Writing style

Your writing style should suit your target audience whether you are writing for printed publications or the web.

Who are you writing for and why?

Is your audience young and well-educated?

Or are you writing for people with a limited command of English?

Are you conveying important information?

Or are you trying to engage the interest of a new audience?

The University’s target audiences include:

students (current and potential)
staff (current and potential)
researcher partners and funders
alumni, benefactors and friends
visitors
business and industry
local community
media
government.

Members of any of these groups:

will have varying knowledge of the language used within the University
may not understand your acronyms
may not have English as a first language
could have disabilities, including visual impairments.

Make your text easy to scan

People rarely read text word for word, so ensure that the text is easy to scan:

Be concise and to the point, especially when writing instructions for doing something online.
Halve the word count of conventional writing when writing for the web.
Keep your sentences short - read what you have written aloud. If you are running out of breath before the end of the sentence, it’s too long.
Stick to one point per sentence so that when the reader scans the page they won’t miss anything.
Use bulleted lists - these are easier to read quickly. Use numbered lists only if it is important that the bullets are carried out in sequence. Keep lists to ten bullet points.
Emphasise keywords with bold. Don’t use CAPITALS BECAUSE IT LOOKS LIKE SHOUTING. Italics can be hard to read and underlined text looks like a link.
Spell out any acronyms the first time you use them (unless the acronym is better known than what it stands for, eg BBC).

Use short words rather than long ones

Instead of	Write
Subsequent to	After
Endeavour	Try
On numerous occasions	Often
Acquaint yourself with	Read
In the majority of instances	Most, mostly

Speak to the reader directly

Use ‘you’ rather than eg ‘the applicant’ or ‘the supplier’ because it sounds friendlier and more informal, and reduces word length.

Say ‘we’ instead of ‘The University of York’ or ‘The Department of Physics'.

Instead of: Applicants are reminded that they should please return their completed forms to Heslington Hall.

Write: Return completed forms to Heslington Hall.

Avoid writing in ‘marketese’

Boastful, promotional writing eg ‘best ever’, ‘most popular’, etc is off-putting.
People want to get straight to the facts. It’s easier for users to grasp the meaning of the text when it is written in neutral language.

Be consistent

Using inconsistent terms confuses the reader. If you are writing about a course you are offering, don’t start calling it a programme half-way through.

Use active verbs

You can engage the reader’s attention by using active verbs.

It’s better to say ‘The Committee decided to…’ (active) , than ‘a decision was made by the Committee to…’ (passive).

These examples show how turgid text can be if it is written using passive language.

Passive	Active
The implementation of the procedure will take place next week.	The procedure will be implemented next week.
We had a discussion about the matter.	We discussed the matter.
A request form will be completed by the committee.	The committee will complete a request form.
The installation of the new hardware was carried out by a small team.	A small team installed the new hardware.

Avoid hidden verbs

A ‘hidden’ verb or a nominalisation is when a noun has been formed from a verb. Eg ‘upon arrival’ rather than ‘when you arrive’.

They name a process, technique or emotion, rather than a physical object.

These examples show how using hidden verbs makes sentences leaden, heavy-going and too long.

Verb	Noun
When you arrive	Upon arrival
To recover	To make a recovery
After completing	Subsequent to completion
To introduce	To bring about the introduction of
We expect	We have the expectation

Communications