.

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Fix It Friday

Here’s a new post for Fix It Friday!

BEFORE

Attention Please: I am Mrs Teresa Williams from United Kingdom. However I know this message may come to you as a surprise, please consider this with all seriousness I solicited your assistance in the most polite language. I went through your profile and counted you worthy for this transaction. I am a dying woman who had decided to donate what I have to Charities. I am 63 years old by age, and was diagnosed for cancer about two years ago immediately after the death of my husband, Life for me in this world is not that important since we are passing our life in this world so we can have a place in Heaven I have been touched by God to donate from what I have inherited from my late husband for the good work of God, rather than allow his relatives to use my husband's hard earned funds ungodly. As I lay on my sick bed, I want you to help me in carrying out my last wish on earth which will be very profitable to you. I want to WILL a total sum of ($4.4 Million United States Dollars) to you which I want you to distribute part of it to any charity home, for your kindness on this work you are to carry out, I am offering you 40% while 60% of the Fund will go to any Charity organizations of your choice for me, please I am looking forward to hearing from you soon. Regards, Mrs Teresa Williams

AFTER

Attention Please:

I am Mrs. Teresa Williams from the United Kingdom. I know this message may come to you as a surprise, but please consider this with all seriousness. I am soliciting your assistance in the most polite language.

I went through your profile and deemed you worthy for this transaction. I am a dying woman who has decided to donate what I have to charity. I am 63 years old, and I was diagnosed with cancer immediately after the death of my husband about two years ago. Life for me in this world is not that important since we are all passing through life so that we can have a place in heaven. I have been touched by God to donate what I have inherited from my late husband, rather than allow his relatives to misuse my husband's hard earned funds.

As I lay on my sick bed, I want you to help me with carrying out my last wish on earth, which will be very profitable to you. I want to will a total of $4.4 million USD to you so that you can distribute part of it to charity. For your kindness in this work you are to carry out, I am offering you 40% while 60% of the funds will go to any charity organizations of your choice for me. Please, I am looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Regards,

Mrs Teresa Williams

---

This entry was good, but it needed to be broken down into paragraphs. Plus there were a few issues with verb tense and punctuation (e.g. using commas instead of periods).

Well, I hope this was helpful! If you want to submit something for Fix It Friday, please send it by 5pm on Thursday. Have a nice weekend ^^.

[heretoedit]

Fix It Friday

Here’s a new entry for Fix It Friday!

BEFORE

Dear entrepreneur, is your decision behavior different compared to other start-ups in your and other industries? Please support an important research project and get the answer to this question in form of the exclusive hands-on findings. 

For a research project at the School of Business & Economics at Freie Universität Berlin we are conducting a survey on the „Decision Behavior of Entrepreneurs“. As the founder of a start-up your expert opinion is very important and it would be awesome if you could participate. 

All data will be collected anonymously, so that answers cannot be traced to a specific person. To complete the survey should take no longer than about 8 minutes. Also you have the opportunity to participate in a raffle. 

AFTER

Dear entrepreneur, 

Is your decision behavior different from other start-ups? Please support an important research project and get the answer to this question in the form of exclusive hands-on findings. 

The School of Business & Economics at Freie Universität Berlin is conducting a survey on the “Decision Behavior of Entrepreneurs“. As the founder of a start-up, your expert opinion is very important. It would be awesome if you could participate. 

All data will be collected anonymously so that answers cannot be traced to a specific person. Completing the survey should take no longer than 8 minutes. You also have the opportunity to participate in a raffle.

-- 

These paragraphs had some grammar and punctuation issues. The text is also missing a concluding paragraph and the name of the person who wrote the email. 

Well, I hope this was helpful! If you want to submit something for Fix It Friday, please send it by 5pm on Thursday. Have a nice weekend ^^.

[chrysaliseditorial-archive-deac]

Awhile vs. A While

Awhile (adv.): For a short time

Sherlock paused awhile after hearing John say that he was amazing. Ah, he thought. That’s new.

A While (n.): A period of time; for some time

Molly did not bother to say hello when he picked up. “Sherlock, where are you? I’ve been standing in front of Angelo’s for half an hour!”

“Sorry,” he spoke from behind her, prompting her to gasp and turn around. He ended the call once she had faced him. “It took me a while to find the perfect flowers for you,” he explained as he thrust a bouquet of flowers towards her.

She gaped at the red and yellow tulips, ambrosia, and a single, full-bloom red rose in the middle before accepting the bouquet. She had read up enough on the language of flowers to know what these meant. She blushed as she looked up at him. “Um, thank you.”

He smiled at her and gestured towards the restaurant. “Shall we? We’re just in time for our dinner reservation.”

[nycworkforce1]

"Where are you?" isn't going to cut it.

Via dailymuseblog​:

I think we can all agree that waiting to hear back about a job isn’t topping anyone’s list of favorite hobbies. Every time your phone rings or your e-mail dings, you stop what you’re doing just in case it’s news on the job front. Will you get an interview? Will you get an offer? Maybe you even pick up one of those automated scam calls, just on the off chance that the hiring manager is suddenly calling you from a blocked number or remote location.

So, more power to you if you decide to take matters into your own hands and write a note. That said, as with everything else, you need to find a way to phrase what you’re really thinking (i.e., “Hire me!”) in the best way possible.

Read on for five lines you want to be sure to avoid, as well as better options »

Image courtesy of Shutterstock

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Happy 3rd Birthday Here to Edit!

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Fix It Friday

Here’s a new entry for Fix it Friday!

BEFORE

For me, everybody is smart... just in different way. some is excellent in numbers, some is in people, some is in arts, some is in sports etc. It is just some develop it more than the rest, that is why they are stand out more. There is no talentless or stupid people, just people who develop it and people who don't develop it (yet).

About success? it is depend on how you define success. Success doesn't always define by amount of money you earn. Accomplishment is not always about money, you know. We can't measure success because people define success differently.

AFTER

To me, everybody is smart...just in different ways. Some are excellent with math, people, art, sports, etc. It‘s just that some people develop a skill better than others and start to stand out. There are no talentless or stupid people, just people who develop a talent and those who don't (yet).

And success? It depends on how you see it. Accomplishments are not all about how much money you earn, you know. We can't generalize what success is because every person defines success differently.

--

These paragraphs had several grammar issues, but the new version is easier to read. 

Well, I hope this was helpful! If you want to submit something for Fix It Friday, please send it by 5pm on Thursday.

Have a nice weekend ^^.

[chrysaliseditorial-archive-deac]

Stationery vs Stationary (Via @The_YUNiversity)

Example: Molly took advantage of the stationary train to write to Sherlock on her stationery.