Headings are best written in 'sentence case', according to most style guides nowadays. If you would like your report to look contemporary, keep unnecessary capital letters to a minimum. This helps it be readable and avoids an ugly ‘Manhattan skyline’ appearance. The Australian Government Style Manual, for example, prefers ‘sentence case’ (to ‘title case’) [...]
Bullet lists are useful for breaking up text. They help in plain language writing. However, too often it seems the list writer has become distracted and we see this – The Council is responsible for: ✅ collecting waste ✅ maintaining city streetscapes ✅ acting as planning authority ❌ local events must be run. So [...]
We often write the word ‘however’, but the many ways to use it cause punctuation grief. Here are some guidelines: 1. Use ‘however’ to begin a sentence ✅ Maddie ran a highly professional campaign. However, she lost the election. Note we need a comma after ‘However’. 2. Use however to join two simple sentences ✅ Maddie ran [...]
'Will a document editor change my tone of voice?' This is a valid question, as an organisation’s written tone of voice and style are important. After all, they represent its brand. Writing style also varies markedly by sector. The language and style of a start-up business selling baby products will be altogether different to [...]
