WRITING TIPS LESSON
APTS Lesson: Style-Style-Style
When we discuss style, we must first know which meaning of style applies:
Publishing/Documentation Style Guides
The type of style guide most used by students for academic papers and professional writers for their publications are the ones that include details about how to cite sources and present sources at the end of a paper, chapter, or book. Examples of these style guides are MLA (Modern Language Association), APA (American Psychological Association), The Chicago Manual of Style, and hundreds more. In all your writing, to avoid violating copyright laws and committing plagiarism, you must credit your sources by using the style guide most often recommended for your field. Generally (and this is merely a rule of thumb), humanities use MLA and sciences and business use APA. Comply with the requirements of each course you take
Company Style Guides
The other type of style guides are those of an organization to control the look and feel of documents produced within that organization--layout guides and document templates.. Each organization that produces documents for the public should have style guides, most likely for each genre (annual report, proposals, competition reports, memos, etc.). These guides cover page size, fonts, heading levels, use of graphics, etc. For students, any style guide required by your assignment, course, program, or university is considered an organizational style guide. Comply with the requirements posted by your instructor. If your instructor does not post guidelines, use the publishing style for your field of study.
The Rules
1. The company's style guide rules the document.
2. When questions arise, whoever signs your paycheck is correct.
Writing Style-Register
This type of style benefits from using a different term, register, which is a combination of style and tone. We have many ways of talking about writing style (or register).
Aristotle described low, middle, and high styles as ranging from plain language for ordinary conversations, middle language for persuasion, and high style for the ornate language of oration (speeches). At one time, the use of ornate language went through a long phase of overkill. In the process, the term-rhetoric-became synonymous with manipulative language; although, rhetoric merely means using the most effective method for effectively communicating a message.
An analogy regarding style that many students understand is the idea of appropriate dress at different occasions. What a person would wear to a beach party, a basketball game, and a wedding will, normally, differ greatly.
Another analogy involves the language used by a college football player in these three occasions: (a) in the locker room with teammates, (b) on the telephone with his mother, and (c) in a written account of his experiences for a recruiting brochure to be handed out to high school students.
Some terms you may wish to use when discussing writing style include level of formality, attitudes ranging from warm and friendly to cold and legalistic, and you-vs-me approaches (also known as reader-centered writing or the you-attitude).
In the end, professional workplace style tends to be formal but not stilted, which means avoiding contractions, regionalism and cliches, generic second person, and unnecessary first person. Professional workplace style should be reader-centered and not excessively warm or cold. Technical writing tends to be strictly factual and avoids strongly emotional appeals.
Writing Style-Punctuation, Grammar, & Mechanics
Most publication (documentation) style guides also include sections for punctuation, grammar, and style. Also, AP (Associated Press) provides extensive rules for journalists.
Writing style, for these concerns, also varies across cultures, for example American versus British spelling (theater/theatre and check/cheque)
- Publishing Style Guides (documentation style): American Psychological Association (APA), Modern Language Association (MLA), Chicago Manual of Style
- Company Style Guides: Companies have internal style guides to control the look-and-feel of documents seen by the public
- Writing style: Terms used include good-will, reader-centered, informal, and formal. Writing style can also mean the grammar, punctuation, and mechanics rules followed by this-or-that guide. The documentation guides include writing style, and journalists use Associated Press (AP).
Publishing/Documentation Style Guides
The type of style guide most used by students for academic papers and professional writers for their publications are the ones that include details about how to cite sources and present sources at the end of a paper, chapter, or book. Examples of these style guides are MLA (Modern Language Association), APA (American Psychological Association), The Chicago Manual of Style, and hundreds more. In all your writing, to avoid violating copyright laws and committing plagiarism, you must credit your sources by using the style guide most often recommended for your field. Generally (and this is merely a rule of thumb), humanities use MLA and sciences and business use APA. Comply with the requirements of each course you take
Company Style Guides
The other type of style guides are those of an organization to control the look and feel of documents produced within that organization--layout guides and document templates.. Each organization that produces documents for the public should have style guides, most likely for each genre (annual report, proposals, competition reports, memos, etc.). These guides cover page size, fonts, heading levels, use of graphics, etc. For students, any style guide required by your assignment, course, program, or university is considered an organizational style guide. Comply with the requirements posted by your instructor. If your instructor does not post guidelines, use the publishing style for your field of study.
The Rules
1. The company's style guide rules the document.
2. When questions arise, whoever signs your paycheck is correct.
Writing Style-Register
This type of style benefits from using a different term, register, which is a combination of style and tone. We have many ways of talking about writing style (or register).
Aristotle described low, middle, and high styles as ranging from plain language for ordinary conversations, middle language for persuasion, and high style for the ornate language of oration (speeches). At one time, the use of ornate language went through a long phase of overkill. In the process, the term-rhetoric-became synonymous with manipulative language; although, rhetoric merely means using the most effective method for effectively communicating a message.
An analogy regarding style that many students understand is the idea of appropriate dress at different occasions. What a person would wear to a beach party, a basketball game, and a wedding will, normally, differ greatly.
Another analogy involves the language used by a college football player in these three occasions: (a) in the locker room with teammates, (b) on the telephone with his mother, and (c) in a written account of his experiences for a recruiting brochure to be handed out to high school students.
Some terms you may wish to use when discussing writing style include level of formality, attitudes ranging from warm and friendly to cold and legalistic, and you-vs-me approaches (also known as reader-centered writing or the you-attitude).
In the end, professional workplace style tends to be formal but not stilted, which means avoiding contractions, regionalism and cliches, generic second person, and unnecessary first person. Professional workplace style should be reader-centered and not excessively warm or cold. Technical writing tends to be strictly factual and avoids strongly emotional appeals.
Writing Style-Punctuation, Grammar, & Mechanics
Most publication (documentation) style guides also include sections for punctuation, grammar, and style. Also, AP (Associated Press) provides extensive rules for journalists.
Writing style, for these concerns, also varies across cultures, for example American versus British spelling (theater/theatre and check/cheque)
Rodgers' Writing Tips by tips.rhettime.net is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
Copyright Ida L. Rodgers, 2004
Updated January 16, 2012
Updated January 16, 2012