March 2016 - Word Counter Blog

“Onto” vs “On To” – The Difference Between the Two

There are a number of words which can be confusing to those using English. Some examples include was vs were, who vs whom, and further vs farther. Another of those is ‘onto’ and ‘on to’. They look so similar, and yet they are so different. When you’re talking, nobody’s going to be looking for a space between ‘on’ and ‘to’, but when you’re writing, that little space can make the difference between correct work and an embarrassing mistake.

There’s actually quite a big difference between ‘on to’ and ‘onto’, but there’s also a really simple way to know which one of these options you should be using at any given time. We’ll first look at the reasons, and then we’ll check out the ‘cheat’ that will solve your dilemma without too much grammatical analysis. The big difference explained

When to use ‘onto’

‘Onto’ could, in many instances, be replaced with the less commonly used ‘upon’. It simply means that something landed on, was placed on top of or ended up on something else. Although you might be pardoned for thinking it to be an adverb, it’s actually a preposition. For example:

The frog jumped onto the stone.
My cat crept onto my lap.
I don’t know how the mayonnaise got onto my sweater.

In informal language, ‘onto’ is also used to show that you’re ‘on top of’ a situation, or well-informed:

I’m onto your sneaky plan!
I’ll be onto the next task as soon as this one is done.

When to use ‘on to’

In this instance ‘on’ is part of a phrase containing a verb and acts as an adverb, while ‘to’ is a preposition linked to an object. For example:

She held on to the steering wheel.
I will log on to your website.
We had to move on to the next exhibit.

‘On’ is associated with the verbs ‘held’, ‘log’ and ‘move’ in these examples, while ‘to’ links us to the object of the sentence – the steering wheel, the website or the exhibit.

An easy ‘cheat’

To save yourself from the tricky business of sentence analysis every time you have to decide whether or not you’ll use ‘on to’ or ‘onto’, try this cheat. In most cases, it will clarify which of the two you should use.

Try taking the word ‘up’ and see how it fits into the sentence if you use it before ‘on’. If it’s a good fit, ‘onto’ is likely to be the correct word choice. So, using the first of each of our sets of examples:

The frog jumped (up) onto the stone.
She held (up) on to the steering wheel.

As we can see, ‘up fits well into the first example, but doesn’t make any sense in the second. This ‘cheat’ works nine times out of ten, but there may still be times when choosing between ‘on’ and ‘onto’ can be confusing. For instance:

We wandered on to the football field.
We wandered onto the football field.

These sentences are both correct, but they have slightly different meanings. In the first example, the speaker and his companions wandered from one place to another. They didn’t necessarily end up on the football field itself, but they chose to approach it. They moved on from one place to another.

In the second example, the group of people ended up on the football field itself. This could be compared with the frog jumping (up) onto a stone. So when all else fails, analysing the meaning you are trying to convey may help you with your dilemma.

In conclusion

As insignificant as the difference between ‘onto’ and ‘on to’ may seem, there are specific instances in which one or the other will be the correct choice. Working out which of the two is correct can be achieved by analysing the sentence, by checking on meaning, or by trying the word ‘up’ before on as a cheat. If the sentence still makes sense with ‘up’ inserted, then ‘onto’ is correct.

Simple Ways to Improve Your Blogging Productivity

Blogging, like working out and minding your diet is good for you. But it has one other thing in common with looking after your health — it can be hard to get around to. You tell yourself that you’ll post three times a week, and before you know it, the week is over and you haven’t written a single paragraph. If you find you don’t post as often as you’d like to on your blog, here are some fixes that you can try to write more each day.

Write your posts in the morning

Whether you think you are a morning person or not, research has shown that mornings are our strongest times for exercising willpower. All the choices we have to make throughout the day wear us out. By the time you get to relax in a quiet space in the evening, you’re more likely to flop down and watch TV than craft a great blog post. Get up earlier in the morning, and do some of the things you always mean to do but struggle to get round to.

Turn it into a habit

Write every day (or at least, most days) at a set time and you’ll build a habit. That means you don’t even think about whether or not you will write. You just do it. It takes a bit longer than the 21 days that many people believe habit formation takes, but once you have established it, you’ll watch your blogging productivity soar. Even better, it doesn’t have to be every single day — you can take weekends off if you prefer.

Set daily word count goals

As part of building the habit of daily writing, it’s also good to set a daily word count goal. It’s important to set a realistic goal that will make it likely that you’ll be able to achieve your daily goal so you continue it throughout the year. You might also want to write that book while you’re creating more blog content as well.

Take notes

Have you ever had a random flash of inspiration that you knew would make a wonderful blog post? Then when you actually get around to sit down to start working on your blog, you no longer remember what that great idea was? This should never happen. Get into the habit of using your phone or a notebook to record sudden ideas, and expand on them a little so that you can re-discover your inspiration. That way, you won’t find yourself thinking “What on earth did I mean by that?” when you consult your little memo.

Write first, edit later

Don’t interrupt the flow of your thoughts by pausing after every sentence or paragraph. Get your ideas fully roughed out and then go back to edit. That way, you won’t lose your inspiration while you wrestle with typos, check your spelling and adjust your fonts.

Get some exercise before you begin

Exercise makes you alert and improves your concentration – it also stimulates creative thinking. Does that sound crazy? Researchers have found that people performed better in creative thinking tests after going for a run. You’ll be in good company if you adopt this habit – many famous artists and writers habitually took a brisk walk before settling down to write.

Take breaks

A 30 second break can improve your mental clarity by up to 13%, and a two-minute break every half hour or so can work wonders for your productivity. Just looking up from your computer screen every now and then will reduce your fatigue. So – if you want to be more productive – take short, regular breaks. Stretch. Take a few deep breaths. Return to your writing feeling refreshed and alert.

Plan your distractions

While you’re researching your post, you may come across some interesting websites. Bookmark them for later rather than checking them out right there and then. Social media and email can also provide hours of distraction. And it’s not just a matter of sharing the occasional Facebook post or sending a Tweet. By the time you return to your writing, it will take a few minutes before you can get your thoughts back on track. Try the Pomodoro Technique where you focus for short bursts of 25 minutes. You can then schedule your ‘planned distractions’ or use them as rewards during your short breaks.

Plan before you start

Draw a mind-map or rough out your subheadings before you begin writing. Not only will your work be more structured and have a good, logical flow, you’ll save yourself from losing the blog post’s focus and having to delete chunks of irrelevant writing that doesn’t have much to do with what you’re trying to get across.

Research before you write

Instead of researching while you’re actually writing, try to do all your online research before you even begin. You can copy-paste relevant paragraphs under your sub-headings so that you don’t have to look through umpteen open tabs to find the nugget of information you wanted to include in part of your article. This should make the blog writing smoother and help you get the post done in less time.

Choose a quiet uncluttered environment

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to get a lot of work done in the library? The quiet atmosphere and the lack of distractions will work wonders. Keep this in mind when choosing your workspace for blogging. You can’t possibly be productive with the TV on, kids demanding attention and chores staring you in the face whenever you look up from your work. Some people are better able to tune out noise and distractions than others, but you still won’t be at your most productive. Find a distraction-free place to write and make that your writing area each morning.

(Photo courtesy of IMG Lighting)

When to use ‘was’ versus ‘were’

English can be difficult, especially when it comes to words that can be easily confused. A couple of examples would be who vs whom and further vs farther. Another combo that can get confusing is was vs were.

There are several reasons why you might be struggling to decide whether you should be using “was” or “were” in a sentence. The simplest of these is the conjugation of the singular and plural forms of the past tense of “to be.” While this can cause minor problems to those learning English as a second language as they study, first language English speakers usually have few problems with this. The most common cause of debate and confusion is the use of “were” instead of “was” in the subjunctive mood (We’ll explain that below if you aren’t sure what subjunctive mood is.). We’ll cover both past and subjunctive mood topics in this article, and you’ll soon see just how simple it all is.

Singular and Plural

As we’ve observed, this is the easiest of the choices you need to make, but it also gives rise to the problems that so many people have when they begin to use the subjunctive mood.

Singular: I was, he was, she was, it was – BUT you were. (Just to make things more fun!)

Plural: It’s always ‘were’, regardless of whether we’re talking about “they,” “we” or “you.” So far, so easy! But now we’ll examine how this relates to one of the most common errors in spoken or written English: the choice of “was” instead of “were” in the subjunctive mood.

If I were / was a rich man – the famous subjunctive mood

The subjunctive mood is used to describe or speculate on a hypothetical situation, and you’ll hear people using both ‘”was” and “were” in this context. But only one of these is correct. Whenever we’re talking about something that isn’t a reality at the moment, we discard “was” and choose “were” instead. It doesn’t matter whether we are referring to a single person or a group of people. As soon as we cross the border between reality and speculation, “were” is the only word to choose. For example

I was rich and I owned a house at the seaside.
If I were rich, I would have owned a house at the seaside.

He was the captain of the team and he chose a different strategy.
If he were captain of the team, he would have chosen a different strategy.

In each of the pairs of sentences above, the first one refers to something that actually happened in the past, and the word “was” is the correct choice. The second sentence is a wish or a speculation – it refers to an event that did not actually happen, and “were” is the correct choice.

They were the winning team, so they celebrated their victory.
If they were the winning team, they would celebrate their victory.

As we can see, the subjunctive mood doesn’t result in any change in word choice in this example. No matter how many people you are referring to, the subjunctive mood calls for the word “were.” If you’ve been prone to saying the incorrect “I wish I was,” “If he was” or “I wish she was” instead of the correct ‘I wish I were,” “If he were” or “I wish she were,” it will be easy to make the necessary adaptation and correct your grammar.

Look out for the subjunctive mood. As soon as something is a wish or a hypothetical (if) situation, you will always choose “were” over “was.”

It’s a common grammar mistake. In spoken as well as written English, you’ll find that just about everyone from plumbers to presidents is guilty of this mistake. Of course, when presidents make this error, those who know better will laugh at them, so if you’re hoping that what you say will be taken seriously, it’s worth learning when to use “were” instead of “was.” After all, once you understand the basic rules, it’s quite easy.

How Many Words Are in a Novel?

If you have decided this is the year you’re going to write that novel you’ve always told yourself you want to write, one aspect you need to consider when putting it together is how long it should be (if you want the best chance to get the novel published). There are no hard and fast rules on how long a novel should be if you’re writing for your own pleasure. But if you’re hoping to get it into print, publishers have certain expectations. Knowing what these are will give you a goal to shoot for when you plan your chapters and begin to write. Trying to get an unusually short book or an exceptionally long one published is something you should leave until you’ve made a name for yourself.

When considering novels, it’s important to note there are a large variety of genres. As a general guideline, we’ll include romances, thrillers, detective stories and attempts to make a mark in the world of serious literature as the core adult novels. While there are certainly other types of novels (see science fiction and fantasy below), this should cover most of these. So, how many words should there be in a novel you want to get published? Novels should be between 80,000 to 90,000 words.

Publishers like to see 80,000 to just under 90,000 words for the average adult novel. 70,000 to just under 80,000 could be accepted, but might be seen as being a trifle too short. Anything less than 70,000 words is definitely too short. Novels over 100,000 words are getting to be on the long side. Anything over 110,000 words will almost certainly be considered too long by an agent or publisher.

The reason for the upper limit is that printing costs increase once you exceed that word count. That’s not to say that books as long or longer haven’t been successfully printed, but agents would regard something that ambitious as an epic or a saga, and unless you’re already well known, an overly lengthy book could hurt your chances of finding an agent and getting published.

The lower word count limit is based on reader preferences. Are you giving your reader enough ‘meat’ so they find the book satisfying? Unless you’re producing a very light read, probably not. Once again, trying to push the lower limits for a novel is best attempted once you already have a following and are making your publisher a lot of money.

Science Fiction and Fantasy novels break the above word count rules and can be longer How many words are there in a Sci-Fi or Fantasy novel? Science Fiction and Fantasy books should be 90,000 to 125,000 words.

The acceptance of a more ambitious word count in these two genres is the need to describe whole new worlds and (presumably) original concepts. The issue to remember is the caveat about printing costs. When you’re going into print for the first time, you’re generally considered a ‘bad risk’, so going over 110,000 words might cause your publisher to have second thoughts. For your first Sci-Fi or Fantasy novel, you would do yourself a favor to try and come in on the lower end of 90,000 to 100,000 words to have the best shot at finding an agent or publisher.

(Photo courtesy of Mark Morgan)

What is the Best Business Proposal Font?

Successful business proposals require a huge amount of effort. They may involve the collaboration of several different parties. Business proposals require facts and figures which are backed by solid research. Their tone is formal and content needs to promote the objectives contained therein. A business proposal must look and feel attractive. The golden rule to remember is “first impressions count.”

It’s a great pity that many otherwise fantastic business proposals fall flat. A common theme apparent in the vast majority of rejections is based on the golden rule. The authors of these failed proposals did not make first impressions count, at least not in their favor. And one of the questions that probably was never asked that may have helped was, “What is the best font for a business proposal?”

While the choice of font may seem inconsequential, it does in fact play a very important role. On a sub-conscious level, font tells the reader more about what they are reading. Fonts help set the tone. Consider typical outdoor signage used by a nursery school. The letters are large, simple, bold and contain an assortment of bright colors. Tots and toddlers play school. They give the impression of fun.

Signage outside a lawyer’s office would be noticeably different. The choice of color would be uniform throughout, while the font itself would be smaller. It would imply that this is a business environment. Do not expect to find unicorns dancing on any rainbows here. J S Shark and associates. Attorneys at law.

It should be evident that the font used in a proposal will be very different from that used in nursery school signage. The subliminal message should be clear; this proposal is serious. It means a lot, has been well-researched and contains information of value. It was not banged together using a sloppy approach. It should speak for itself. It needs to say, “I am important. Read me in my entirety. Pay attention to my content. It may lead to a very rewarding experience, benefiting both your business and its clientele.” So what is the best font for a business proposal?

Before answering that question, it is important to distinguish between the different types of fonts. There are literally thousands of fonts available. Some are free, others not. Some fonts are exclusive. They are used to establish or entrench a corporate identity. An example here is the Coca Cola font with its famous curling ribbon.

Fonts such as these may have patents or legal clauses (similar to logos) which prevent their commercial use by unauthorized 3rd parties. Some fonts are all in upper case, and others in italics only. All of these can be classed into two separate categories. Serif and sans-serif.

Serif fonts, such as Times New Roman, have small “feet” at the bottom of certain letters. A further characteristic particular to a serif font is the “curly bits” found at the top and bottom of certain letters. These “frills” cause the eye to travel in a straight line. This means that serif fonts are easier to read when they are printed into document format.

If the proposal is going to be submitted as an actual document i.e., printed and not as an electronic submission, then the body of the proposal should comprise a single serif font used throughout. I tend to stick with what works well. For me, that is Times New Roman. For headings I generally go with a sans-serif font like Verdana or Helvetica. On the rare occasion when I require a large heading which will stand out above the others, then Arial Black is the way to go.

Fonts which are sans-serif do not have the “frilly bits.” They include examples such as Arial Black and Verdana, neither of which has letters with feet or curly bits. These fonts were mostly used to distinguish paragraph headings from the main body of text. With the arrival of electronic communication, it was noted that sans-serif fonts are easier to read on computer screens than the serif versions. With some screens set to a low resolution, the “frilly bits” associated with serif fonts tend to make the font look blurry or out of focus. This would reflect poorly on your proposal.

If your proposal is going to be submitted electronically, then the body of the proposal should comprise a single sans-serif font, to be used throughout. Verdana or Helvetica are excellent choices for the digital layout and are making their socially acceptable appearance in some printed formats too.

Headings or the introduction of new ideas should differ from the main body of text. Most people agree that a simple Arial Black or Verdana as a font for headings will give your proposal a clean and professional look. Avoid “loud” fonts such as Goudy Stout. Also avoid “hand-written” fonts or fonts that are childish or too “busy.” By busy, I mean overly elaborate fonts which contain elements of advanced calligraphy.

Again, choose only one font for headings and stick to it throughout. Having different headings in different fonts, using various sizes and colors, while alternating between bold and italics does not work. Don’t do it; just don’t! Your proposal will end up looking like a ransom note from a cheesy B grade movie, rather than the slick and professional business proposal you need to deliver.

(Photo courtesy of FontFont)

Does Donald Trump Really Speak at a Fourth Grade Level?

There were a number of articles that made the claim that Donald Trump spoke at a fourth grade level. They made this determination by running the different candidates presidential announcement speeches through the Flesch–Kincaid readability test. The problem with using a prepared speech is that there’s a good chance that a speech isn’t how the candidates actually talk. There’s even a good chance the speech was written by a speech writer instead of the candidate. A better way to determine the speaking level of the candidates would be to analyze them talking in a non-speech setting.

To do this, I decided to run the GOP’s last debate (March 10, 2016 in Florida) through our word counter using this transcript to see the speaking level of each candidate. WordCounter uses the Dale–Chall readability formula to determine reading level.

It should be noted there are some limitations to the speaking level designations found below. The Dale–Chall readability formula gives a general approximation to the candidates’ speaking level, but it isn’t conclusive. The candidates likely move among levels depending on where and when they are speaking. This was also a single debate where many of the topics use words outside the 3,000 core words that are the foundation of the formula. If the candidates were speaking about everyday events, their speaking level could be much lower than was found in this debate.

These were the results:

Donald Trump Speaking Level

Donald trump ended up with a 7th to 8th grade speaking level which is better than a 4th grade level, but it was still the lowest of the four candidates. He also spoke the most words during the debate (5,520), but used the fewest number of unique words (933). Ted Cruz spoke the fewest number of words (3,831), but had 70 more (1,003) unique words than Trump. John Kasich had almost the same number of unique words (940) as Trump, but spoke over 1,500 fewer words than Trump did during the debate.

Ted Cruz Speaking Level

Ted Cruz spoke the fewest number of words during the debate (3,831), but had the highest speaking level (11th to 12th grade) of the four candidates. The length of his sentences were also the longest at 16 words (tied with Kasich).

John Kasich Speaking Level

John Kasich just barely spoke more words than Cruz during the debate. He had 3,852 words compared to 3,831 for Cruz. These were both over 1,600 words fewer than Trump. Kasich’s speaking level came in between Trump on the low end and Cruz at the high end with a 9th to 10th grade level.

Marco Rubio Speaking Level

Marco Rubio ended up speaking the second highest number of words during the debate. He clocked in with 4,969 which was 551 words fewer than Trump. He, like Kasich, ended up with a mid speaking level at 9th to 10th grade.

Even though these stats show Trump uses higher than a 4th grade speaking level when his speeches aren’t prepared, he does speak like a junior high school student while all the other candidates he’s running against speak at a high school level.

Free Word Count Tracker for Your Blog or Website

One of the popular features on WordCounter is the goal setter (button right above the text input area). This allows users to set a word count goal which allows them to see their progress toward that goal as they type into the text area. What a lot of people don’t notice is that there is actually a way to embed this counter into a website or blog allowing others to also see how you’re progressing on your word count goals.

To embed the free word count tracker, all you need to do is click on the earth icon to the right of the tracker once you have set a goal. Hovering over this icon, you’ll see the words “Embed this!” Once you click on it, you’ll be given a couple of choices on the appearance of your word count tracker. You can choose the size (small, medium or large) and the color (blue, red, green, yellow, pink, cyan, brown, purple or orange). Once you’ve made these two choices, you simply click on the “save and get code” button. This will give you code that you can then place on your blog or website.

One of the advantages of this word count tracker is you never have to manually input the number of words you have written to update the counter. As you add words to your writing in the text area on WordCounter, the tracker will automatically update. This allows others to know how you’re doing in real time toward your writing goals.

There are a couple of ways you might want to use this. For example, if you write blog articles and you have a daily goal of writing 1000 words a day, you can begin writing each day and people will be able to see where you’re at during the course of the day (and whether you meet your goal). Then you can begin from zero the next morning and continue to repeat day after day.

If you have a longer piece of writing, you can set the goal as much larger. For example, maybe your goal is to write 50,000 words for a single project. You can set up the tracker for this amount and everyone will be able to see how your are progressing toward the longer-term goal.

No matter how you choose to use the word count tracker, it’s a great way to keep you accountable to the writing goals you set for yourself. Stating your writing goals and placing them out there so all can see is a great way to keep yourself honest, and it can be a great motivator to write on a daily basis. If you truly want to get a good amount of writing done daily (or over a longer period of time) using one of these trackers is an excellent way to do so.

I usually have a minimum writing goal of 500 words a day, although I sometimes increase it for certain periods when I need to be extra productive. You can see the tracker I use below.

Just go to the main page to get started.

What Is a “Dime” in the NBA?

When it comes to basketball, it’s not always obvious how some of the terms they use came about. A good example of this is why the Golden State warriors are called “the Dubs” as a nickname, but this isn’t the only confusing term in basketball.

If you listen to a National Basketball Association (NBA) game on television or the radio, there’s a good chance that at some point during the telecast, you’ll hear the announcers say that a player is “dropping a dime” or some similar variation of that sentence. You can sometimes see the reference in commercials with basketball players as well. For those who aren’t familiar with its meaning, it sounds strange and out of place — and the chances are you have absolutely no idea what they are talking about.

What is a “dime” referring to in basketball?

A “dime” in basketball is the same thing as an assist. For those unfamiliar, a basketball assist occurs when one player makes a pass to a teammate which leads that teammate to score a basket. By making the pass to the teammate, the player has “assisted” in the making of the basket.

Usually, an assist is recorded when a pass is made to the teammate and the teammate then shoots and makes a basket without dribbling the ball, but this isn’t a hard-set rule. While this is the case most of the time, there is some judgement involved when considering whether an assist has been made or not. For example, a player who passes to a teammate who is breaking toward the basket and that teammate dribbles once while continuing the cut toward the basket would be given an assist even though the player dribbled.

Assists are an important statistic kept for basketball players during each game. Assists are one of the big four statistics (assists, points scored, steals and blocks) tallied each game. They’re also recorded on a career level as well as career assists. The statistic is important and valued in basketball because setting up teammates with good passes can lead to easier baskets than for the player to try to score all on their own.

Why is an assist called a dime?

The origin of a basketball assist being called a dime isn’t readily known. There are a variety of theories, but the most common assumption is that it came from earlier times when pay phones were available across the US. When payphones were most popular (long before cell phones were the norm) it cost a dime to make a phone call. If one needed to make a phone call, it was common for that person to ask, “does anyone have a dime?” In this sense, “dropping a dime” or giving someone a dime was assisting someone to make a phone call. Most people believe this phrase ended up transferring over to the NBA as helping a teammate make a basket.

Although “dropping a dime” is considered a positive move for basketball, it doesn’t always have positive connotations when used in other circumstances. For example, “dropping a dime” is a way to label a person a snitch or someone who tells on another person. Again, the reference to making a phone call is used as when someone tells (calls) authorities to inform someone has broken the law, thus snitching on them.

Another popular theory is that it comes from the phrases “dropping it on a dime,” “turning on a dime,” “at a drop of a dime,” and “stopping on a dime.” These phrases all refer to precision, doing it quickly and without hesitation — all characteristics of most assists in basketball. A quick pass right on the mark to a teammate will assist that teammate in scoring.

(Image courtesy of Voldy Morton)