----------------------------------------------------------------- THE BETTER WRITING SKILLS NEWSLETTER, October 2008 By Tim North of Scribe Consulting (http://www.scribe.com.au) http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to the October 2008 Better Writing Skills newsletter. IN THIS ISSUE 1. Improving your writing: advice from a reader 2. When do we write numbers as words? 3. Why do we write some numbers as words? 4. Should I use single quotes or double quotes? 5. Just for fun Your comments and questions are always welcome. Just send e-mail to: info@BetterWritingSkills.com Cheers, Tim North (Perth, Western Australia) ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Improving your writing: advice from a reader ----------------------------------------------------------------- Last month's newsletter included an article from a reader, Lisa, who asked for advice on how to improve her writing skills. This month, Tony, a regular correspondent, has offered this helpful follow-up: I would add to your very good answer to Lisa, a more generic way of improving one's writing. It is so simple and obvious that I think most people don't even notice. The secret is to improve your reading. Our brains learn from input. Even the best writers who are forced by their circumstances to read volume after volume of turgid bureaucratese or technical jargon will find their own writing suffering as a result. I suppose my other word of wisdom would be to write as you would wish to read. It sounds a bit biblical or Californian, but I feel people really like to read fresh, clear and plain language, unfettered by the latest fad and rich with nuanced variety so accessible in English. I think Tony's absolutely right. The best business writers I know are people who are passionate about reading for pleasure. So recline your favourite couch, put your feet up and read a good book. You can legitimately tell people that you're working. :-) Thanks, Tony. -- (c) 2008 Tim North: http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- 2. When do we write numbers as words? ----------------------------------------------------------------- One of the questions that I regularly get asked during my training courses is "When should I write numbers using words, and when should I write them using digits?" The answer I most commonly hear suggested is something like "Use words if it's less than ten". Someone else will then pipe up and say "No, no. Ten or less". "One hundred!", someone else will shout. Then it comes to blows and everyone goes home in tears. :-) What then should we do? Well, there are two distinct situations to choose between: literary works and everything else. 1. In literary works, such as novels and poetry, numbers are always spelled out in words. For example: Smith shivered. It was down to two degrees. Smith sighed. He'd be fifty soon. Smith laughed. He'd just won two hundred dollars! Don't agree? Grab a novel at random off your shelf. Unless it's very unusual, the only digits in it will be the page numbers, copyright date and such like. The main text of the novel will almost certainly be written without digits. 2. In business and technical writing, though, the situation is less clear cut. Numbers are sometimes written using words and sometimes using digits. (It couldn't be easy, could it?) For example: Room two is booked until lunch. Room 12 is free all day. Sales increased by 9% this month. We gained 3,000 new subscribers this month. So, in business and technical writing, which numbers should be written using words and which using digits? There are three conventions that are commonly followed: a. Spell out zero to nine as words and write 10 or more with digits. b. Spell out zero to ten as words and write 11 or more with digits. c. Spell out zero to ninety-nine as words and write 100 or more with digits. Your workplace may have a preference for one of these styles. If so, follow it. If not, as all are in common use (though perhaps not equally common), you're free to choose between them. Just pick a style and stick with it. Hope this helps. -- (c) 2008 Tim North: http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Why do we write some numbers as words? ----------------------------------------------------------------- I included the previous article to set up this question from my next correspondent, Diane, who wrote in to ask: Do you know the origin of why numbers under ten need to be written out and those over ten can stand as numerals in text? My writing resources don't explain a reason beyond clarity. Is that all there is to it? You can see from Diane's question that she is following the second of the choices identified above. She is writing one to ten as words, and 11 and up with digits. Her question about why we do it this way, though, has me stumped. I've checked a few sources, and they all have a recommendation (frequently different) on when to use digits to write numbers. None, though, really give a good explanation for why they make their recommendation. One of my preferred sources, "The Style Manual for Authors, Editors and Printers" (6th edn, p. 163) has this to say: Writers and editors still need to exercise judgement to ensure that numbers are presented in a clear and natural style in each instance, to avoid distracting or irritating readers. It doesn't add much (if anything) to Diane's own research, but it's the only vaguely helpful answer I've been able to find. If anyone knows more about the origins of these conventions, I'd love to hear from you. -- (c) 2008 Tim North: http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- Do you know someone who'd like this newsletter? ----------------------------------------------------------------- Do you have a friend or colleague who'd find the Better Writing Skills newsletter interesting? If so, please feel free to send a copy of this issue to them. Alternatively, please tell them they can browse back issues here: http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com/newsletter.html Thanks for helping to make this newsletter so successful! ----------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Should I use single quotes or double quotes? ----------------------------------------------------------------- My final correspondent this month, Brenton, writes: Question: In Australia, do we use double quotation marks or single when writing dialogue? According to the Australian Style Manual, we're supposed to use single quotes, ... It's actually a little more involved than that and thus a common source of confusion. The same style manual that I referred to in the previous article says (6th edn, p. 112): The question of whether to use single or double quote marks is often debated. In Australia and the United Kingdom both types are widely used; in North America double quotes are the norm. Single quotes are recommended for Australian Government publications -- in keeping with the trend towards minimal punctuation. Double quotation marks are then used for quotes within quotes. So, to answer Brenton's original question about dialogue, you should use single quotes if it happens to be in the context of an Australian Government document. For anything else (fiction, for example), you can use either. Just make a choice and be consistent. Users of American English, should use double quotes in most circumstances. Hope this helps. -- (c) 2008 Tim North: http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Just for fun ----------------------------------------------------------------- This month have a look at snopes.com "the urban legends reference pages". Snopes discusses the truth or falsity of urban legends and "also common fallacies, misinformation, old wives' tales, strange news stories, rumors, celebrity gossip, and similar items". http://snopes.com/snopes.asp In particular, you may want to browse through its language section. When I did so, I found that a couple of the things I believed to be true were just myths! http://www.snopes.com/language/language.asp Enjoy. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Would you like more help with your writing? ----------------------------------------------------------------- On my Better Writing Skills web site, you'll find my range of jargon-free, downloadable e-books that will help you to become a better writer. These e-books will help you with business proposals, report writing, term papers, technical writing, grant writing, creative writing and more: http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com/ebooks.html ----------------------------------------------------------------- REPRODUCING THIS MATERIAL You are welcome to reproduce the articles that are copyrighted by Tim North, but please don't modify or sell them. 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