Archive for the ‘Writing Contests’ Category

I’ve removed the commas, colons and semicolons from the following sentences. See if you can correctly put them back. One missing punctuation mark is common to all of them–the semicolon. Can you use it properly? Give it a try and send your revisions to me–either as a comment in the blog OR by email to jody@brunerbiz.com. In next month’s newsletter, I’ll post the correctly punctuated sentences and publish a list of everyone who gets it right.

1.  Happiness isn’t something you experience it’s something you remember. –Oscar Levant

2.  I never voted for anyone I always voted against. –W.C. Fields

3.  It is forbidden to kill therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets. –Voltaire

4.  To say that we have a clear conscience is to utter a solecism had we never sinned we should have had no conscience. –Thomas Carlyle

5.  Genius consists in a carefully trained highly polished ability a thoughtfully educated unbiased good taste and a willingness to engage in and a persistence to do hard work. –Anonymous

6.  First prize was given to Jane Smervitz Peoria Illinois second prize to Sam Frimpson Duluth Minnesota third prize to Amber Ambleton Oxnard California.

7.  This project appears to be overwhelming nevertheless it can be done.

8.  The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd indeed in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind a widespread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible. –Bertrand Russell

9.  There were other factors too the deadly tedium of small-town life where any change was a relief the nature of current Protestant theology rooted in Fundamentalism and hot with bigotry and not least a native American moralistic blood lust that is half historical determinism and half Freud. –Robert Coughlan

10.  The wish of the genuine painter must be more extensive instead of endeavouring to amuse mankind with the minute neatness of his imitations he must endeavour to improve them by the grandeur of his ideas instead of seeking praise by deceiving the superficial sense of the spectator he must strive for fame by captivating the imagination. –Sir Joshua Reynolds

This quiz is setting up our next newsletter, where Christine and I will be waging the battle of the semicolon. I’ll be sharing all the things I hate about it, and she’ll be expressing her misguided affection for it. Stay tuned.

The challenge was to transform this negative message into a positive one:

Consider the disadvantages of failing to continue your regular contributions to your child’s Golden Financial RESP plan:

• You lose the advantage of tax sheltered interest an RESP savings plan provides. Interest earned outside an RESP is usually taxable income, which significantly reduces the amount available when your child approaches you for funds to pay for books, food, tuition, bus fare, fees, residence and so on.
• you will not earn the same high rate of return individually as when your funds are pooled in Golden Financial’s 1.6m portfolio
• you lose the $500 Canadian Education Savings Grant for this year.

Thanks to everyone who participated. It was tough to choose—here’s what our panel of judged decided:

First Prize goes to Jennifer Ross, Writer/Editor, Correspondence Unit, Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. Jennifer got 3rd prize in our September contest. She rewrites:

This is how you and your child will benefit from regular contributions to a Golden Financial RESP:

• tax sheltered interest—all of the interest you earn will be available for your child’s education
• a high rate of return on your investment—you’ll benefit from pooling your funds in Golden Financial’s $1.6 million portfolio
• the Canadian Education Savings Grant—$500 each year you contribute to the plan

(Okay, I changed the period after RESP to a colon)

Second Prize goes to Ruth Melady, Policy Specialist at the Ontario Government. Ruth received 2nd Prize in our September contest. Her revision:

Consider the advantages of continuing your regular contributions to your child’s Golden Financial RESP plan. You can:

• get the advantage of tax sheltered interest an RESP savings plan provides. This will increase the amount available to pay for books, food, tuition, bus fare, fees, residence and so on.
• earn a higher rate of return by pooling your funds in Golden Financial’s 1.6m portfolio than with individual funds.
• qualify for the $500 Canadian Education Savings Grant for this year.

Third Prize goes to Sonia Gluppe, from the Ministry of Health (notice a theme here?)

By continuing to contribute regularly to your child’s Golden Financial RESP plan:

• you benefit from the advantage of tax sheltered interest an RESP savings plan provides. This significantly increases the amount you will have available when your child approaches you for funds to pay for books, food, tuition, bus fare, fees, residence and so on.
• you will earn a higher rate of return than you could individually
• you will receive the $500  Canadian Education Savings Grant each year

This month, the challenge is to transform a message that’s written negatively and make it positive:

Consider the disadvantages of failing to continue your regular contributions to your child’s Golden Financial RESP plan:

• you lose the advantage of tax sheltered interest an RESP savings plan provides. Interest earned outside an RESP is usually taxable income, which significantly reduces the amount available when your child approaches you for funds to pay for books, food, tuition, bus fare, fees, residence and so on.
• you will not earn the same high rate of return individually as you can when your funds are pooled in Golden Financial’s 1.6 m portfolio
• you lose the $500 Canadian Education Savings Grant for this year

We’ll keep the contest open until the end of November.

You can post your rewrite in the comments below, or email it to jody@brunerbiz.com. Good luck!

Last month’s challenge was to rewrite this sentence:

A preliminary design of the works has now been completed and several locations have been identified where existing buried services and utilities must be exposed so that their exact location, elevation and dimensions can be accurately determined.

The main problem with this sentence is that it’s written entirely in the passive voice. We don’t know who is doing what—there are no people. Also, the passive voice gives it a kind of hypnotic quality—makes me want to take a nap.

First Place

to Hilary Bell, who rewrites the sentence in the active voice:

We have completed a preliminary works design to identify which buried utilities and services we need to expose to determine their exact location, elevation and dimensions.

Second Place

Ruth Melady, Policy Specialist at the Ontario Govenment, removed most of the passive voice and adds a personal pronoun

Having completed a preliminary design of the works we note several locations where existing utilities must be exposed to determine exact location, elevation and dimensions.

Third Place

Jennifer Ross–Writer/Editor, Correspondence Unit, Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities–also removes most of the passive voice. She hasn’t added any personal pronouns, but it’s still a big improvement.

A preliminary survey of the works site has identified several locations where buried services and utilities must be exposed to determine their location, elevation and dimensions.

Here’s a sentence for you to edit. It’s way too wordy and written completely in the passive voice. See if you can shorten and clarify it:

A preliminary design of the works has now been completed and several locations have been identified where existing buried services and utilities must be exposed so that their exact location, elevation and dimensions can be accurately determined.

Either send your rewrite to me by email at jody@brunerbiz.com or post your response as a comment on the blog. I’ll publish winning entries in next month’s newsletter.

Thanks to everyone who entered our August ’09 Writing Contest. The challenge was to rewrite this sentence:

“Bidders are advised that only listing experience without providing any supporting data such as; number of projects completed and in progress, the period of the work performed in number of months and years in past and present employment, where and how such experience was obtained will not be considered to be “demonstrated” for the purpose of this evaluation.”

First place goes to Susanna Shankman, Marketing Manager with PricewaterhouseCoopers, who stays true to the original. She makes the passage concise, positive, and easier to understand. The use of a list is also really helpful:

When listing experience, please provide supporting data such as:

• the number of projects completed and in progress;
• the period of the work performed (i.e., the number of months and years, covering both past and present employment); and
• where and how such experience was obtained.

Please note that the list will not be considered for this evaluation, unless bidders include the required supporting data.

Second place goes to Russ Tattersall, Manager, Employee & Labour Relations, Human Resources of The Minto Group. Russ also stayed true to the original content and uses a list to add some clarity.

In order to demonstrate experience for the purposes of this RFP, you must provide supporting information such as:

• Where and how claimed experience was obtained
• Past and current employment periods (years and months)
• Number of projects completed
• Number of projects in progress
• Any other relevant details you believe will substantiate your experience

Third place goes to Larry Vander Schaaf:

Bidders are advised that each item of listed experience must be supported by details which include the following:

• Number of related projects which are either in progress or completed
• Amount of work performed during past and present employment, (measured in months and years)
• Where and how the experience was obtained.

Other prizes:

For getting rid of clutter and redundancy, Yvonne Hess of the Region of Durham:

Bidders must provide details demonstrating their experience. (from 59 words to 7!)

And for making me laugh: Clare Lynch

If you don’t provide full details of your work experience, then your application will go straight in the bin.

And Jim August 21, 2009 at 12:24 pm

Bidders are advised that experience listed without supporting data will not be deemed “demonstrated” and, therefore, not considered for the purpose of this evaluation. Supporting data will include: the number of projects completed and in progress, the duration of each project, the dates and durations of past employment. For other experience, the type and location of training should also be included.

Or, If you can decipher the above and provide the information requested, you’re IN.

I’d provide a link for you, Jim, but I don’t have one!

Here’s a sentence I came across last week in an RFP. I was itching to rewrite it for clarity and correctness. Instead, I’ll let you try it:

“Bidders are advised that only listing experience without providing any supporting data such as; number of projects completed and in progress, the period of the work performed in number of months and years in past and present employment, where and how such experience was obtained will not be considered to be “demonstrated” for the purpose of this evaluation.”

You can submit your rewrite as a comment in the blog or send it to me by email at jody@brunerbiz.com.