Hand-Picked Descriptive Words

Writing a good description is fun, but it's delicate work. We recognize vivid writing when we come across it, and we know the bad stuff, too -- it makes us squirm instinctively. Here are some types of descriptions the world can do without.

Dahl, Elisabeth. Editorial Eye, The (1996). Articles>Style Guides>Diction

Handling Internet Addresses in Text

How to present complete and intelligible Internet addresses and where to break long strings of letters, digits, punctuation, and symbols on the page.

Ivey, Keith C. Editorial Eye, The (1996). Articles>Style Guides

IEEE Standards Style Manual

Preferred editorial style for the preparation of proposed IEEE standards is established. Many of the frequently asked questions about writing drafts are answered. The optional and required contents of drafts are described, and instructions on submitting drafts for IEEE-SA Standards Board approval and publication are provided. This manual is not intended to be a guide to the procedural development of standards.

IEEE PCS (1999). Reference>Style Guides>Engineering

Individualized Style Guides: Contextualized Writing Strategies for Seminar Participants  

Many communication trainers adopt a “rules” approach, giving participants the “right” answers for writing problems. Our alternative approach focuses on individual participants’ writing contexts. In our writing workshops for university personnel, we train participants to develop and keep style guides. Individualized style guides help participants identify the conventions common in their particular organizations and help them maintain consistency between and within documents. Participants also benefit by developing a rhetorical approach to writing which builds their confidence and ability to respond to future writing situations on the job.

Jervis, Amanda M. and Jane Perkins. STC Proceedings (1993). Presentations>Writing>Style Guides

Intelligent Terminology Management  

Using multiple terms to refer to the same concepts can be a major cause of confusion. Ray explains how to implement a process to consolidate the terminology used by your organization.

Ray, Rebecca. Intercom (2006). Articles>Writing>Style Guides>Glossary

IRTC Language Resources

This is a list of resources related to language, including online reference tools like dictionaries and style guides.

Soltys, Keith. IRTC. Reference>Style Guides

Keep Spelling Consistent With a Style Sheet

Consistent spelling and punctuation increases your website's credibility. Often it's your decision: 'inhouse' or 'in-house', for instance? Either one is correct, but you must use the same punctuation throughout.

McAlpine, Rachel. Quality Web Content (2004). Articles>Writing>Style Guides

Language Style Guide for Software Developers  

This style guide is designed to help software developers with the language aspects of screen design. It is not comprehensive, but it does cover the most common problems. For comprehensive style guidelines for documentation see the Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications. TechScribe is based in the UK, and although we produce documentation for both the US and the UK markets, we have used British English in this guide. The document can be printed on both US Letter and A4 size paper.

TechScribe (2003). Design>User Interface>Style Guides

Legal Research and Citation Style in the USA

The format for citations to legal materials is different from the format for scholarly citations to books and periodicals in general. This handout is a terse guide to legal citation in the USA. The generally accepted style manual for legal citations in the USA is the Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, which is published by the editors of four prestigious law reviews at Columbia University, Harvard, Univ. of Pennsylvania, and Yale Law Schools. A copy of theBluebook can be purchased in any law school bookstore. A comprehensive set of rules from the Bluebook is available on the Internet from Peter W. Martin at Cornell Law School. In contrast, this handout here contains a terse set of rules that agree with the Bluebook, but does not contain all of the fine points and options in the Bluebook. Opinions of some courts use a different format from the Bluebook, but these alternative citation formats contains the same information. Be aware that citations in opinions of state or federal courts may not be the correct bibliographic style according to the Bluebook.Furthermore, the proper format according to the Bluebook changes with time, so old sources (both cases and law review articles) do not use the modern format for citation.

Standler, Ronald B. RBS0.com (2000). Reference>Style Guides>Legal

The Linux Documentation Project

The Linux Documentation Project (LDP) is working on developing good, reliable documentation for the Linux operating system. The overall goal of the LDP is to collaborate in taking care of all of the issues of Linux documentation, ranging from online documentation (man pages, HTML, and so on) to printed manuals covering topics such as installing, using, and running Linux.

Linux Documentation Project, The. Resources>Documentation>Style Guides>Linux

Localization Guidelines for Language and Terminology

How does your writing style affect localization? The following list of suggestions provides some language and terminology guidelines that should ease localizing your application.

Microsoft (2001). Reference>Style Guides>Localization

Localization Guidelines for Your User Interface

When delivering your product in foreign languages, it is important to consider how the user interface will appear to users around the world. While there are no hard-fast rules, the following suggestions provide some guidance in facilitating localization in regard to your user interface.

Microsoft (2001). Articles>Style Guides>User Interface>Localization

Look at Common Style Differences in Choosing Manuals

Style manuals often differ on important points, and one way to choose a manual is to compare them on some of those points.

Writing that Works (2003). Articles>Style Guides>Writing

Loose Ends: Standards and Styles

Several readers have sent me e-mail comments and questions recently that might be of interest to others. (Even Eye readers who don't spend much time on the Web tell us they're interested in picking up this kind of information.)

Ivey, Keith C. Editorial Eye, The (2003). Articles>Style Guides>Editing

Making Guidelines Part of the Team

Guidelines. We seem to have a love-hate relationship with them. At the same time we construct them, we worry they’ll come back to haunt us. How did guidelines get such a bad reputation?

Rabourn, Tanya. Boxes and Arrows (2004). Design>Web Design>Style Guides>Standards

Making Sense

When we are trying to communicate complicated ideas, it is important to be specific. One way to ensure that you will not be misunderstood is to look at your use of 'scope'. 'Scope' refers to which words go with which to form a 'sense unit' in a sentence; for example, which nouns are covered by a particular verb or preposition. Often, poor punctuation or poor sentence construction messes the scope up. Scope isn't easy to explain, but you can get a handle on it once you have seen a few examples of how it works.

Right Words. Articles>Writing>Style Guides

Master Documents  

This chapter ventures deeply into Microsoft heresy. A heretic is someone who preaches heterodoxy, or mixed doctrines. Unlike a lot of official MS and MVP speak, this topic advocates the usage of a certain feature that can be said to be generally considered as broken - Master Documents, or Masters. As so little information is forthcoming on this subject from other sources, yet many writers use them regularly because there is no other choice, it is fully covered here.

Hudson, Steve. TECHWR-L. Articles>Software>Style Guides>Word Processing

Review: A Matter of Style: On Writing and Technique

Many editors and writers will find A Matter of Style useful, but as readers, most will find it frustrating. Matthew Clark, a professor of classical literature and a musician, addresses the book to editors and writers, both creative and non-fiction, and especially to academic writers. The book is not an introduction and Clark assumes that his readers “already have a good grounding in the basics of grammar and style” (p. iv). He skips quickly through a chapter called “A Few Points of Grammar” to get to his real target, “questions of artistry” (p. 1). So far, so good, but problems soon develop around many of these nodes. The level of audience assumed by the book frequently varies. The book functions in many passages as an introduction to various classical arcana of questionable utility. Even more than questions of artistry, Clark deals with “questions about style” that are “questions of taste” and so “do not have definitive answers.” As many critics before him, he claims that “taste can still be discussed” (p. 14). The question is, “How?”

Thurston, John. Writer's Block (2002). Articles>Reviews>Style Guides

Review: Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications

Microsoft is one of the largest software companies in the world. Thus, with their rich experience in documentation it is only natural that they share it with the rest of the IT industry. The Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications, Third Edition (MSTP) is the latest step in this direction and takes care of latest technologies and technical terms.

Sharma, Sangeet. Indus (2005). Articles>Reviews>Style Guides>Technical Writing

Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications  

Understanding the user interface can be a confusing experience for customers. By using a consistent set of terminology and style, you can help customers navigate the product user interface successfully. Once customers become familiar with this system, they can jump seamlessly between content about different products.

Microsoft (2004). Books>Style Guides>Technical Writing>Documentation

The Most Obvious Fault in Technical Writing  

The most obvious fault is wordiness. Fortunately, long-windedness is something that editors are particularly well equipped to fix. Take a look at our manuals. They are huge, and their very bulk can make them inaccessible, especially when they are not equipped with a good index or adequate indicia in the corners of each page.

Bush, Donald W. Intercom (2003). Articles>Writing>Style Guides

Muddled Sentences

Misplaced modifiers are usually obvious and easily fixed.

Right Words. Articles>Writing>Style Guides