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How to keep your organisation’s writing on-brand – style guides

22/6/2022

 
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Most organisations have an idea of how they want to be portrayed to clients or the public. They will have a brand and know what their values are.

With many people all creating writing on behalf of an organisation, including freelance copywriters or editors, it would be difficult to be consistent across all communications without a reference tool.

Creating and using a writing style guide makes an organisation look professional, ensures clear communication, and creates a cohesive brand.

A client may not consciously recognise that there is consistency in the writing style choices, but they will notice if there is not.
​

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Part 3: How to write in plain language

23/1/2022

 
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Photo by Adam Birkett on Unsplash
Related articles:
Part 1: What is plain language?
Part 2: Why you should use plain language in your business.
 
Plain language writing means uses writing techniques and layout design to make your message clear to the reader. It is user-friendly writing.

It's not as easy as it sounds to write in plain language . And there are no rules on how to write in plain language – just guidelines. The guidelines are there to help you, but different contexts or readers mean that the guidelines must be interpreted correctly for your purpose.

There are two stages to writing a document in plain language:

Stage 1: Planning the structure and flow of the document.
Stage 2: Writing the sentences using plain language ​techniques.
​

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Part 2: Why you should use plain language in your business

23/1/2022

 
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Photo by Andrew Pons on Unsplash
​Related articles:
Part 1: What is plain language?
Part 3: How to write in plain language 

We are used to seeing plain language in government publications and information. Think of all the information we received daily during the Covid-19 pandemic. It was clear and easy to follow.

To ensure that all information written for the public is always clear easy to understand, the Plain Language Act was passed in New Zealand in October 2022. On the New Zealand Legislation website, the explanatory note says that the act “promotes the use of plain English in official documents and websites. Comprehensible information from government organisations is a basic democratic right. Plain language ​must become the standard for all official public and private communication in New Zealand.”

​​However, government departments are not the only organisations that should use plain language. Plain language can be used in communication with a company’s staff and clients, or with the general public.

There are benefits of using plain language to the reader (your clients and potential clients), and to your business or organisation.

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Part 1: What is plain language?

23/1/2022

 
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Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay
​Related articles:
Part 2: Why you should use plain language in your business.
Part 3: How to write in plain language.
 
Plain language, or plain English, is a way of writing and using layout design to make your message as easy to understand as possible. It's user-friendly writing.
​
Plain language can
  • help your readers understand your message quickly and easily
  • help your clients trust you
  • help your employees work more efficiently.

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How to write a non-fiction book that sells

26/10/2021

 
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Photo by Leslie Lopez Holder on Unsplash

​Writing a non-fiction book for your business, or to share a message or an interest, can be a daunting process.

You know that want to share your knowledge, but if you have never written a book before, you might not know how to begin. Where do you start?

Read on.
​
It’s not as quick and easy as some would have you think, but you can do it.


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Quick tips on how to write a book to promote your business – even if you are not a writer

8/9/2021

 
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Photo by Proxyclick Visitor Management System on Unsplash

​Social media, networking and email subscription have long been on everyone’s marketing plan. Publishing a book is now the trend.

Many successful businesses have launched their business, or grew their business, by publishing a book.

How?

A book can set a you or your business apart and show your expertise. It can show that you are an authority on a particular subject; that people can turn to you to find the answers they need, either by purchasing your book or by talking to you directly.

Most businesses that have published a book use it as a marketing tool, but not a source of income. A book will most likely not generate a huge profit on its own, but it can bring other benefits to your business. 

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The basics of writing a cookbook

3/6/2021

 
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​Who doesn’t have a cookbook in their house? I know I have far too many, but I can’t help myself when I see a new one with beautiful images and yummy recipes. The beauty of a cookbook is that the result of using it is great-tasting food.

Cookbooks are one of the most popular non-fiction genres in publishing. They are in the top five selling categories for e-books on Amazon, despite the ease of googling for a recipe. There’s something comforting about opening a book, choosing a recipe based on pictures of mouth-watering food, and putting it on the stand as you are cooking.

You might buy a cookbook because it’s written by your favourite chef or a famous person, it teaches you new skills in the kitchen, it contains a new style of recipes you want to try, or you trust the author to write recipes that work. Whatever the reason, cookbooks are staying popular.
​
There are many ways to write a cookbook, but there are some elements that are important to get right. 
​

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Why I belong to editing associations

8/3/2019

 
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Last week I renewed my membership for the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), which is based in the UK, and last month I renewed my membership for the Institute of Professional Editors Ltd (IPEd), which is for Australian and New Zealand editors.

I am a Professional Member of both organisations.

To be able to renew my CIEP membership, I had to answer a question on the CIEP Code of Practice. Doing this was a good reminder of one reason why I am a member of these professional editing associations.

As these memberships all need to be budgeted for, I thought it would be a good exercise to write down all the reasons I continue to roll over my membership.

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How to write recipes for cookbooks and food blogs

28/11/2018

 
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Anyone writing a cookbook or a food blog will need to know how to format recipes so that the reader has an enjoyable experience making the dish.
​
There is an art to writing recipes that will inspire but are also easy to follow and make sense to the cook or baker – there is nothing more frustrating for a than trying out a new recipe and finding the instructions ambiguous, that something should have been prepared hours in advance, or that the ingredients are not easily obtainable.

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    Hi, I'm Marja! 

    You'll find all my advice about creating professional, 
    ​on-brand business writing here.

    I'm an editor and plain language specialist. I work with writers of business publications, government content and non-fiction books to create clear, user-friendly writing
    .

    For more information or enquiries, please see my website.​ I'd love to hear from you.

    Categories

    All
    Business Writing
    Editing
    General Editing
    Grammar
    New Zealand English
    Plain English
    Technical

    Previous Posts

    Plain language
    • ​What is plain language?
    • Why you should use plain language 
    • How to write in plain language
    • Empathy helps to write in plain language
    • Can you use jargon in plain language writing?  
    • 5 reasons to use plain language for reports 
    • ​Using plain language for complex ideas

    Business editing
    • How to work with a business editor
    • How to write emails that get read
    • 5 benefits to outsourcing editing
    • ​How does an editor help your business
    • How to keep your organisation's writing on-brand
    • ​How to structure your report

    New Zealand English series
    • How to write bullet lists
    • How to use a semicolon
    • The 'singular they'
    • How to use italics
    • How to write numbers
    • How to write abbreviations
    • How to punctuate dialogue
    • hyphens, en dashes and em dashes
    • How to write times and dates
    • Possessives
    • Is our spelling different?
    • Burned vs Burnt
    • Using Māori words in English text
    • -ise vs -ize endings
    • Single or double quote marks
    • Punctuation inside or outside quotation marks?

    The editing process
    • How to write a non-fiction book that sells
    • How to write a book to promote your business
    • Copyright and Permissions
    • How much does editing cost?
    • How to self-publish your book in New Zealand
    • ​When is my book ready for publishing?
    • Types of editing
    • 5 things to tell your editor
    • The revision and editing process​
    • What are beta readers?
    • What to expect when you get your manuscript back
    • How to order the pages of a book
    • Fact checking fiction writing
    • ​Formatting your manuscript for submission
    • How long does it take to edit a book?

    General editing
    • Why I belong to editing associations
    • How to write recipes for cookbooks and blogs
    • ​The basics of writing a cookbook

    Technical
    • How to use Tracked Changes in Word
    • How to use basic Word Styles
    • ​How to fix common formatting errors in Word
Talk to me today for clear, professional content!

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  • Home
  • Editing Services
    • Business Editing and Proofreading
    • Plain Language Editing
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    • Localisation
    • Human touch editing
  • Blog
  • About
    • My work
  • Contact