Your guide to writing style
November 29th 2008 05:12
Great writers are born in moments of mystery when the stars and planets are serendipitously aligned and the ghosts of Dante, Goethe and Shakespeare are having a drink in a heavenly beer garden (perhaps ruing the decline of iambic pentameter).
The other 99.9 per cent of us can aspire only to being competent writers.
Anyone can achieve writing competence. There is no mystery. To become a competent writer, you need just two things: time and resolve.
Earlier Bloggercises posts have offered some thoughts on writing and blogging, and some simple exercises aimed at improving spelling and removing redundancies from your writing.
This post introduces another fundamental requirement of good writing: consistency.
The Economist Style Guide has been a popular book for more than 20 years. It is, as the name suggests, the style guide for The Economist, a British weekly magazine renowned for high journalistic (it is so dedicated to the concept of journalistic integrity that it refuses to use by-lines) and linguistic principles.
The style guide of The Economist is perhaps the most famous - so famous it is available in most bookshops - but it is by no means the only one. All news media use style guides, as do governments, publishing houses, advertising and public relations agencies, universities and any big company with a publishing team.
In every case, the aim is consistency of written communication.
Consistency is important because in language there are often several correct ways to do things. A simple example is the ways dates are written. Just as a newspaper would look strange if all its headlines were written in different typefaces, inconsistencies of style within text is distracting to the reader. It is poor writing.
Most people have never considered applying a unified style to their writing, but developing and using a personal style guide will improve the quality of your writing and therefore the effectiveness of your messages. The exercise will also help you think about the issues of style, and in doing so increase your appreciation of this important rule of effective writing.
The exercise which follows is to create a personal style guide. It can contain notes on anything appropriate for you, and you can add to it any time you like.
To help get you started, I have included the introduction and the first few entries from a style guide I developed for an investment bank (investment banks print many notes and reports every day on economic, industry and equities issues).
STYLE GUIDE
This style guide aims to ensure consistency of spelling, grammar and presentation, and other language and style considerations, throughout all company documentation.
While staff are not expected to memorise and implement every detail in the style guide – the design team takes ultimate responsibility for lay-out and the editor takes responsibility for language – it is important for everyone to understand the importance of consistency of style conventions. This document aims to promote understanding amongst all staff of what those conventions are.
Language is the primary conductor between your brain and the minds of your audience. Ineffective language weakens and distorts ideas.
John Wesley
Writing is easy: All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.
Gene Fowler
The best style is the style you don't notice.
Somerset Maugham
Using an exclamation point is like laughing at your own joke.
F. Scott Fitzgerald
John Wesley
Writing is easy: All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.
Gene Fowler
The best style is the style you don't notice.
Somerset Maugham
Using an exclamation point is like laughing at your own joke.
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Ampersands
An ampersand is &. Using an ampersand in place of the word 'and' is poor writing. Ampersands should not be used unless they are part of an official name, such as P&O.
Capitalisation
All nouns, including those in headings, cross-heads, figure and table headings etc, are lower case unless they are proper nouns.
Currencies
We use A$200 and £50 and ¥3,000 rather than AUD200 or $A200 etc.
Dates
To be written: Monday, 28 May, 2007.
The style guide for the investment bank was only a few pages long - I wanted it to be a simple and accessible reference point for commonly queried points of style rather than a weighty mass of trivia which no-one would ever read. In creating a personal style guide, therefore, address points of style which are of interest and relevance to you.
Finally, I will offer some suggested content headings. Think about each heading, and consider if you are consistent in this aspect in your writing. If not, write a style guide entry for that subject, doing some research on it if necessary. Consider also if you fully understand each subject. If not, a little research and consequent creation of a style guide entry can help both your writing ability and your confidence with written communication.
Some of the following subjects, such as apostrophes, split infinitives and language sexism will be covered in future Bloggercises posts.
Active voice
Affect/effect (use of)
Ampersands
Anticipate/expect (use of)
Apostrophes
Capitalisation
Collective nouns (Liverpool are playing tomorrow; or, Liverpool is playing tomorrow)
Comprises/is composed of (use of)
Currencies
Dates
Hyphens
Imply/infer (use of)
Interment/internment (use of)
Italics
Numbers (when to spell out)
Per cent/percentage point (use of)
Unnecessary words
Sexism
Split infinitives
Whisky/whiskey (use of [stop laughing, I'm serious])
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Comment by Morgan Bell
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ive got a style guide from The Guardian (UK newspaper) that has similar kind of tips
they say to use "grandad" and "granddaughter" (emphasis on the number of "d"s) but the never ever call the elderly "grannies" haha
lots of great stuff to learn!
Comment by Chris Champion
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