7   Writing Style

Word Choice

Choose short, everyday words. Wherever possible, use the simplest word that conveys your meaning (for example, “get” usually works just as well as “obtain”). Avoid using a phrase where a single word will do.

Short, simple words are easier and faster to read for all levels of readers. Don’t worry about “talking down” to your readers—even the most educated will appreciate the simpler choice of words that lets the quality of your thoughts shine through.

Technical Terms

Avoid using jargon, buzzwords, and technical terms unless you are sure that all of your readers will understand them. All areas of business and government develop and use special words and phrases to represent complex ideas. These words and phrases help people communicate complex concepts quickly and easily. However, to anyone outside of these technical areas, these words and phrases will mean little or nothing.

If you need to introduce a technical term, italicize it and provide a brief explanation the first time you use it. This explanation can be an informal definition immediately following the use of the term. Avoid starting sections with formal definitions. While this is common in legal contracts and legislation, it’s unnecessarily formal for most manuals. Repeat the explanation in each section where the word is used.

All technical terms defined in the manual should be defined again in the glossary. For more information, see Glossary.

Acronyms and Abbreviations

Like technical terms, all areas of business and government create and use their own acronyms and abbreviations. Acronyms are usually created from the initial letters of compound terms or phrases. Abbreviations are usually the shortened form of a word.

Avoid using acronyms as much as possible. They confuse novices, and even experts sometimes forget what they mean. Never create your own to simplify the job of writing. When you do use them, spell them out the first time they are used [for example, “what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG)”]. Repeat the explanation in each section the acronym is used.

Avoid abbreviations except where the abbreviated form is more commonly used than the full term (for example, “a.m.” and “p.m.”). Avoid “e.g.,” “i.e.,” and “etc.,” which are abbreviations of Latin phrases. Use “for example,” “that is,” or “and so forth” instead.

Pronouns

A pronoun is a word that represents a noun; the noun that it represents is called its antecedent. Words such as “I,” “you,” “he,” “she,” “him,” and “they” are called personal pronouns. In high school, many of us were advised to never use personal pronouns except in letters and other informal correspondence. Unfortunately, many writers still remember this advice and carefully craft passive sentences to avoid using them.

Personal pronouns are now widely used in all areas of technical and business writing. Procedure manuals are easier to write and shorter when you can address the reader as “you.” Once you get used to it, you’ll find it a natural and direct way to write.

Avoid overusing pronouns other than “I,” “we,” and “you,” however, since they force the reader to go back to see what noun they represent. Don’t be afraid to repeat the noun.

Contractions

Like pronouns, contractions are now widely used in most manuals. Contractions are contracted forms of words with the missing letters represented with an apostrophe, such as “you’ll” and “don’t.” Contractions give your writing a conversational sound—to the reader they sound more like natural speech.

Since they are a mark of informal writing, you may want to avoid them when writing policies or other more formal types of manuals. Use only the commonly accepted contractions, and don’t create any new ones of your own.

Clichés

Clichés are commonly used groups of words that have become overused, such as “in the neighbourhood of” and “please find enclosed.” In most cases, they can be replaced with a single word that says exactly the same thing. Clichés lack vigour and take up valuable space—“avoid them like the plague!”