Last year, I had the pleasure of shaping almost 30,000 words into a neat, compelling 10,000-word award submission. The organisation behind it just walked away with gold at both state and national levels. If you’re planning an award submission and are unsure where to start, here’s what’s worked for me.

Too many gets shouty. Too few feels cold. But used well, exclamation marks change how we read, how we feel and even how fast our brains process text. Here’s a (too) short history of their history, power and peculiar reputation. (!!)