Australian Presbyterian Style‑Guide for Writers | ||
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Introduction | ||
The following guidelines are designed to help you write lively, accessible and interesting articles which communicate clearly. They are only guidelines ‑ not inflexible rules ‑ but you should breach them only in pursuit of a specific goal. All articles are likely to be edited, in the interest of clarity, consistency in style across the magazine and to Not every submitted article can be run in the magazine.
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1. | Write As You Speak | |
| The best way to simplify your writing style is to use oral English. If you write the way you speak, you will find it easy to get across abstract ideas. You just have to surround difficult concepts with small talk. It's as simple as that. | ||
2 | Go for Shorter Sentences | |
| Picture comics usually have 8 words a sentence or less. They are very easy to read. Scientific writing, on the other hand, often contains sentences longer than 30 words. This is difficult for the average reader. We suggest that your sentences are about 15 to 17 words a sentence. Some can be shorter, some a little longer, to avoid a monotonous, staccato style. | ||
3 | Choose Words That Are Simple | |
| The things that clutter up language are affixes, that is, prefixes, suffixes and inflections. Some words have two affixes like dis‑ap‑prove; some have three, like dis-ap‑prov‑ing. Reading becomes difficult when your words contain lots of affixes. Very easy reading has 22 or less affixes per 100 words. Very difficult reading has 54 or more affixes per 100 words. Aim for about 30. | ||
4 | Check Your Human Interest Factor | |
| Scientific tests have shown that people are better at reading about other people than about anything else. The secret to lifting the human interest factor is to look for the logical subject of every sentence. After a while, you'll discover that the logical subject is always a person and that every sentence can be written so that this subject is mentioned. It's that easy! If you want to raise people's interest in your writing, use proper‑names, personal pronouns and names of people such as father, mother, son, uncle, friend, people etc. Rather than "it is said ...." Write "people say ...". Easy writing has 20 or more personal references per 100 words. Difficult writing has two or less. Aim for about eight. | ||
5 | Give Your Verbs A Work‑Out | |
| We are talking about finite active ones. Forget about passive participles, infinitives and all the other fancy ones. They are lifeless and won't make your sentences move. The problem with some articles editors receive is that they are written in a sort of pale, colourless sauce of passives and infinitives that are as motionless and flat as paper. Articles come alive when they are full of active verbs. | ||
6 | Know How To Use Punctuation | |
| Punctuation is the most important single device for making things easier to read. The role of punctuation is to get all the pauses and emphasis of spoken English down on paper. Hyphens, semi‑colons are the trademarks of good writers. Use lashings of punctuation, and your writing will skip along like a lamb. | ||
7 | Theology Can Be Explained | |
| Some people think theology is too technical to be understood. "Laymen can't understand it," they say. They think it hardly matters what language you use to explain it. It's always too difficult. We don't agree. Most theological ideas can be explained, especially with analogies and metaphors. It just requires imagination. Too often writers think in jargon and assume that their readership does as well. We believe that theology can be a fascinating and gripping subject when its concepts are explained simply using imaginative illustrations. | ||
8 | Get Rid Of Empty Words | |
| These are particles ‑ prepositions, conjunctions, adverbs etc ‑ that take up more room than they deserve. When you remember that these words make up more than 50% of all the words you use, you'll realise that it makes a tremendous difference whether they are simple or elaborate. | ||
| Here's some to get rid of | ||
| consequently ‑ prefer "so" for the purpose of ‑ prefer "for" along the lines of ‑ prefer "like" for the reason that ‑ prefer "since", "because" etc etc Do you get the picture? | ||
9 | Use Words With Fewer Syllables | |
| If you want to be easily read, use simple words rather than the complex. eg urge ... ... rather than "encourage" get ... ... rather than "acquire" add to ... ... rather than "supplement" use ... ... rather than "utilise" | ||
10 | Don't Use Strange Words | |
| Here's a passage from Toynbee's Study of History:"Pelagius, a heresiarch, made a stir throughout the Christian world of his day." When one man read this, he thought that heresiarch was a horseradish. People resist strange words; if they meet too many they simply stop reading. | ||
11 | Know What You Want To Say Before you Write | |
| When you write your article, do it as though it was an informal talk to your reader. Start with some notes ‑ or at least specific ideas ‑ on what you are going to say. And don't stop before you have said it. Do it in one go, and write as you would speak. | ||
12 | Use Contractions | |
| Instead of saying "I will", it's permissible to say "I'll" in certain circumstances. Use your discretion here, but contraction usually makes makes your writing more fluent as it approximates conversational English. And that's (that is ) that! | ||
13 | Use Direct Speech | |
| If you want to say something that's hard to put into words, use dialogue. Dialogue sometimes has a wider reach than ordinary prose. Drag it into your writing with a deliberate effort. Quotation marks can put life and colour into your writing. | ||
14 | State Your Main Point At The Start | |
| A lot of writing gives no idea of where the author is heading. Tell us up‑front, and then stick to the point! Use illustrations along the way to reinforce the big idea. | ||
15 | Keep Your Paragraphs Short | |
| Nothing is more frightening to the reader than a great slab of print with no break in it. It's like being dropped in the darkest African jungle. You don't know where you are. Use a paragraph for each idea in your article, and keep your paragraphs to less than 70 words ‑ give or take a few. Short paragraphs are like stepping‑stones across a river. Even if it's a difficult crossing in terms of ideas, short simple paragraphs help you to get from one side of the argument to the other. | ||
16 | Shorter Is Better | |
| Queen Victoria is reputed to have said to John Angell James, a famous English preacher: "Dear Mr James, your sermon was wonderful. I only wish it could have been longer." Mr James replied: "Your Majesty, if a sermon be good, it need not be long. And if it be bad, it must not be long." The most common fault in writing is wordiness; the most important editorial job is cutting. The aim is to get rid of unessentials and save the reader time. If your piece of writing is too long, or the paragraphs are too large, readers skip it altogether, so you've wasted your time. Keep it short. | ||
17 | Help Our Readers Enjoy Your Article | |
| We assume that the reason that you are writing is for the reader's spiritual benefit. This is how we honour God. This means that you must help your reader to enjoy what he is reading. Point out to him what is particularly significant, tell him to remember what he should remember, prepare him for what he is going to read, and summarise for him what he has read. This way your writing will be a blessing to others. | ||
18 | Use The First Person Singular | |
| In 1571 one of the most important events in the history of writing took place. Michel de Montaigne published his Essays, which immediately became literary classics. Why? Because he wrote in the first person. Up until that time the word “I” had rarely made its appearance in literature. From that moment on, it remained to stay. Since that time practically all popular non‑fiction writers have used the first person singular ‑ I. Remember, readers like to get personal glimpses of the author. This means that you will have to learn to refer to yourself without any awkward inhibition or shyness, and certainly without any sign of being pompous. But readers really like it. | ||
19 | Finally, be Peacable | |
| We welcome strong opinions, forcibly expressed. But this is a Christian magazine. We want to edify our readers and promote harmony. Personal attacks will not be published. Criticise the idea, not the man (or woman). Say "Smith has not understood the point that . . . ". Don't say "Smith is a buffoon with an IQ as big as his shoe size," Libel laws apply. | ||
Let's go over the basic rules once again: Use conversational English. | ||
And there you have it. Happy writing! The Editorial Team ‑ | ||
