Writing for the Web

Yahoo has released a style guide for web writing - in print. (The irony of the fact that it's a book is not lost on me, but of course they are entitled to make money...) However, there are a number of good bits of information available on the web site for the book. For example, web readers are more likely than print readers to scan a page before they decide whether to devote any more time to the page, so short sentences work best. There is also a word list which dictates how to spell, capitalize, or punctuate technology terms. For example, email is the preferred form, but e-commerce, e-reader, and other e- words are still hyphenated.

The reason the BBC seems so much more British than the CNN

Have you ever heard of a style guide? Style guides spell out the details of a particular organization or publication's writing style. The BBC has a published style guide that is actually really enjoyable to read. For example, the section on parts of speech is called "The bits that matter -- parts of speech." There is a lovely section called "Americanisms" that castigates Americans for their tendency to turn nouns into verbs: euthanize, authored, and miniaturized are offered as examples of this dubious trend. Now, perhaps I am alone in thinking this makes interesting reading, but have a look and see if the description of how to write in the "Basics" section doesn't make you smile.

Just Do It

If you ever visited my communications class, you would know I am a big fan of practice. One cannot get better at communicating, whether that communication is oral, written, with one person, or with a group, without practice. Here's an interesting blog post that talks about writers' block: there are a bunch of reasons/excuses for why these posters have not been writing. At least one of them should sound familiar to you. I find it encouraging to think that I am not the only one who has ever felt I had nothing original to say. There are also some useful suggestions about ways to challenge and train yourself to be a better writer. Maybe you would like to follow the sixth suggestion and add a comment below right now...