Learn what resources are available to a virtual assistant that will ensure that your articles are rich in content.
3. Use a good manual of style.
There are two popular manuals of style by which you can base your writing on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Manual_of_Style"and the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Associated_Press>Associated Press.
While these are not the only choices you have in a good style guide, the important thing for virtual assistants to remember is to let your clients know which one you typically use. Your choices for either manual are both hardcover and online. An important point here is that style guides contain the acceptable uses of punctuation and grammar.
Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Style_manual) has an excellent write up on just what a style guide is, its capabilities, and a good list of the various types out there.
2. Choose a good dictionary.
Why would you want to use a good dictionary? According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dictionary, a dictionary is "a collection of words in a specific language, often listed alphabetically, with definitions, etymologies, phonetics, pronunciations, and other information;[1] or a book of words in one language with their equivalents in another, also known as a lexicon."
Now, listen up here -- did you read? Look at this. You get in one dictionary definitions (what does it mean), etymologies (the history of words), phonetics (what does it sound like) -- a dictionary is a stocked warehouse of excellent data to help you make your articles rich in content.
4. Use a good spell checker.
I cannot stress this enough. A virtual assistant MUST (underlined for emphasis again) ensure that their words are spelled accurately. This not only is important for your image, but also for the image of your client. Don't skip this step.
1. Choose a well-known thesaurus.
What is it you might ask? A thesaurus is just the tool you need; it's a book that has a classified list of synonyms. You remember what a synonym is from your days in English class at school, right? According to the Encarta English Dictionary (provided in Microsoft Word 2007), a synonym is a word that means the same, or almost the same, as another word in the same language, either in all of its uses or in a specific context. Examples of synonyms in this sense are "environment" and "surroundings" and the verbs "tear" and "rip."
So what have we learned in this article? A virtual assistant has to be thrifty in their use of time, as well as being the best of the best. Oftentimes, there will be resources available to us that we don't even know that can save us an immense amount of work. It's not always an easy task to find just the right words to capture the essence of what is being said in an interesting and accurate manner. Incorporate the four major resources above, and you will be well on your way to ensuring that your material is rich in content.
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