Many professional writers, editors, and teachers rely on blogs to engage in online conversations about the nature of the writing process, from discovering fresh ideas to carefully editing a completed article or essay. Here you'll find links to some of the more popular and useful blogs for writers, editors, and teachers of writing.
1. Language Log
This engaging language site hosted by linguists Mark Liberman and Geoffrey K. Pullum (authors of Far from the Madding Gerund and Other Dispatches from Language Log) is now in its eighth year.
2. Macmillan Dictionary Blog
The editors and guest writers at the Macmillan Dictionary Blog "explore a wide range of topics related to English as it is used around the world, and hope to be of interest and relevance to the international community of English speakers."
3. You Don't Say: Language and Usage
Veteran copy editor John McIntyre (former head of the copy desk at The Baltimore Sun) is an exceptionally smart and entertaining stickler for correct usage.
4. World Wide Words
For the past 15 years, freelance lexicographer Michael Quinion (author of Why is Q Always Followed by U? Word-Perfect Answers to the Most-Asked Questions About Language) has kept track of new words, topical words, and weird words (that is, "words that refer to obscure or outlandish subjects, are in themselves rare, or which look odd").
5. The Editor's Desk
Andy Bechtel, who teaches editing and writing at UNC-Chapel Hill, discusses "editing and writing of all sorts" for the benefit of anyone "who loves words and the news."6. It Figures: Figures of Speech, Snappy Answers
Jay Heinrichs (author of Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion) "rips the innards out of things people say and reveals the rhetorical tricks and pratfalls."7. Blogging Pedagogy
A blog about pedagogy and English studies, by faculty and students at the University of Texas at Austin.8. Words at Work
News editor Pam Robinson offers thoughts on language in the media.9. Legal Writing Prof Blog
Dr. Nancy Soonpaa (professor of law at Texas Tech), Dr. Sue Liemer (assistant professor of law at Southern Illinois University), and Dr. Mark E. Wojcik (professor of law at John Marshall Law School) maintain this blog for their colleagues in the legal profession--but you don't have to be a lawyer to benefit from their sound advice on writing.
10. Style & Substance
This monthly bulletin has been hosted by the The Wall Street Journal since 1987. Learn to recognize (and avoid) overworked expressions before they become full-fledged journalistic clichés.
