Features and blogging

I believe we can tell a lot about a person, and about ourselves, from the way we write. Even in business, our formal letters and reports can betray our personality (albeit our business personality) with a few giveaways in tone and construction. The way we learn to write in school and at college has everything to do with how we write for work, but when it comes to creativity, it's never too late to change. I have a sneaky feeling, however, that our personality often takes over.
Here are the top traits I’ve noticed from years of tweaking other people’s work. Can you think of any more?

The veteran
Double space after a full-stop
Unless you use an old-skool manual typewriter, where the keys are set a certain way, you really don't need to use double spaces any more. The computer has its spacing all worked out, and those white gaps between sentences hinder, rather than help. All a white gap does is make our eyeballs stop and question the need for that white gap every time we see one. In a long post, that can be a lot of times.

The comic
Exclamation marks instead of full stops
Hey you! Look here! I can't put a normal full stop here because you might take me seriously!
This trait is as much about confidence as comedy. Learning that it’s okay to end our sentences with a calm full-stop is a process in itself. Even if we’re making an animated point, we don't have to garnish the paragraph with exclamation marks. People want to read what we have to say and they’re ready to take us seriously, so let’s go and put in a few full-stops and save the shouting for sales.
EDIT: I allow one exclamation mark per post, maybe two if it's a genuinely funny piece. Otherwise, please use your inside voice so I don't have to cover my ears. Ithankyou.

The over-talker
Not enough commas in a sentence
I often attribute a lack of commas to a sure sign of confidence in writing but it can also indicate that the author has a lazy habit of not editing their own work when in reality we all need to allow our readers to take a breath at some point.
See what I did there?

The over-sharer
The I-s have it
I know it’s tricky to get it right. I still make mistakes myself. I often wonder, when I’m writing, if my style is as great as I think it is and if I could perhaps make use of someone else editing my own work. It’s something I need to look into one day. If only I had the time…
And that’s my entire allocation of self-chat used up for the year. Note to self: a bit less ‘me’, a bit more ‘you’.

The multi-tasker
Often the ends of your sentence don't match the beginning, because you've been side-tracked by 40% off all our products until the end of May for subscribers only.
See that?
Or maybe it’s not a case of distraction, you simply don’t have time to use full sentences but can only manage to yell out a series of stressy MasterChef commands:
Sale on! 40% off all month! Link here!
You don't need to be a poet or a professional writer, but if you're going to do your own marketing posts then you need to be a) organised enough to construct proper sentences, and b) lyrical enough to be a bit more Nigella and a lot less Gordon.

It's tricky to get just the right tone. If you can't get someone to write the whole thing, at least ask for fresh eyeballs before posting. Or run a grammar and spell-check: two brilliant inventions of the computer age! (and that's my single shouting stick used up).