 Do you have strong views on whether to use the Oxford comma? It's one punctuation mark that can be very divisive.
Some are for it: why wouldn’t you want to make sure your writing is never ambiguous? And others are dead against it: why add more commas when you don’t need them – it looks messy! If you’re in the “you must use it, or else” camp, you may be surprised that most New Zealand style guides recommend to not use it – except when a sentence is ambiguous. Let’s have a look in more detail at what the Oxford comma is, and when you should use it when writing for a New Zealand English audience.  When you write content, your goal is to grab and hold the attention of your audience, and to make your content quick and easy to read and understand.
One technique to make content easier to read and scan is to use bullet lists. Bullet lists are displayed lists (rather than in-line lists) that remove all the nonessential words, leaving the important words and information available quickly and easily. Bullet lists also provide more white space around the words, which helps readability by helping readers’ eyes scan more effectively. It’s not a surprise, then, that bullet lists are an effective plain language technique. As always, first check if your organisation has style guide and follow that. If there isn’t one, use the guide below on how to write effective bullet points, and punctuate them correctly.  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.  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.  Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash ‘What if I share my writing with someone else? What happens if they steal my idea?’ I get asked this all this time. It's natural for writers to be protective of their work. But are these writers’ concerns warranted? And what if you want to use song lyrics in your writing? Or you want to use a quote from someone long passed away that you found on a quote website? Can you?  I always feel like the semicolon is one of the more sophisticated punctuation marks. But that it also that it scares people a little. It tends to be used more in formal writing, but it has its place in fiction too. It can be very useful to subtly convey a relationship between two thoughts without using more words. And there is no need to fear it if you know how to use it correctly.  When the student got to school, they realised they had forgotten their lunch.
There are three examples of the singular they in that sentence. Did you notice? Would you have written it any other way? Of course, I could have written: When the student got to school, he or she realised he or she had forgotten his or her lunch. That’s a bit unwieldy! And potentially wrong. But definitely not inclusive.  Italic font was first used in presses in Italy the 1500s and was designed to replicate the handwritten manuscripts of the time. Italic font was used differentiate informal manuscripts created for leisure reading from formal manuscripts, which used Roman font. It wasn’t until the sixteenth century that italic font was used for emphasis. It's tempting to use italic font to differentiate notes, long quotes or dialogue from the main text to help that text stand out but not be as in-your-face as bold font. But this can make the text harder to read than Roman (normal) font, which is especially important when taking into account accessibility. There are specific times when it is useful, but it’s important to not overuse it. As always, first check if your organisation has a style guide, and follow that. If there is no style guide, then the guidelines below will help you decide when to use italics in New Zealand English. As an aside, the first letter of italics is pronounced like the i in sit – not as eye-talics.  Related article:
NZE: How to write times and dates. We all know the rhyme 1, 2, buckle my shoe. 3, 4, knock on the door. Or should it be One, two, buckle my shoe. Three, four, knock on the door? Though a reader might not be conscious of it, if numbers are not formatted correctly and consistently, your writing will look unprofessional. This article is about how to make numbers and numerals in formal and informal writing consistent and easy to read in New Zealand English writing. Note that these guidelines don't apply to technical or scientific writing – refer to the appropriate style guide for these styles. The most common question for writing numbers, whether it’s fiction, non-fiction or business documents, is whether to spell out the number or whether to use the numeral, but there are also other rules and exceptions to consider. As always, first check if your organisation has a style guide, and follow that. If there is no style guide, then the guidelines below will help you decide how to write numbers in New Zealand English.  We use abbreviations and acronyms every day without thinking about them, and we instantly know the meaning of many of them – like FAQs, ETA, IQ, DVDs. And today's text language is full of them, LOL (or lol if you are of the younger generation).
It can be confusing to write abbreviations and acronyms correctly, and as there are only small style variations, it doesn’t always look wrong to use one or the other. However, to make your writing look professional, there are some style decisions you will need to make when writing in New Zealand English text, so let's have a look at what the options are. As always, rule number 1 is to be consistent – both within a document and across all your writing. For example, it doesn’t look professional, and can cause confusion, if you have 9 am in one place but 9 a.m. in another. But first things first: what's the difference between abbreviations and acronyms? |