Acronyms
Avoid acronyms where possible. If you do have to use one, spell it out in full the first time and include the acronym in brackets – eg “… your no claims discount (NCD)”.
Acts
Use title case for acts – eg Road Traffic Act.
Advise/advised
Use sparingly
Ampersands
Avoid using ampersands (&) in text, unless it’s as part of a brand name, eg Marks & Spencer. You can use them sparingly on web buttons or other places where space is really tight.
Apostrophes
Use an apostrophe to show possession, before the s if the subject is singular, or after if plural (“your vehicle’s details”, “both vehicles’ details”). Don’t use an apostrophe to show that there is more than one of something (two vehicle’s, 1990’s).
Bold
Use bold for: headings, sub-headings.
Brackets
If a whole sentence begins and ends within the brackets, the final full stop should also fall inside. (Like this.)
But if only part of the sentence is within the brackets, the punctuation should fall outside (like this).
Bullet points
For short bullet points, introduce them with a colon:
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not a dash
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or a comma
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or a colon and a dash
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start with capitals
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don’t use full stops
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except for on the final one.
For longer bullet points made of full sentences, again introduce them with a colon:
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Start each line with a capital letter.
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And end each line with a full stop.
Capital letters
Use capital letters only for names of towns, people, companies, brands and legal acts.
Don’t capitalise industry words, or Words you think are Important.
In general, don’t capitalise job titles. The exception to this rule is when they’re functioning as part of the name, rather than as a descriptive phrase.
For example: “Prime Minister Theresa May” – but “Theresa May, the prime minister”.
The same goes for company departments. Generally, use lower case, and add the word “team” or “department” if clarity is needed.
For example: “Please speak to the customer relations department”.
NEVER USE BLOCK CAPITALS.
Write headings in sentence case – ie capitalise the first letter of the first word only. (Don’t use title case, where you capitalise the first letter of all the principal words.)
Clichés
At the end of the day, when all’s said and done, we’re all capable of thinking outside of the box – so we shouldn’t use any of these expressions. Avoid clichés at all costs. Our writing will be fresher and more personable if we find new ways of saying things.
Companies
Refer to companies as singular, rather than plural. So “your bank has told us” rather than “your bank have told us”.
Contractions
If you’re going for a conversational, informal tone, it’s OK to use can’t, won’t, shouldn’t, we’re, they’re, you’re, haven’t, couldn’t, you’ve, we’ll, there’s, rather than their longer equivalents.
Conjunctions
At school we were taught never to start a sentence with and, but, so or because. But they were wrong. Starting some sentences with conjunctions can give your writing a punchy, modern feel. Because that’s how people speak. So don’t be put off. (But don’t overdo it.)
Dashes
Where you use dashes – like this – make sure they are actually dashes, not hyphens (-). Hold down alt and key in 0150.
Dates
Use the format dd mm yyyy, or write it out as 17 December 2018.
Focused and focusing
One s – not focussed and focussing.
Font
Calibri.
Font size
Use size 11 for: body text, headings in letters, sub-headings in documents.
Use size 14 for: main headings in documents.
Going forward
Avoid – use ‘in future’ or ‘from now on’.
Greetings and sign-offs
For letters, use ‘Dear Mr Smith’ and ‘Yours sincerely’.
For emails, it depends how well you know the person. Perhaps start with a ‘Dear’ and move to a ‘Hi’. End with ‘Kind regards’ or ‘Best wishes’.
Headings
Bold, aligned left, no underlining.
Hyperlinks
Leave off the http and the www. Where a hyperlink falls at the end of a sentence, include the full stop – eg hastingseditor.com.
Hyphens
Hyphenate only when you need to for clarity. For example, ‘a black cab driver’ vs ‘a black-cab driver’.
Justification
In letters and emails, align all text to the left, including headings.
In reports, centre the main heading, but align everything else to the left.
Licence and license
Licence is the noun and license is the verb, so “please present your driving licence”, but “you must be licensed to drive”.
Make sure
Use instead of ensure where appropriate
Numbers
Spell out numbers one to nine, and use digits for 10 upwards.
If it’s a round number, don’t include the ‘.00’ in running copy. For example: “We’ll charge you a £25 fee for this” rather than “We’ll charge you a £25.00 fee for this”.
However, if there are other non-round numbers in the doc, include the “.00” for consistency. For example:
Your premium: £267.95
Your set-up fee: £25.00
Your other thingies: £23.65
OK
Not ok, okay or O.K.
Percentages
Write 10%, using the symbol, rather than 10 per cent or 10 percent.
Practice and practise
Practice is the noun and practise is the verb. So “you need more practice” but “you need to keep practising”.
Quote marks
Use double marks “like this” for actual quotations, and single marks ‘like this’ for words, phrases and concepts.
Spaces
Use a single space between sentences, not a double. Modern fonts are designed for single spaces.
Split infinitives
Go ahead – if Captain Kirk can boldly go, so can you.
That
Often unnecessary, delete where possible
Times
Write 4pm and 4.30pm rather than 16.00 and 16.30. Use a full stop not a colon in the middle.
UK/US English
Use British spellings rather than American. So organise, analyse, centre, colour, not organize, analyze, center, color.
Unfortunately
Depressing and unaccountable. Avoid where possible.
Verbs
Use verbs rather than nominalised nouns whenever possible.
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“We investigated”, not “we undertook an investigation”.
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“Please consider”, not “please take into consideration”.
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“We have cancelled your policy”, not “Confirmation of cancellation”.
We
In general, refer to your organisation as “we”, rather than by its name
Who/whom
Strictly, “who” operates in a sentence like “I” or “he” (the subject), while “whom” is the equivalent of “me” or “him” (the object).
But practically, if your sentence calls for a “whom”, it’s in the wrong tone. Simplify, shorten, and split into separate sentences if necessary.
wifi
Lower case, no hyphen. Not Wi-Fi, wi-fi, WiFi.